Tuesday, 9:10 am: The last day of February and still lots of snow and ice. I’ve got a cold so I haven’t posted any weather blogs for a few days: I apologize to my readers. My head feels like the weather looks – overcast and gray. My wife has just left for town and will return in a few hours with all sorts of wonderful over-the-counter cold medications to unblock my head and lure me into believing I am feeling fine, which, I suppose, is better then feeling sick.

I’d like to think I am a hardy person, but when I am unwell, like yesterday and today, I feel as though I am well past my prime and need to be sitting in a nicely padded recliner with a shawl to keep the chill away. What a dismal prospect: I better get well soon so I can mince words about the weather and everything else that strikes me as interesting.

Yesterday was bitterly cold with the wind chill; at times hitting -33 degrees Fahrenheit. Just bringing in firewood and feeding the wild birds was an adventure. Today we should expect much of the same according to the NWS in Caribou. Currently it is snowing lightly with a light breeze, but not nearly as strong as yesterday when the high wind recorded was 29 mph at 1:15 pm.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 6 degrees (F.)

Wind chill: 3 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.43 and steady

Humidity: 68%

Winds: W at 6 mph and variable

Visibility: < 1 mile - overcast

Precipitation: Snowing lightly

Since midnight:

Low temp: 3.9 (F.) at 2:36 am

Low Wind Chill: -1 (F.) at 2:40 am

Friday, 9:30 am: It’s still snowing, but again, that’s Maine. Since yesterday we’ve had a just a few inches of snow fall; and for our location in the Saint John Valley, relatively mild temperatures, currently 27 degrees Fahrenheit (F.). I think any chance for a brutally cold winter is rapidly waning. Even our snow stake is still only about 24 inches. Last year at this time it measured about 36 to 38 inches of accumulated snow. A loaded logging truck just went by our house turning vanishing wildlife habitat into dollars.

Yesterday while enroute to a dental appointment in New Brunswick my wife and I saw an auto accident on the Trans-Canada Highway near Grand Falls. Apparently a car reared-ended a semi-truck/trailer. The car’s front-end and passenger compartment were smashed and twisted so much we thought, how could the driver could survive? Luckily he had a seat belt on, and his airbag deployed. The driver was standing on the side of the road calling the RCMP on his cell phone, apparently unhurt. That was one lucky motorist.

As for today, I’ll be going outside soon to fire up our snowblower and clear our driveway and paths around our house. There is just enough snow I can’t ignore it. If I wait too long the snow will start to thaw and turn into slush and then it is impossible to clear. I was hoping for a laid-back day. I guess that weather had other ideas for me.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 27 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.62 and steady

Humidity: 70%

Wind: N at 5 mph and variable

Visibility: > 3 mi. and overcast - lightly snowing

Precipitation: ca. 2-3 inches of snow

Since midnight:

Low temp: 23.5 degrees (F.) at 5:32 am

High wind: 10 mph at 3:05 am

Wednesday, 9:30 am: It’s still cold, but today has a pleasant twist: We have fog, that has left a blanket of small ice crystals on the trees and ground, which has added a surreal quality to the landscape. I’d like to think other northern locations have it this scenic.

Sometimes the local meteorological conditions are not adequately expressed in technical terms. The weather service needs another category that defines levels of scenic splendor. They do this in the autumn, when they describe leaf colors for, “leaf peepers” who come to have a look. Obviously we have a lot of white and shades of white, if there is such a thing. There is, after all, beauty in white too. Maybe we have too much beauty in that case.

I am sitting in front of my computer typing in my snow boots. Now that’s rural Maine. As I have written before, local people refer to our area as The Other Maine. Being from away I enjoy the otherness that exists here. And like many things that make our area unique, the weather is perhaps more akin to the weather in eastern Canada. Now I just need to buy a plaid flannel shirt and fur cap with ear flaps. Yeah right! Don’t’ wait for me to start yodeling, or singing Monty Python’s Lumberjack Song. That’s it for today, more Seinfeldian observations in my next installment.

Current values form our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 18 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 30.03 and steady

Humidity: 71%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: > 1 mile - Dissipating fog

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temp: .5 degree (F.) at 5:01 am

High wind: 3 mph at 9:22 am

Pine Grosbeak and friend

President’s Day, 2006, 11:00 am: Fortunately it continues to be cold. I was worried about global warming, well at least not today and not here. Last night I was talking with some ham operators on my amateur radio on the 80 meter band. They were in southern Maine and commenting about their low temperatures in the teens. When I mentioned my local weather, they jokingly wondered what continent I was on. Not a continent or country, but the Saint John Valley were, I think, we have our own micro-climate, or some other dynamic that’s causes us to literally to chill-out. After all we are, more or less, geographically isolated here. If the world was flat we’d be hanging on by our fingernails up here. Hmm, is this some new and convoluted view of the physical sciences? Stay tuned!

I’m typing today’s weather blog on my wife’s laptop computer which is in our kitchen, and she’s baking oatmeal cookies a few steps behind me. I’m strategically located to eat warm cookies straight out of the oven. I do have stiff competition from our dogs.

I’d like to think we are pioneers in a harsh climate living in a log home, except with automobiles, electricity, satellite television, espresso, and all manner of wonderful electronic gadgets. Okay, okay we are not really pioneers, but just maybe there is hint of the spirit in our genes. From one of my many gadgets, our local weather:

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station

Temperature: 19 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.79 and falling slowly

Humidity: 56%

Wind: W at 10 mph and variable

Precipitation: None

Visibility: > 3 mi. with high light overcast

Since midnight:

Low temp: -13.8 at 6:28 am

Low wind chill: -14 (F.) at 6:20 am
10 minute average

High wind: 14 mph at 10:26 am

Sunday, 11:15 am:
According to the NWS, on an average, today is the coldest day of this year. Unofficially, I probably could have determined that too. Needless to say, this is what a person envisions when one thinks of Maine winter weather – chilled to the bone. As I write, the temperature is 0 degree Fahrenheit (F.) with a wind chill of -12 (F.). Yesterday during a high gust the wind chill dropped to -38 degrees (F.). Fortunately the wind has diminished significantly today.

My wife is cooking lobster stew. If the reader is unfamiliar with this dish, it is very similar to New England clam chowder except lobster pieces are used instead of clams and seasoned to taste. Occasionally she adds small shrimp to the recipe. It has a distinctive aroma when it is being cooked, and is one of those traditional, and tasty, Maine dishes that are great for cold days, like today. But this isn’t a cooking or culinary blog. Onward!

Last autumn while watching a meteorologist on The Weather Channel, he thought we would have severe weather due to a very low sunspot cycle and the water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean being higher or lower than normal [I forgot which one; sorry!] The TWC expert missed the mark for this winter, at least so far, because it has been unusually warm, except for the last few days, and less snow compared to the last few years. Our winter is not over yet, so it is possible his educated guess might still occur. For my current weather please click here.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station

Temperature: 0 degree (F.)

Barometer: 29.97 and steady

Humidity: 44%

Wind: NW at 12 mph and variable

Wind chill: -12 Degrees (F.) 10 min. average

Visibility: > 3 miles with scattered
High clouds

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temp: -11 degrees at 6:42 am

High wind: 28 mph at 12:49 am

Low wind chill: -20 (F.) at 12:55 am 10 min. average

Saturday, February 18, 2006, 9:00 am: More dramatic weather. Yesterday began with snow changing to freezing rain then to rain. Our high temperature yesterday eventually soared to 39 degrees Fahrenheit (F.) until just before 4:00 pm then it plummeted 10 degrees within one hour. It continued to drop until about 11:45 pm when it hit 3.7 degrees (F.). The temperature still continued its downward spiral throughout the night into this morning when it finally bottomed out at 7:38 am with a low temperature of – 4 degrees (F.).

The high winds and frigid temperatures came as predicted by the NWS. The highest wind gust yesterday was 31 mph at 9:45 pm. Today the wind is not quite as strong, but definitely very noticeable with the wind chill currently in the minus teens. Even many of the wild birds that frequent our feeder are absent this morning. Snow has drifted into the freshly cut paths I made yesterday with our snowblower. Once again, more work awaits me. I think I’ll put it off until it warms up into the positive numbers, which might take a few more hours. Fortunately I brought in additional firewood to keep us nice and toasty.

Our town’s snowplow has already been down our road a few minutes ago, so I have to go out and check to see how much snow and ice he dumped into our driveway. Our road was so slippery yesterday that the US Post Office didn’t deliver any mail. I thought that was part of their motto or creed; you know, “. . . neither the rain, sleet . . “ So much for postal employees dedication to their work. That’s life in our corner of the world.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: -2 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.69 and rising rapidly

Humidity: 58%

Winds: NW at 6 mph and variable

Visibility: > 3 miles and high cloudiness

Precipitation: None

Wind chill: -14 degrees (F.)

Since midnight:

Low temp: -3.8 degrees (F.)

Low wind chill: -18 (F.) at 7:52 am
-26 (F.) during gusts

High wind: 26 mph at 21:01 am

Friday, February 17, 2006, 11:55 pm: Good morning, or rather what’s left of it. I’ve been busy most of the morning using our snowblower. We really haven’t so much snow; about three to four inches, instead freezing rain and sleet have been coming down. The snowblower only threw the snow a few feet, but enough to clear our driveway and path to our house. Our road, which is maintained by the town, is covered in ice and extremely slippery. Our town’s only maintenance/road worker was already down once this morning plowing and sanding the road. I am hoping he’ll be down again soon.

As I am busy typing today’s blog one of our dogs, Sandy, is sitting next to me on “her” folding chair. She’s my outdoor supervisor when it comes to household chores. This crazy dog loves the snow. The more snow the better. In fact she even enjoys the ice. She gets a running start then slides across the ice-covered snow eventually sliding to a stop. Then the cycle repeats itself until she’s exhausted. For her, winter is just another season for fun.

Now I have to dry off. My hair and beard are dripping all over my keyboard. My eyeglasses are fogged. I am a mess!

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 34 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.34 and falling rapidly

Humidity: 96%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: < ¼ mile and foggy

Precipitation: currently rain and freezing rain mixed - snowing earlier

Snowfall amount: ca. 4 inches

Since midnight:

Low temp: 14.4 (F.) at 1:42 am

High wind: 10 mph at 9:04 am

-- Sandy --

Tuesday, February 14, 2006, 9:45 am: The last few days have been typically northern Maine winter weather. On the drive this morning to our town’s recycling point I saw a Sun Dog. A very interesting atmospheric phenomenon which has to do with the way sunlight is refracted of off ice crystals in the atmosphere. In lieu of any associated mystical experience, it was pretty cool.

On the drive home from the recycling point I drove through a snow flurry. Not enough to be hazardous, but unique in that the sun was shining brightly through the broken clouds in the eastern sky.

At the moment the temperature is 23 degrees Fahrenheit. The NOAA weather radio said to expect a maximum temperature in the high 20s today. That’s fine with me. I won’t need to bring in so much firewood. I think my middle-age bones are starting to creak like my old chair. And my wife has tasked me with sweeping and vacuuming the house today. I am not exactly Martha Stewart, but I can get the job done. I have to run now and fire up my engine with some French roast coffee.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 23 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.71 and rising rapidly

Humidity: 76%

Wind: SW at 3 mph and variable

Visibility: > 2 miles - scattered clouds

Precipitation: Occasional snow and snow flurries

Since midnight:

Low temp: 9 degrees (F.) at 1:32 am

High wind: 16 mph at 6:39 am

Monday, February 13, 2006, 9:30 am: The snowstorm passed by us. It blew much more to the south pummeling New York City, Boston and everywhere in-between. It looks like the storm may be presently heading for Nova Scotia.

Because the temperature has moderated somewhat, the wild birds at our feeder are out in large numbers today. Competition is keen for sunflower seed and thistle. I can clearly see where the term “pecking order” is derived. At the top is the Downy Woodpecker who tolerates the Evening and Pine Grosbeaks and Chickadees, Pine Siskins , but not the Blue Jays. The jays peck at each other, and all other birds except the woodpeckers. What a hierarchy of food competition! They know when it is feeding time: The Chickadees swarm around me, landing only inches from my hands and feet. They even eat from the top of the feeder when I am filling it up. The Pine Grosbeaks also stay close at hand, but in fewer numbers. They ignore me, which from the perspective of a bird watcher, is great. The snow is deep enough now that the feeder is about waist high on me.

Yesterday while driving on the Trans-Canada Highway, we saw six deer grazing by the side of the road. A nice picture, but too unsafe to stop and photograph them. We will have plenty of them down our road later in the year. Except for our road, the local roads are clear and free of ice and snow.

Current conditions from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 16 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.49 and rising slowly

Humidity: 59%

Winds: NW at 2 mph and variable

Precipitation: None

Visibility: > 2 miles

Clouds: Scattered high clouds

Since midnight:

Low temp: 6 degrees (F.) at 7:09 am

High wind: 13 mph at 9:13 am

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 8:00 am: Wow it’s cold this morning! When we woke up this morning it was -18.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Currently it is -14 degrees. It seems the much awaited snowstorm is hitting far southern Maine. I was watching The Weather Channel a few minutes ago and according to their presenter, Portland Maine is about where most of the bad weather ends, at least for now. There is still a possibility we could get hit later today, but any sizable amount is unlikely. In any case, we are well-supplied for the next several days.

At night when it is this cold we open the doors to the cabinets under the kitchen sink which is situated on an outside wall. This keeps the pipes that are underneath the sink from freezing and causing us major headaches when they burst.

After I am finished writing my weather blog, I will bring in firewood. On days like today, it is a major event. I have to put on multiple layers of clothing and my ski mask so I don’t get my nose or cheeks frostbitten. For 20 minutes of work it takes me 25 minutes to get dressed. Also today’s visits to our birdfeeder have been limited to a Downy Woodpecker and a lone Chickadee. The irascible Blue Jays are probably huddled together in some trees. Please click here to view my current weather information.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: -14 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 30.08 and steady

Humidity: 61%

Winds: Calm

Visibility: > 5 miles with scattered high clouds

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temp: -18.4 degrees (F.) at 6:06 am

High wind: 1 mph at 2:17 am

Friday, February 10, 2006, 1:30 pm: Finally seasonable weather! I was starting to miss the frigid temperatures. Our low today was -14 degrees Fahrenheit at 6:35 am, and our low on Thursday was -7 degrees at 6:15 am. Now that’s what I call Maine weather. I was worried!

The propane technician from our bottled gas company left just a few minutes ago. It seems I had a lapse of memory, and I forgot how to relight the pilot light in our back-up heater. We use the back-up heater that is built into in our stove when we expect sub-zero temperatures. Well we don’t actually use it, but in the event I sleep through the night without getting up to throw on a few logs on the fire, the inside temperature will plummet quickly; so the heater will kick in and keep the house in the mid 50s. I suppose if being stupid was politically incorrect I would have been hosting some radio talk show long ago.

Because we’re expecting a large snow storm this weekend we drove to town for supplies. We also brought in additional firewood to fend off the cold. I know it’s truly cold enough now, because the logging trucks are driving down our road loaded with freshly harvested timber from deep in the woods; fortunately not from our property.

Current Values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 5 degrees (F.)

Wind Chill: 1 degree (F.)

Barometer: 29.90 and steady

Humidity: 58%

Wind: NW 2 mph

Since midnight:

Low Temp: -14 degrees (F.) at 6:35 am

High Wind: 13 mph at 12:52 pm

West from our house across the St. John River in St. Anne-de-Madawaska, NB

Our snow-crusted anemometer yesterday

Tuesday, February 7, 2006 9:30 am: Brrr, it is 16 degrees Fahrenheit. It was just cold enough early this morning that I got up and threw a few logs into our stove, and then I went back to bed. The sky is clear and visibility is excellent with less than 10% cloud cover. For us it indicates it will probably stay cold, or perhaps get colder tonight.

This colder weather comes at a time when I could have used the warmer temperatures: I have to install a new two-meter amateur radio in our car; outside in our driveway, of course. Unfortunately the old radio died last week and we ordered a new one by mail-order from a ham radio store in New Hampshire. Life in rural America is still dependent on mail-order to supply us with goods we can’t buy locally. It reminds me of 19th Century America when farmers in the newly settled West would order from a catalog and wait months for their purchase to arrive. Unlike the Old West, I placed my order by telephone on Friday and the radio arrived on Monday.

Our astronomy club meeting is tonight in Edmundston New Brunswick. If the sky stays clear we might do a little observing. For two small adjoining towns, Edmundston and Madawaska have some very real light pollution, mostly generated from their paper mill, which is co-located on both sides of the border. Luckily, we live about 13 miles away, so we don’t usually see it at our house.

It’s almost breakfast time, so that’s it for today.

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station

Temperature: 17 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.51 and rising slowly

Humidity: 65%

Wind: W at 6 mph and variable

Precipitation: None

Visibility: Generally clear - <10% cloud cover

Since midnight:

Low temp: 12.6 degrees (F.) at 6:58 am

High wind: 19 mph at 1:00 am

Saturday, February 04, 2006, 10:15 am: Pinch me, I must be dreaming. It is 39 degrees Fahrenheit – in February! Next I’ll have shorts and sandals on. The snow predicted for yesterday came as promised. We received about three inches before it turned to rain late in the day.

As for today, it is partially cloudy and almost balmy outside. The NWS is predicting rain, possibly freezing rain for tonight, with more than an inch of rain expected for tonight and tomorrow combined. This is too odd for my brain to comprehend, I need snow not rain. I think my synapses are malfunctioning.

Our dogs think it is spring and they want to spend all day outside playing and rolling in the melting snow. Afterwards, they drag themselves inside, only to have all the snow on them melt on the floor. There is nothing like the pungent smell of wet dogs to discourage eating.

That’s life in the slow lane. My wife is calling me for tea and biscuits [cookies].

Current values from our
Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 39 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.87 and rising rapidly

Humidity: 77%

Wind: SW at 7 mph and variable

Visibility: > 3 miles

Sky: Partially overcast

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temp: 34.7 degrees (F.) at 12:33 am

High wind: 13 mph at 12:53 am

Precipitation: None

Friday, February 03, 2006, 9:15 am: It’s overcast and we are supposed to get several inches of snow today. But that’s northern Maine in winter. I’ve topped of our snowblower and I am ready to roll.

I can hear the logging equipment deep in the woods. They let their equipment idle at night. Apparently if they turn off their machines, the diesel will get so cold it won’t fire up when they return in the morning. Luckily it is off in the distance and we can just faintly hear it when we are outside. They can’t work in the summer because the ground is too soft and soggy and they would frequently get stuck and bogged down.

Our trip to Canada yesterday was fine. My wife and I have become alleged food critics of truck-stop cuisine along the Trans-Canada Highway in parts of New Brunswick and Quebec. We tried a new “diesel diner’ [that’s what we call them] in Saint André just outside of Grand Falls, NB. It opened just a few months ago, and we could still smell the newness. Except for the dinner rolls and coleslaw everything was deep-fried. The portions were substantial, which is fine if I were still 15 years old and a growing lad. I heard my arteries pleading for mercy and passed on the fries. What’s this have to do with weather? Not much. I’ll try and think of some loose connection.

That’s it for today’s page from the catalog of our life in rural Maine.

Current values from our Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 27 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 30.04 and falling slowly

Humidity: 80%

Wind: SE at 5 mph and variable

Skies: 100% overcast

Visibility: >2 miles

Since midnight:

Low temp: 24.5 degrees (F.) at 12:52 am

High wind: 14 mph at 2:53 am

Confluence of the St. John & Tobique Rivers by Perth-Andover, NB

Thursday, February 2, 2006, 10:30 am: What a great morning to wake up to. We had some ice fog and it coated all the trees with a light coating of frost or ice. It looks like a winter scene from a colorful Maine calendar.

Most of the fog I described has lifted and the visibility is about two miles. But it is hanging just above us. It’s just low enough to tease us. The temperature has risen somewhat since sunrise, currently 13 degrees Fahrenheit.

We’re putting of our daily chores for a quick ride over to New Brunswick for a little shopping. Our car is, of course, covered in frozen everything that flies up from the road and passing cars. If we were in the American Southwest I would expect someone to write in the dust “Wash Me!” Here though, the person’s finger would freeze to the car’s body.

Current values from our Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 13 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 30.06 and steady

Humidity: 75%

Wind: N at 1 mph an variable

Skies: Low hanging overcast – earlier fog

Since midnight:

Low temp: 1.8 degrees (F.) at 2:44 am

High wind: 2 mph at 9:46 am

Wednesday, February 1, 2006 9:25 am: The NWS was correct, we did get about one inch of snow yesterday. Today it is partially overcast, and my bones and joints say there probably won’t be any snow.

January of 2005 was our coldest month of the year with a low temperature of -23 degrees Fahrenheit, followed closely by February 2005 with a low temperature of -22 degrees. Weatherwise, this year seems very different. Relative to last year at this time, our weather seems to be a walk in the park. No multi-layers of clothing yet.

Not to mislead my readers, we did have some strong winds and plenty of snow this year, but not the spine-numbing cold temperatures like last year, or the previous year. Of course winter is far from over and anything can happen between now and spring. It is time for some cappuccino. Cheers!

Current values from our Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 24 degrees (F.)

Barometer: 29.84 and steady

Humidity: 63%

Wind: N – NE at 2 mph and variable

Precipitation: None

Visibility: 3+ miles

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 23.2 degrees (F.) at 7:02 am

Low wind chill: -14 degrees (F.) at 4:54 am

High wind: 12 mph at 8:07 am