December 2023

[tamarack]

18 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

Lol…well I don’t know if I’d call it desperation.  December is always a crapshoot, even up there.  They’ll start piling it up so very soon.  We were gonna head up on the 26th, but that’s scrapped. I’ve kept track of the Decembers Ive been able to go, and the ones I couldn’t, and it’s been the same for 25 yrs…pretty much flip a coin.  Some years it’s a go, others not so much. 

In Fort Kent, where they host world class biathlon meets based from that outdoor center, it's desperate.  Maybe one year in 50 they'll look like that 3 days before Christmas.

I expected low singles for this morning, got low teens.  Hit -8 twice shortly after the early month snowfall; bare ground equals mediocre cold.

[dendrite]

6 minutes ago, jbenedet said:

Fake cold. Newington already near 30

Beer

Isles of Shoals is 25°

[mreaves]

8.2°for the low here. 

[Layman]

9 minutes ago, jbenedet said:

Fake cold. Newington already near 30

You serious, Clark?

[dryslot]

3 minutes ago, Layman said:

You serious, Clark?

Car thermo, Sensor on top of the radiator.

[dendrite]

19° off of a low of 15° here, but that comes with some wind unlike the rad in SNE. Chilly for 2020s Dewcember standards!

[dryslot]

Wind and bare ground FTL on single digits up here.

[Damage In Tolland]

Just now, dendrite said:

19° off of a low of 15° here, but that comes with some wind unlike the rad in SNE. Chilly for 2020s Dewcember standards!

Lol .. we didn’t radiate at 15.2 with wind. This was man cold . Still 18

[dendrite]

1 minute ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Lol .. we didn’t radiate at 15.2 with wind. This was man cold . Still 18

You didn’t. I’m talking areas like tblizz with 13°

[dendrite]

4 minutes ago, dryslot said:

Car thermo, Sensor on top of the radiator.

[Sey-Mour Snow]

5 minutes ago, dendrite said:

19° off of a low of 15° here, but that comes with some wind unlike the rad in SNE. Chilly for 2020s Dewcember standards!

Don't take away our fake cold "it's the only winter we've got"

[WinterWolf]

10 minutes ago, tamarack said:

In Fort Kent, where they host world class biathlon meets based from that outdoor center, it's desperate.  Maybe one year in 50 they'll look like that 3 days before Christmas.

I expected low singles for this morning, got low teens.  Hit -8 twice shortly after the early month snowfall; bare ground equals mediocre cold.

Last year it was the same, and in 2020 the same. And in 2019 too. Decembers can be very fickle there. 2021 I went on the 26th, but it was lean.  And it’s been back and forth like that for the25 yrs I’ve been going sledding just after Xmas.  2016, 17, and 18 they had the snow the day after Xmas.  But it’s a some yrs yes, and some no. 

[CoastalWx]

This December is about as bad as can be even up there. Complete shut 'em down.

[qg_omega]

1 minute ago, CoastalWx said:

This December is about as bad as can be even up there. Complete shut 'em down.

Historically bad December in terms of winter for most of the country and Canada, rivals the most epic fail starts off all time

[powderfreak]

3 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

This December is about as bad as can be even up there. Complete shut 'em down.

Part of me wonders what it would take for Wolfie to acknowledge it being not ideal, lol.  I feel like Bananas could be harvested in Fort Kent in December and it would be “yeah it happens, I saw them growing while snowmobiling 22 years ago.  No biggie.”

[HoarfrostHubb]

Getting skunked here in December is pretty rare.  It happens, even recently (2018 I think?) but oof.

I hope Wachusett gets some snow or ski club will suck for the third year in a row

[STILL N OF PIKE]

6 minutes ago, qg_omega said:

Historically bad December in terms of winter for most of the country and Canada, rivals the most epic fail starts off all time

What you think about January 

you had dec +4-6 I think

[jbenedet]

27 minutes ago, Layman said:

You serious, Clark?

Okay you got me. You got too much time on your hands.

 

Anyway - it's fake cold. We're already tracking near normal diurnal. Newington will finish near 40 today; i.e. Normal.

[qg_omega]

1 minute ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

What you think about January 

Posted in NYC thread

I dont see anything to get excited about in the long range, transient cold to start the year but pattern favors clippers or cutters unfortunately 

[dryslot]

1 minute ago, jbenedet said:

Okay you got me. You got too much time on your hands.

 

Anyway - it's fake cold. We're already tracking near normal diurnal. Newington will be finish near 40 today.

Good thing its just a venial sin committed and not a mortal one, That would call for a disrobing.

[qg_omega]

5 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

What you think about January 

you had dec +4-6 I think

Yes verified on December

[WinterWolf]

10 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Part of me wonders what it would take for Wolfie to acknowledge it being not ideal, lol.  I feel like Bananas could be harvested in Fort Kent in December and it would be “yeah it happens, I saw them growing while snowmobiling 22 years ago.  No biggie.”

Here’s the thing…I’ve been going there for 30 yrs.  I’ve been going the day after Xmas sledding for 25 of those 30 yrs.  Please…please don’t try and tell me that this is something new.  In the 25 yrs I’ve been doing this, it’s exactly as I stated.  ‘19 and ‘20 they had feet in the middle of December, and were up and running at near 100%, and the grinches wiped em out to bare grass both those years. Less than what you see in that picture(which is almost nothing). Last year they had next to nothing too. It goes back and forth. I have every year documented from 1997 to present. And this isn’t anything new in that regard.   Sometimes it’s a good December and then they get wiped out, some years they have the snow at the holidays to sled. 
 

Stay in your lane bro. 

[dryslot]

2 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

Here’s the thing…I’ve been going there for 30 yrs.  I’ve been going the day after Xmas sledding for 25 of those 30 yrs.  Please…please don’t try and tell me that this is something new.  In the 25 yrs I’ve been doing this, it’s exactly as I stated.  ‘19 and ‘20 they had feet in the middle of December, and were up and running at near 100%, and the grinches wiped em out to bare grass both those years. Less than what you see in that picture(which is almost nothing). Last year they had next to nothing too. It goes back and forth. I have every year documented from 1997 to present. And this isn’t anything new in that regard.   Sometimes it’s a good December and then they get wiped out, some years they have the snow at the holidays to sled. 
 

Stay in your lane bro. 

[Great Snow 1717]

16 minutes ago, qg_omega said:

Historically bad December in terms of winter for most of the country and Canada, rivals the most epic fail starts off all time

impossible to argue otherwise..

[DavisStraight]

6 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

Here’s the thing…I’ve been going there for 30 yrs.  I’ve been going the day after Xmas sledding for 25 of those 30 yrs.  Please…please don’t try and tell me that this is something new.  In the 25 yrs I’ve been doing this, it’s exactly as I stated.  ‘19 and ‘20 they had feet in the middle of December, and were up and running at near 100%, and the grinches wiped em out to bare grass both those years. Less than what you see in that picture(which is almost nothing). Last year they had next to nothing too. It goes back and forth. I have every year documented from 1997 to present. And this isn’t anything new in that regard.   Sometimes it’s a good December and then they get wiped out, some years they have the snow at the holidays to sled. 
 

Stay in your lane bro. 

He's just busting your chops.

[40/70 Benchmark]

9 minutes ago, Great Snow 1717 said:

impossible to argue otherwise..

I agree!

[powderfreak]

16 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

Here’s the thing…I’ve been going there for 30 yrs.  I’ve been going the day after Xmas sledding for 25 of those 30 yrs.  Please…please don’t try and tell me that this is something new.  In the 25 yrs I’ve been doing this, it’s exactly as I stated.  ‘19 and ‘20 they had feet in the middle of December, and were up and running at near 100%, and the grinches wiped em out to bare grass both those years. Less than what you see in that picture(which is almost nothing). Last year they had next to nothing too. It goes back and forth. I have every year documented from 1997 to present. And this isn’t anything new in that regard.   Sometimes it’s a good December and then they get wiped out, some years they have the snow at the holidays to sled. 
 

Stay in your lane bro. 

lol.  You get so defensive my man.  It was a joke.  

With that said, Tamarack has been around for a while, probably one of the most level headed observation oriented poster on here.  Tom has seen a lot of winters if you’ve paid attention to his posts.

If he says it’s desperate, most of us are inclined to believe him as he’s never had any reason to shape a discussion outside of facts.  The guy knows more about Maine climo than anyone on here.  It’s on another level than just anecdotal snowmobile experiences.

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

26 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Part of me wonders what it would take for Wolfie to acknowledge it being not ideal, lol.  I feel like Bananas could be harvested in Fort Kent in December and it would be “yeah it happens, I saw them growing while snowmobiling 22 years ago.  No biggie.”

Lmao.

no snow happens in the best of times up there, didn’t you know?

[STILL N OF PIKE]

So it was really Tamarack saying it’s desperation and he lives up there , and Wolfie has been going for decades snowmobiling (or not being able to) in December

I don’t live up there and I haven’t even seen the picture but I imagine there is a big difference between nearly bare ground and being able to ride . So I can imagine many years with no riding in late December but not many with like a dusting on ground . I have no idea , how much is on the ground and is there any kind of close COOP data that shows how rare or not the current depth (or lack there of) is ?

 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

2 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

lol.  You get so defensive my man.  It was a joke.  

With that said, Tamarack has been around for a while, probably one of the most level headed observation oriented poster on here.  Tom has seen a lot of winters if you’ve paid attention to his posts.

If he says it’s desperate, most of us are inclined to believe him as he’s never had any reason to shape a discussion outside of facts.  The guy knows more about Maine climo than anyone on here.  It’s on another level than just anecdotal snowmobile experiences.

Little to no snow in northern Maine in late December also it’s not a 50/50 coin flip either. That’s fake news.