Friday, January 27, 2006, 8:40 am: It’s not as cold as I thought it would be at this time. Yesterday, the temperature dropped from the teens to single digits as soon as the sun dropped below the tree line. We were expecting minus temperatures during the night, but it never got below five degrees Fahrenheit. That occurred after we were eating breakfast. The wind chill was in the minus numbers at various times throughout the night.

We still have lots of snow accumulated on the ground (see photo below). The snow banks on our road are quite high. They are like a safety net in the event I go sliding off the side of the road. I’ve proven I can do that with great ease on more than one occasion.

Yesterday afternoon we drove into Madawaska to take care of some business, and the roads were clear and ice-free. Our town, Grand Isle, is very small and doesn’t have the population [ ca. 500 people] to support many businesses. In fact, if you blink too many times you’ll drive right through town and miss it. It is a quaint, northern New England, rural town. We like it.

Current values from our Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 10 degrees (F.)

Wind Chill: 3 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 30.26 and rising slowly

Humidity: 65%

Winds: NW at 8 mph

Visibility: A few scattered high clouds – generally clear

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 5.4 degrees (F.) at 7:00 am

Low wind chill: -3 degrees (F.) at 4:07 am

High wind: 18 mph at 4:17 am

The snow bank in front of our house