Weather, Pretty Pictures, and More

On occasion I receive special instructions from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) representative who teaches meteorology at Northern Vermont University - Lyndon, usually when we are expecting an ice storm and CoCoRaHS volunteers are asked to measure significant ice buildup. Today I had a message from Seth Kutikoff, who is a NOAA representative located in Burlington, with the following:

As you are likely aware, meteorological summer begins on Wednesday. Following this date some typical summer heat and humidity is expected, but then we are concerned about another potentially very wet period late in the week into early next week. Anomalously deep moisture, southerly flow, and a slow moving trough will conspire to produce numerous downpours. Accordingly, we could really use your help in daily precipitation reports. Thanks to those who have been contributing so far this month, and through what is now almost the first half of 2023! 

This map shows the rain amounts for the month of  June up to the 15th. I recorded 3.31 in. during that period. It would be very unusual to have a storm that produces an inch an hour - that would have to be a heavy downpour, but according to the instructions included later in this message, that could happen. Of course, how much we get depends greatly on what location we're in. Weather is not an exact science, by any means. In unusual storms, we try to do special reports in addition to the daily report we send, which means taking measurements perhaps every hour or so during the worst of the storm - sometimes a difficult task, but we do our best as long as we can stay safe. What is most important is that we make our daily reports during these storms. We'll see how it all plays out.

I went back and checked precipitation reports for the year to date (not the season, which would include the fall of 2022), and I recorded a total of 33.4 inches of precipitation - that includes rainfall and snow melt; and I recorded 135 inches of snowfall in the same period. That figure only includes the current year - I didn't check what the total for 2022 was. Final take - be ready for a wet weekend!

My friend, Mary Whitcomb, sent these photos that she shot near her home recently. Lovely pictures, Mary, and thank you. Lupines are such showy flowers, and those ferns just invite you to take a deep breath and relax. I don't know exactly where Mary found this beautiful spot, but I'm glad she shared it.

I also want to share a very interesting message from Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes. This recent newsletter has excerpts from interviews with a variety of lake users in different parts of the state, including one with Kate Chatot (West Shore Road), who has been a long-time swimmer at Joe's Pond. I find these reports pretty scary. These are experiences I hadn't realized could happen.

And that's it for today, I expect. It seems there has been more than usual going on recently and therefore I have blogged more frequently. Having items come to me via emails sure does beat wracking my brain to think of something fresh to write about! Now I need to freshen my tea that has gone cold because I neglected it as I put this together, and take a brief break on the porch. I have robins' nests, I think three of them, directly under the porch floor on an exposed beam. It's a perfect space for them, but they are not happy to have me out there sometimes, especially if I'm moving about. I was doing some cleaning and touching up the stain on the woodwork this morning, and they were protesting loudly. I hope they hatch their broods soon (I don't think any have hatched yet!) and I can then knock down those nests. They make quite a mess because they build their nests with mud and whatever sticks, grass, feathers, leaves or sometimes really surprising stuff they find. A male house wren filled one of my bluebird houses with a nest of course sticks, but apparently the female decided against using it - and probably wisely because this past weekend it detached from the pole as a result of being really heavy with all those sticks and the old cedar pole the birdhouse was attached to having seen better days. I'll clean it out and put it back up in a more secure manner. I'm not sure where or how yet, but I'll contemplate that as I drink my tea on the porch, starting right now!