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NNE Winter Snow Thread II


dryslot

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All done?

32F here--had some light snow overnight to the tune of 0.1". Looks like more is headed this way...

Yesterday's rain left 0.56" in the bucket and dropped the pack from 33" to 31". Pretty wet & wringable out there now. Dooryard is a mess. :arrowhead:

I noticed a pretty negligible drop in snowpack as well... still over 30" easily here. It basically just settled out the two feet we got the other day, but I doubt anything really melted.

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So Mark Breen of Eye on the Sky fame is giving a talk tonight here in Corinth on New England weather lore. We'll be going to that for sure and I'm looking forward to it.....

Yep, same here. Went down to West Leb last night, I was actually surprised that they still had as much snow on the ground as they did. Ran into some nasty rain and fog on the way home. 32F here too.

Yep, it was wicked foggy here last night. I don't get to West Leb too much despite working in nearby Hanover. In fact, I try to avoid it if I can. ;)

I noticed a pretty negligible drop in snowpack as well... still over 30" easily here. It basically just settled out the two feet we got the other day, but I doubt anything really melted.

Yeah, not too bad, all things considered. This stuff is going to prove pretty durable.

Off for chores!

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Nice snowfall gradient around here... my house .1-.2" at 800ft, now I'm at Topnotch up the road at 950ft and there's almost 3/4ths of an inch. I was just up at the base of the ski area and it looks like 2" at 1,500ft.

Just beautiful out there with up to 2" caked to every tree branch and sapling. Winter remains in the northern Greens.

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NWS point forecast also calling for 2-4" down in the village in the next 36 hours, so we'll see.

1-2" tonight and 1-2" tomorrow.

Mountain should easily get 2-4" and given upslope flow and QPF, they may get into the 3-6" range over the next 36 hours.

That's nice to hear Scott, nothing has accumulated down at our elevation yet, but in their early morning update Bolton was indicating a new inch of snow with continued snowfall.

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Recorded 0.87" from this past event, snowpack now 20" and solid - pruned the apple trees today and snowshoes stayed atop except for one time. Core sample revealed 7.15" water in 19.5", with half an inch of gray ice beneath that I couldn't measure, so the total is probably 7.4-7.5".

Deceiving month so far. Thru yesterday my avg temp was 32/10/21, 2.3F below normal, with 3.3" of precip. One might think that combo to be a snow weenie's dream, but despite the low avg temp, nearly all the precip came from rain or sleet, 3.1" total "snow". Doesn't look particularly good for much more.

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Event totals: 0.2” Snow/0.05” L.E.

Sunday 3/13/2011 7:00 A.M. update: I woke up this morning to find snow coming down steady… and fast. The flakes seemed to be falling quite fast as opposed to floating down, and I eventually figured out that it was because the flakes were fairly wet. Some of them were quite large though, up to an inch in diameter. It doesn’t seem like the snow had been falling too long, as there were only 0.2 slushy inches on the board. I added a shot of the accumulation and snowfall from out back this morning:

13MAR11A.jpg

Temperatures are fairly marginal here, and I can see that the Intellicast radar has the precipitation falling as rain in the Champlain Valley. There does appear to be a good pulse of moisture heading this way though:

13MAR11A.gif

The higher elevations should do quite well with this event in terms of snow with their colder temperatures. As of this morning I saw that the local resorts had picked up an inch or two.

There are no notable seasonal snowfall accumulations milestones here with this event so far, however, it is the 40th accumulating snowfall event of the season. Since I started keeping records in 2006, only the other La Niña season of ’07-’08 and ’08-’09 reached or exceeded 40 storms.

Some details from the 6:00 A.M. observations are below:

New Snow: 0.2 inches

New Liquid: 0.15 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 4.0

Snow Density: 25.0% H2O

Temperature: 30.9 F

Sky: Snow (3-25 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: 29.0 inches

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Its been raining lightly all morning down here at 800ft at 33-34F. We did have a brief coating just after daybreak but it melted off quickly and since then we've had light rain (probably drizzle). Everyone once in a while it comes down hard enough to mix some flakes down here, but primarily liquid.

However, I just called up to the mountain and found out it has been snowing all morning up there... 1-2" on the mountain so far but it sounds like we are now having trouble accumulating at 1,500ft with 31-32F and March daylight. Snow level is right above Harlow Hill at the cross country center, so that would put it at about 1,300ft.

25F 3,900ft

32F 1,500ft

34F 800ft

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Winter lives on in the northern Greens. Just got back from the mountain and was pleasantly surprised. Conditions were variable on the lower half of the mountain as the snow has yet to "set up" due to temps oscillating between 30-34F between 1,500ft and 2,500ft over the past 48 hours. Upper half of the mountain has more of a supportable base as the temps have been generally in the mid to upper 20s from 2,500ft-4,000ft and the snowpack has been able to lock up a bit. I found about 4-5" of new snow (almost like graupel, dippin' dots type snow) above 3,000ft and 2-3" below that. That's snow that fell yesterday and today (1-2" followed by 2-3" last night and today). Its very wet snow down at the base with the accumulating snow line very close to the 1,500ft base elevation.

We've been seeing some flurries now down in town, but I can see steadier snow obscuring terrain to my west. It looks like the steady snow is literally like a mile away from my location here on RT 108 towards the village. Radar shows this well, with a sharp cut-off here on the RT 108 heading towards the mountain. Usually I'm close enough to the spine to get in on the enhanced upslope precipitation, but not this time.

Up on the mountain, I did notice an increase in snow intensity as I was leaving around 3pm. Hopefully this last push of orographically driven precipitation can squeeze out another inch or two across the ski resorts before drier air moves in.

Bolton Valley on the western side of the spine is reporting 4" in the last 24 hours and this is a very favorable wind flow for them. Wouldn't surprise me if they locally see another 2-3".

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I just noticed that Sugarbush is reporting 9" new at the summit in the past 24 hours, with 7" at mid-mtn and 2" at the base.

7-9" on the upper mountain is impressive as I never would've thought there was enough moisture for that type of snowfall. Its dense up on Mansfield (no more than 10:1 ratio) so Sugarbush must've gotten a big shot of QPF with this system too... I'd imagine over 3/4ths of an inch to get 7-9".

The only thing I can think of that would lead to that much snowfall last night and today is that they must've gotten into some Lake Ontario band or at least a moisture connection with the lakes, coupled with upslope, because I doubt upslope alone would produce that much snow in this set-up.

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Measured the depth this afternoon. It's down to 18"....still healthy though.

Snow depth is less than 18" now, especially on SW slopes which most of my property faces. Its probably 18" at least in the woods and north facing slopes. How are proper measurements made this time of year, slope and sunlight make it so variable? Took this picture late PM. Definately not 18" along the stone walls. Noticing the first bit of grass under the apple trees but again this is all SW open exposure.

post-268-0-00438700-1300065590.jpg

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Skied Pico today first time ever (and probably last). About 3" OTG and snowed most of the day, and was very foggy. It was raining at the Kilington skyeship on my way in, but dropped from 36 to 32 as I drove up the hill. Certainly quite a bit different from last Monday at MRG, but this was a bonus day that I didn't expect to get in, and there were some nice turns to be had out there.

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Winter lives on in the northern Greens. Just got back from the mountain and was pleasantly surprised.

We had a great afternoon at the mountain Scott – on multiple occasions I checked the depth of the powder at the top of the gondola and measured 6 to 7 inches, and that was only through about mid afternoon. It snowed all day at all elevations, even if it wasn’t really accumulation at the base. Off piste was often spectacular on the top half of the mountain, and even the top ¾ of the mountain, and below that the powder was somewhat wet but on piste the skiing was still great. Bolton just pushed past 300” with this latest snow thanks to some of that west slope action earlier in the season, so Stowe shouldn’t be too long in hitting 300” as well. Even though this event wasn’t accumulating too much at the base elevations, these past events have been building even the lower elevation snowbanks – I got a shot below of Ty on one of the banks where we parked over at Spruce. It was easily twice the height of the car and you could see the new snow on top of the old. Since we got home it’s been snowing here at the house (was just rain today after the morning snow). There’s no additional accumulation to report here however. A couple of shots from today are below:

13MAR11B.jpg

13MAR11G.jpg

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Winter lives on in the northern Greens. Just got back from the mountain and was pleasantly surprised.

Skied at Burke again yesterday and it was excellent. It was wet & drizzly till just below the base of the mountain (1800'). From there on upwards it was light snow and the top was plenty cold and all rimed up.

Again, the skiing was excellent, especially the upper half of the mountain.

Can't beat $20 for 12:15-4:00pm skiing at Burke. No lift lines, great trails, the works.

Gloomy & 28F here this morning, a trace of snow overnight.

Beautiful webcam shot, wxeyeNH!

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Nice Scott. Goat? Secret stash? trying to pick it out.

Secret stash... well, not exactly a secret but you certainly wouldn't just stumble into this area. Its one of my favorites (steep, wide open, and always buried) but just one of many local shots that are all over this mountain.

J.Spin... sweet pics. The snowbanks continue to grow with these light snowfalls... we definitely had a net gain over the past 5 days with 7-10" on Thursday, rain on Friday, and 3-4" of snow over the weekend.

This is the time of year when we start to see the higher elevations (1,500ft+) really pull away from the lower elevations in terms of snowpack.

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It looks like the next snow event in our area is on tap for tomorrow, with low pressure tracking into Southern New England. Checking in on the discussion from the BTV NWS, the snow level is expected to rise to the 1,500’ to 2,000’ range, with mixed snow and rain below that. The point forecast for our elevation in the Winooski Valley at ~500’ suggests 1 to 3 inches of snow in the Wednesday timeframe, with a bit more possible on Wednesday and Thursday nights. In his broadcast this morning, Roger Hill was suggesting the potential for a couple of inches of snow tomorrow morning affecting the commute. Point forecasts for the higher elevations to our north have 2 to 4 inches in the Wednesday timeframe, and farther to the south, 3 to 5 inches is coming up where the NWS says a good combination of the surface track placement and 500 to 700 mb lift get together. After that, the next storm is expected to come into the area Thursday, and provide precipitation chances through Sunday. It’s another warm system, but there will be chances for snow, especially in the higher elevations.

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^ Some serious boats people ski on these days. Me, I'm still on my 204s....and bending them too.

Heading down the Wilderness trail at Burke and looking right at the Lake Willoughby gap. Kind of a gloomy day but still a nearly full-on winter feel up at elevation:

Nice shot! And yes, winter lives on in the mountains (shocker!). Here are a couple from yesterday...

Fog hanging onto the summit at 4,300ft.

IMG_4110_edited-1.jpg

Still looks like mid-winter in the woods with fresh snow on the trees and crisp temps keeping the snow dry.

IMG_4106_edited-1.jpg

IMG_4084_edited-1.jpg

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Reached a nice snowpack milestone that seems to happen a few times during every March--deep cover still, and yet the freeze/thaw cycle has rendered such that it can support the likes of me without falling through (175 lbs). I was able to stand right on the top of the pack last night/this morning and would only break through by trying.... ^_^

Deepest freeze last night in about five. Got down to 13F & everything crunchy.

Love the shots, Powder. I should have planned ahead and taken Thursday off--not often one can ski at Stowe for $39!

Had a real nice look at Moosilauke (4810') from the driveway last evening (can't see it from the house though--hill in the way):

5529275580_89a2ff2ccc_z.jpg

And then again this morning:

5529275670_9f15032fdf_z.jpg

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Upper singles this morning IMBY, hardened the residual from last Monday's sleet/ZR such that the pickup couldn't get moving. As I stepped out to get the ash bucket, my foot hit a particularly smooth patch, thus offering me a view of the ice at eyeball level.

Morning gfs not at all optimistic about these next two events;as expected, the Sat snow seen yesterday on 12z run is gone. Only the ever-retreating day-9 event remains.

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Reached a nice snowpack milestone that seems to happen a few times during every March--deep cover still, and yet the freeze/thaw cycle has rendered such that it can support the likes of me without falling through (175 lbs). I was able to stand right on the top of the pack last night/this morning and would only break through by trying.... ^_^

Deepest freeze last night in about five. Got down to 13F & everything crunchy.

Love the shots, Powder. I should have planned ahead and taken Thursday off--not often one can ski at Stowe for $39!

Had a real nice look at Moosilauke (4810') from the driveway last evening (can't see it from the house though--hill in the way):

And then again this morning:

Wow dude, that first shot especially is phenomenal. I love the late and early day light in the mountains. I got a couple sweet shots of Mansfield this morning right after the sun came up with the upper elevations all frosted up.

And yeah, not often at all can you get on this mountain for $39, haha. If the sun is out on Thursday and temps are in the 40s, with St. Patty's Day and a lift ticket deal... the ski resort is going to turn into one big spring-time party. I love those afternoons when we are all just taking occasional ski runs, ski patrol has BBQs going outside the patrol huts, everyone's got the goggle tan, hanging out in the parking lot, drinking some beverages, music's playing, dogs running around, frisbee and whiffleball games going until the sunsets... spring time at the ski area is a lot of fun. The locals are so happy to finally see the sun that everyone is in an almost euphoric mood.

There are usually a few ticket deals in the springtime... in the past we've done 3-day midweek tickets for $99 and two-day weekend tix for $99 in April... but I'll have to check if we will do those programs again this year. There's also usually a canned food day where you bring two cans and get a $25 ticket that benefits the VT Food Bank, etc.

I'm telling ya, if the forecast looks like several days of sunshine with low RH and highs near 50F, lows near 20F (ie perfect corn snow cycle) in April... the 3-days for $99 is a steal if you can get the time off. The mood and atmosphere up here in the spring-time is infectious, especially years like this when we have a huge snowpack that isn't going anywhere soon.

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Keene is going on 3 months now with continuous snow cover. ~12" on the ground. Pretty impressive.

That sort of data is where NNE usually (last year an exception) comes to the fore. My continuous cover is at 80 days today (had a skip the week before Christmas), and 46 days with 10" or more, with 19" of rock solid stuff at the stake this morning. I've also had 32 days with 20"+, in two separate streaks of 16 - that snowless streak in mid-Feb dropped it to 19" for a couple days. Though my overall snowfall is pretty ordinary this winter, the 20"+ days are 5th best of 13 yr. Another 7 would top 04-05, but 3rd place (69 days in 08-09) is way out of reach.

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That sort of data is where NNE usually (last year an exception) comes to the fore. My continuous cover is at 80 days today (had a skip the week before Christmas), and 46 days with 10" or more, with 19" of rock solid stuff at the stake this morning. I've also had 32 days with 20"+, in two separate streaks of 16 - that snowless streak in mid-Feb dropped it to 19" for a couple days. Though my overall snowfall is pretty ordinary this winter, the 20"+ days are 5th best of 13 yr. Another 7 would top 04-05, but 3rd place (69 days in 08-09) is way out of reach.

That's another really good point. All of New England began their continuous snow pack with the Boxing Day storm ... at the very latest. So many areas also started their 10"+ streak at the same time, which continues for most ... very impressive. It really is amazing to think that we've had 10"+ on the ground now for about 75 days. As much as there was some warmth in February to be sure, we never really had a huge thaw this winter. Many great winters have the major storms, but still we have a period with snow pack that drops to a few inches, before it gets refreshed.

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