tamarack

I don't know about that, but on Thanksgiving Day in 2005 (11/24), there was a confirmed EF1 in Phippsburg and EF0 in (I think) Georgetown, midcoast Maine, during advisory-level snow, 3.7" with low 20s temp at my place, 2-2.5" at the coast.

Softwood stands are somewhat less vulnerable than individual fir surrounded by leaf-off hardwoods, unless the wind gets exceptionally strong, and as you note, shorter trees have lower leverage for the wind to work on.

That winter was quite frustrating here even though it brought 125% of average snowfall. I experienced 4 winter storm warning events - one in SNJ - that verified at 1/8 (or less) of the bottom of the forecast range, ending with the GYX "Valentine's Day Massacre".

It actually was in late January of 1977. BUF snowfall was large but far less than recent LES episodes, but the wind gusted near hurricane force, and some semis were nearly covered in drifts. Much less dramatic in Fort Kent but a memorable storm anyway, though it brought a comparatively modest 11", 10 of which came 1-9 AM. At 9 PM on Jan 28 the temp was 12°. By 6 AM it had popped up to 26 and 3 hours later it was 6°, both the mild and cold in SN+. Wind gusts to 50 and visibility between 100' and 1/4 mile all of Jan 29.

The evergreens, starting with balsam fir, are much more vulnerable during the leaf-off season. That said, the NW gales generated by the 1962 New Year's Eve Bangor blizzard tipped a lot of NNJ trees from all-hardwood forests, including some large white oaks, a species with a tap root and thus usually more windfirm. No actual measurements to offer, but IMO there were gusts reaching 70 from late on 12/30 thru most of 12/31. Only the Nov 1950 Apps Gale compares with that event in my personal experience. 12/31/62 had temp 5/-8 at our place, chilly for NNJ, but we had not heard of quantifiable wind chill back then.

Van Buren, along the St. John River in Northern Maine, had 57/47 that day, 41° AN. The County didn't get the deluge of farther south, generally <1/2". Only reached 54 at my place but had 2.6" RA during the warmest part of the storm. That day had a greater AN departure at our place than any other day on our 24+ years here, 1° more than March 22, 2012, the summer-in-March time.

Neighbor (and snomo club groomer pilot) had to cut a number of fir carcasses out of a relatively short stretch of the trail by our woodlot. If we get the big wind Friday (we're usually somewhat sheltered here) he'll have to do it all over again.

GYX discussion this morning talked 2-3" RA with higher in spots, total disaster. The "bigger boat" (sic) thread notes possible shorter warm wedge for NNE, and more CAD, which is what my snowpack survives on. Still a Grinch but maybe not a 12/25/20 type GRINCH.

That's somewhat comforting though still a major Grinch incoming. Unless that 7-8 hour period includes 2"+ RA at near 50, our area will retain decent depth for a white Christmas.

One of the bigger busts here - forecast was 8-12" (which verified 12 miles SE at Belgrade Village) but we got 1". A relative living at the eastern edge of AUG had 15". IIRC, GYX had 18", their biggest snowfall until Feb 2013.

If you can find the info, it would be worth knowing whether the obs site has stayed at the same place throughout. I've spent many hours dissecting the data of the Farmington co-op, records back thru Jan 1893, and there was a significant change when the site was moved in Sept 1966 from the fully built-up section of the small (5k) town to a site 1.5 miles to the north, where houses are spaced apart and nearly all on the same road. The biggest change was summertime maxima - for instance, the co-op has recorded 14 days reaching 100+, but only one since the move: 101 on "Hot Saturday" in August 1975. The average temps have risen significantly during the current century but there is still a disproportional amount of warmth records, especially warm minima, set prior to that move to the north.

What a fir-fracturer that would be. Just the weekend snow put lots of the weaker fir onto the local snomo trails.

At last word, 88% of folks in Fryeburg are still w/o power - lots of trees on wires being cleared but it's slow going. Folks there must be a bit relieved that nights are in the 20s rather than near zero.

Up to 3" RA atop the current pack? Maybe "bigger boat" was the appropriate thread title after all.

Depends on location (Of course). Most Maine sites get more in December.

Pinkham Notch Edit: WV had 31" also - just checked GYX listing

Probably Feb 3-4, 1961. I call in 24" but with the howling wind who knows. That storm, plus the 20" on Jan 19-20 and a string of very cold days, brought the pack into the mid 40s - Canistear Reservoir reached 52". We also had 24" on Mar 18-19, 1956 and Mar 20-21, 1958.

Highest I found since 12/2003 was 30", in the 5-day slopfest in late Feb 2010 - with 6.49" LE! (I had 10.7" from 2.68" LE, with no IP nor ZR but 1.14" of 33-35° RA - while NYC was getting their 20.9" 'Snowicane' ) Final tally (assuming no more): 21.5" from 2.37" LE, 3rd biggest snowstorm since moving here in May 1998. #1 is 24.5" on 2/22-23/2009 and 2nd is 24.0" (with blizzard criteria) on 12/6-7/2003.

IIRC, that ZYZYGY (spelling optional) storm was Jan 2-3, 1987. It was odd in that snow reached PWM about 4 AM but didn't get to AUG until after noon. Then it went from 1st flakes to white wall - 1/8 mi vis - in less than 60 seconds. 2nd biggest snowfall in our 13 winters in Gardiner and first of 5 storms that month, for 49" total.

Nice. Looks like the view out my window.

It's a bit bigger than my new Husky.

Yup. We've had 3 storms of 21" in our 24 winters here but only 2 that were bigger, so this one might reach 3rd place - only needs another inch+ since the 11:30 measure. A 3rd Farmington site, farthest north of the bunch, reporting 20". So far, all the top depths in Maine are Franklin-Oxford Counties. Edit: That Farmington 20" was a 9 AM report - no wonder it was the highest.

3" more by 11:30 to reach 20, and it's still accumulating. Power came on just before 10, so 5 hours on the genny. New blower was out straight trying to move this sticky stuff; more work to do but the machine ran out of gas about the same time I did. Shovel work was nasty - unless I banged on the handle as I threw, half of the load would stay on the blade.

It would take another 12/25/2020 to do that, and there would be a lot more snowmelt to increase flooding this time.

Finally, a report from northern Oxford - 20.0" of 9:1 at Andover. Top 5 atm: 20.0" Andover 17.5" Farmington 4.2NW 17.0" MBY 6.8" Palmyra (one town west from Skowhegan) 6.1" Abbot (3 towns south from Greenville) Strange distribution. Edit: New #5 - 6.5" in North Berwick, western York County. If there's an observer in Parsonsfield (NW-most town of York) we'd likely see a 12"+.