Spring at YOUR shop?

[Rick Hubbard]

According to the calendar, Spring has been here for almost a week. Spring in Maine, however does not always mean the same thing as Spring in other places. Maybe you would like to share what it looks in front of YOUR shop this time of year. I’m sure that will make me feel better (or not).:rolleyes:

[Dave Verstraete]

Ha Ha!!!! At least I can see the grass in Michigan now. I might not tomorrow though. But Hey. It's Michigan.

Rick- We were in Maine a couple of years ago during "Leaf Peeper time". What a beautiful state you have. But spring does come a little later in the "North Country" Eh!

[Jim O'Dell]

Ok, you asked! 85032 Sorry, I had to really reduce the size to get the file small enough to download here. I guess there is just too much color!!:D:D:D Just to let you know, the grass is the winter rye, and will die off in a month. Then it will just be the dirt and a few weeds. :( Jim.

[glenn bradley]

Actually Spring is over out here. We've had our 30 days. We're right back into summer with temps in the high 70's to mid 80's. I just came in from the shop in shorts and a tank top. Ahhhh, sanity returns. Those brutal 50 degree winter evenings were killing me.

[Brian Effinger]

Actually Spring is over out here. We've had our 30 days. We're right back into summer with temps in the high 70's to mid 80's. I just came in from the shop in shorts and a tank top. Ahhhh, sanity returns. Those brutal 50 degree winter evenings were killing me.

Yeah, yeah... rub it in, smart alec! I'm still looking at snow piles everywhere, and wet, half-frozen grass & ground elsewhere.

[Jim Becker]

60º and sunny here today; tomorrow will not be so nice, but I think that outside of very cold mornings, any form of winter (and we really had no real winter this year) is gone until the next one rolls around.

[Don Bullock]

Rick, what is all that white stuff? Did your washing machine overflow outside?:p


Actually Spring is over out here. We've had our 30 days. We're right back into summer with temps in the high 70's to mid 80's. I just came in from the shop in shorts and a tank top. Ahhhh, sanity returns. Those brutal 50 degree winter evenings were killing me.

Yep, it was actually quite warm today. This is my kind of weather. I agree about those cold 50 degree winter evenings. They were pretty bad this year. ;):D

[Rob Russell]

Hey - we got up into the 50's today. It was nice and warm!

[Matt Meiser]

Our last storm Friday night/Saturday morning dropped 10" at my house. Monroe, MI which is the closest observation point to us, made #1 snowiest winter on record with that snow. Toledo, OH which is also close, but the observation point is in the far southwest part of the area, is at #5-ish. Its warmed up the last couple days so other than the plow piles that's gone. But tonight we are supposed to get 1/2", 1" tomorrow, 1-2" tomorrow night. And we usually get something in April too.

[Brian Effinger]

And we usually get something in April too.
My wife & I got married in the middle of May, 2002, and one of our guests who lives several miles east of Buffalo, saw some snow flakes that morning :eek:. Not only that, but it is fairly common to see the larger snow piles stick around into May as well. Now that is scary.

[Jim Creech]

Usually, here in S.E. Virginia our winters are fairly mild however our summers can be brutal. Personally, (modesty aside) I feel that if you have to put clothes on to stay warm it's too cold!!:)

[Rick Potter]

Well, lemme put it this way....on the first day of spring we usually turn the furnace off for the rest of the season..till maybe November, but this year the nights are so chilly we left it on for an extra week.

Yesterday we went to the beach and played in the surf, got a sunburn. This morning I noticed almost all the snow on the nearby mountains is gone. I too, worked around the house all day today in shorts and a T-shirt.

By the way, I think Glenn Bradley is fibbing a little bit, that hill behind his house looks like it is only about 40 miles inland.

Rick Potter

[John Cooper2]

Well, I am here in Central Ca about 100 miles east of San Francisco and I wish it would stay like this all year long.

at 1 am it is 48 degrees, during the day it will be in the high 60's

Been in shorts and tee shirts most of the "winter" it did get down to 30 something this year.

Wish I had a pic for you, but reconstructing my computer at the moment and cannot upload pics yet.

[Kevin French]

We still have most of 2' of snow around here. It's been warm but I don't see a lot of melting.

[Rick Hubbard]

Hey thanks everybody for letting me know that (a), there really is something like spring somewhere on the continent and (b) that other folks have had an equally brutal winter (misery loves company, I guess).

Just for the record, I am fortunate that I don’t have even more snow. Up north, in Caribou, the official snow accumulation for the season is 187 inches. The last I heard, they still have something like 60 inches on the ground. Ya’ gotta love it!

Also, just to bring everyone up to date, we have 7 seasons here in mid-Maine: #1 is WINTER (that usually lasts from November to mid- March), #2 is FLOOD SEASON (usually from the end of winter and 2 or 3 weeks after), #3 is MUD SEASON (lasts for a couple or three weeks after flood season), #4 is BLACK FLY SEASON (from the middle of mud season until the middle of drought season), #5 is DROUGHT SEASON, sometimes erroneously called Summer by people from away (95 to 100 + degrees from Mid August till mid September) #6 is LEAF PEEPING SEASON (the first 2 weeks of October when tourists come to look at dead leaves and then decide they really would like to live here permanently), #7 is FALL(the last 2 weeks of October, before snow starts to fall, when the weather is beautiful, the bugs are dead and the tourists have decided maybe this isn’t such a humdinger of a place to live after all because the natives seem to be just a little on edge about the approaching winter).

I think it’s not just a coincidence that one of the greatest horror novel writers of modern times, Steven King, lives right here in Bangor (except when he’s in Florida during seasons #1 through #6).

[NICK BARBOZA]

Rick,
I have heard that one about our seasons up here before. but also true is:

our 4 seasons in Maine
Almost winter
Winter
Still winter and
Road Construction

its pretty nice in Bangor today. we should be loosing quite a bit of snow over the next week or so.

Cheers,
Nick

[Tim Thomas]

I don't have a picture to prove it, but the azaleas and dogwoods in my front yard are in full bloom. We have had one or two days in the past couple of weeks where the temperature would suddenly dip down near freezing, but I think spring is finally here to stay. Lows in the upper 50's and highs in the mid 70's all this week. Beautiful weather for now, but it will soon be HOT as the fires of Hades outside. That is our trade off for hardly ever seeing snow, we get face-melting summer heat instead.

I've lived in the south my whole life, except for one year, and I used to complain about the summer heat. What broke me of that was the one year that my wife and I lived in Toledo, OH. We moved there in September of 2000 and left in October of 2001. I have never been so cold, miserable and depressed in all of my life. During the winter I don't think I saw the sun for three solid months. December of 2000 was particularly bad, and if I recall correctly it was their #5 coldest and #1 snowiest December in recorded history. That was just too much to take for a boy from Georgia and a girl from Alabama. I swore that if I could get back to the south that I would never again complain about the heat of the summer.

Now, when it is 115 degrees with the heat index and I am riding around in my old pickup with the windows rolled down and sweat dripping off of my nose, I've still got a great big grin on my face. I just think to myself, "Hey, it could be worse, at least I can see the sun today." and that suits me just fine.

All of you folks in northern climates have my sympathy. My mom grew up in western Pennsylvania (Connoquenessing, a tiny town near Butler, north of Pittsburgh) and we go up just about every year to visit her side of the family. We have visited for Christmas a couple of times, but usually we go up in the summer. The last time I went up there in the winter, I battled with 16 inches of snow on the road for a week, and I told my mom that I wasn't ever going to do it again. We can visit them in the summer and they can come see us during the winter. That way, everybody wins. :D

[RickT Harding]

Hey, I was excited last night. I did some shop cleaning with the garage door opened up. I had a nice sweatshirt on and the wind wasn't blowing IN the garage, but it was nice to get some air in there while cleaning things up a bit.

[Rick Hubbard]

Rick,
I have heard that one about our seasons up here before. but also true is:

our 4 seasons in Maine
Almost winter
Winter
Still winter and
Road Construction

Nick

Thats a great one!! Only thing is, probably only in Maine would anyone consider patching potholes and painting fresh lines on the pavement "road construction."

I work in Orono, so it is looking pretty nice here too. Can't believe what a difference 30 miles makes.

BTW, check your PM's.

Rick

[Kevin French]

Rick we're headed up past you, Mid Black Fly to Early Drought, (last full week in June), to run the Allagash. I've been wondering if I should include my snow shoes.
Looking at the weather maps, it appears the the Allagash and St John watersheds got even more then Caribou.

[Lewis Cobb]

According to the calendar, Spring has been here for almost a week. Spring in Maine, however does not always mean the same thing as Spring in other places. Maybe you would like to share what it looks in front of YOUR shop this time of year. I’m sure that will make me feel better (or not).:rolleyes:


Hi Rick - I'm about 3 hours up the I-95 from you, across the Canadian border here in New Brunswick. If you take those snowbanks of yours and x 4 their height you would have a good image of our spring. It's been the worst winter in the 15 years I have lived here and I expect you are pretty fed up with the weather "down south" where you live as well - :D

I'm hopefully headed down your way in the next month or so to pick up some Powermatic tools that I have coming up to the nearest truck depot in Bangor. Maybe if schedules permit I can drop by and say hello to a fellow woodworker.

Cheers,
Lewis

[Mike Cutler]

Well, lemme put it this way....on the first day of spring we usually turn the furnace off for the rest of the season..till maybe November, but this year the nights are so chilly we left it on for an extra week.

By the way, I think Glenn Bradley is fibbing a little bit, that hill behind his house looks like it is only about 40 miles inland.

Rick Potter

You have furnaces in So. Cal? :eek:,:D,

Just kiddin' Rick.

Ganesha High School Graduate. Class of 1976.;)
My aunt still lives off of Mountain in Ontario.

[Rick Hubbard]

Hi Rick - I'm about 3 hours up the I-95 from you, across the Canadian border here in New Brunswick. If you take those snowbanks of yours and x 4 their height you would have a good image of our spring. It's been the worst winter in the 15 years I have lived here and I expect you are pretty fed up with the weather "down south" where you live as well - :D

I'm hopefully headed down your way in the next month or so to pick up some Powermatic tools that I have coming up to the nearest truck depot in Bangor. Maybe if schedules permit I can drop by and say hello to a fellow woodworker.

Cheers,
Lewis

Hey Lewis! That would be a GREAT idea. Just let me know a day or so ahead of time. If nothing else we can get some lunch/dinner together.

Rick

[Lewis Cobb]

Hey Lewis! That would be a GREAT idea. Just let me know a day or so ahead of time. If nothing else we can get some lunch/dinner together.

Rick

Sounds good. It's been years since I've been to Bangor - I used to go to Sebago Lake each summer with my mom and dad when I was a young lad. That was 40 years ago though - the place has probably changed a bit since then ! I'll make a note and give you a shout when the time comes.

Cheers,
Lewis

[Matt Meiser]

Update: we are now forecast to get 3-6". I drove home from my club's board meeting in snow so heavy I could only see about 100 yards ahead of me.

[Rick Malloy]

Currently temp is down to 63 here in Virginia, at 10:45PM. Tomorrow is going to be high 70's. I like this a lot better than being up North. I did spend some several years in Minnesota where they we only had the 2 seasons, Winter and road repair. When I lived there I saw the snow fly in September, but not stick yet - that's October:), and parked next to a pile of snow at the shopping mall in early June :eek:. That's a looong winter. Also one of the reasons I now live where they close schools if the forecast is for snow, and that doesn't happen too often. For some background, I was born and grew up in upstate NY. Up in Syracuse area, the snow belt. Fun when you are a kid, not so much fun now.

[David Sallee]

Well we had a record breaking high of 82 degrees here in SW Missouri ... normal is around 50 for a high... the trees are starting to bud out and the yard needs mowed for the first time already, thanks to ALL the rain the last few days .. going to do that Saturday....

Currently it's storming and tornado warnings about... I'm a storm chaser also along with my oldest son and my wife thinks we're nuts :eek: ...

http://www.tornadopursuit.com/images/0702043_425.jpg

http://www.tornadopursuit.com/ Yea I know, website needs updated BAD! My son has been a little lazy on the upkeep.. LOL

Dave

[Jim Ciesla]

This is what it looked like next to my place this afternoon.

[Rick Hubbard]

Currently it's storming and tornado warnings about... I'm a storm chaser also along with my oldest son and my wife thinks we're nuts :eek: ...
Dave

A storm chaser???? FWIW, I think maybe your wife is a pretty good judge of character:).

If I had my choice between all the snow in the world and facing down a beast like the one in your picture, I'd take the snow anytime. At least after the snow melts there is something left.

I've lived in a few different places around the US, but I have never had to live where tornados were a danger. Don't know how you maintain your sanity.

Rick

[Kevin French]

6" of Spring (so far) today. I woke to the generator running.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Kevin, We're getting off easy down my way. There were only 3" new inches on the ground when I left for work this morning. I expect when I get home ther'll be 6" or more. Things are great though, I haven't used the snowblower in over 2 weeks.

[Kevin French]

Roger that Dave. I didn't blow the last 2, but I'm headed out now to do the driveway. It's north facing and I've had ice infront of the doors for over a month.

But with my transfer to Keene PO I'm not shoveling right now, and there's no shoveling in my job discprition, so winter just got a WHOLE lot better.

[Tim Thomas]

I've lived in a few different places around the US, but I have never had to live where tornados were a danger. Don't know how you maintain your sanity.

Yeah, when I moved to Birmingham, AL a little over two years ago I had no idea that tornados were relatively common in this area. (Not nearly as common as they are in the mid-west, but they were really bad this year.) They can be a little unnerving, but after living in Charleston, SC for 4 years I have to say that I prefer them to the threat of hurricanes. With hurricanes you have to dread the thing for a whole week or more, and then if it doesn't hit you there is ANOTHER storm about 10 days behind it that they start tracking. The weather channels can overload you with too much information and I felt on edge for months when I lived there. At least with tornados you only have to be worried for a few hours, not weeks. :)

(But I still prefer the threat of hurricanes and tornados to snow and freezing weather. I just really, really, really, really don't like to be cold. :D)

[Barry Nelson]

First days of Autumn here in Australia,best time of the year in my opinion,cloudless days, cool nights.temperature been around 25-27 celsius for last few days.:)

[Chris Walls]

Rick

Here in the western U P we have had about 260" of snow according to last nights paper. It's been quiet last couple of days and has not snowed. We have got about 3 to 4 feet of snow in the yard. This morning the temp was -1 at 6 am when I left for work, it got up to a raging 27 this afternoon. BUT the sun is shining and any day you can get up and look out the window is a good one.
This afternoon when I got home I saw something I had never seen before, there was an earthworm, a night crawler really , crawling around on the top of a snow bank next to my driveway. Now is that a sign or what, even the worms are ready for spring!

Chris