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MARCH


Mr Torchey

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That was the same argument you made against the NAO in Dec. You're contradicting yourself all over the place.. sometimes better just to admit we don't know all the answers. I agree.. let Will clear it up.

FWIW the NAO appears to correlate well to air temperatures even in April. Not quite as well as Jan/Feb but better Dec. So that would tell me that the NAO still does have a big effect even in March and April.

I don't ever remember making an argument against the NAO because of wavelengths...I always said having a -NAO was key for KU events and increased our chances for above average snowfall, but just that the Pacific was important early in the season as a cold air source and to allow energy to dig to our latitude. The -NAO can't provide cold air for a November snowstorm as the -EPO can.

I think there is an issue of cold air source that needs to be discussed: early in the winter, Northwest Canada and the Prairies are the best cold air source, especially since Hudson Bay isn't frozen yet. Later in the season, it's easier for the Western Arctic/Western Canada to warm up, so the eastern areas like Hudson Bay and Greenland become more important, and that's why the NAO may be key to late-season snowfalls. It takes much much longer for the areas influenced by the NAO to warm up in springtime so we can sometimes get sneaky cold from the maritime polar regions even as continental arctic air is being eliminated from the map by sun angle.

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Obviously raw correlations don't tell the whole story in terms of storm track but there does seem to be a good correlation between the NAO and temps even in April.

I ran a correlation maybe 2 years ago on April snow events over 3" and there was almost zero. Not that it means its true, but I think its hard to tell...because a majority of April events occur early on. So any NAO after that wouldn't mean anything. As said previously, and this is only one example...1997 was a huge vortex over S greenland and a big -PNA. Cutoffs are how it happens for the most part late in the year, but obviously there are exceptions.

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Man it would be nice to get a taste of those late season storms. Nice disco. April '82 or bust. Nothing like a power bomb in April with 850 temps starting at -10C..lol.

This has been a great discussion, I know we've tossed some snide remarks around but all in good fun.

The April 1982 storm fascinates me, Central Park had 10" of powder with temps in the low-mid 20s. I know we've seen -10C 850s getting into the Deep South in April 2007, but that just seems extreme. I wonder if there's any truth to late season snowstorms being "warning shots" for Super El Niños, thinking of April 1982 and April 1997.

The ECM and GFS both show some sort of troughing entering the East around Day 8-10; this may be the chance for our last major snowfall of the season. The teleconnections look more favorable with the Aleutian ridge sliding east into an AK block and a North Atlantic ridge developing. I'm not ready to give up yet as I do think March 10-20 could produce a couple decent snowfalls. Canada has been well below average for a while now, and that air may move south after the stalled front passes early next week, setting up a wintry regime for the East Coast.

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This has been a great discussion, I know we've tossed some snide remarks around but all in good fun.

The April 1982 storm fascinates me, Central Park had 10" of powder with temps in the low-mid 20s. I know we've seen -10C 850s getting into the Deep South in April 2007, but that just seems extreme. I wonder if there's any truth to late season snowstorms being "warning shots" for Super El Niños, thinking of April 1982 and April 1997.

The ECM and GFS both show some sort of troughing entering the East around Day 8-10; this may be the chance for our last major snowfall of the season. The teleconnections look more favorable with the Aleutian ridge sliding east into an AK block and a North Atlantic ridge developing. I'm not ready to give up yet as I do think March 10-20 could produce a couple decent snowfalls. Canada has been well below average for a while now, and that air may move south after the stalled front passes early next week, setting up a wintry regime for the East Coast.

Yeah it's getting close to that time of year, especially the final half of the month, where timing of these big ole bowling balls moving east will be more crucial than anything. Having Canada cold is important, especially for the airmass just aloft (from 950-850). That's the critical level for us low folk. We want that pretty darn cold. Those temps may support 40-45 or so during the day with sunshine, but will also provide temps near 30-32 in late season snowstorms...when you got precip falling..lift etc.

I saw some hints that go along with what you're describing too, but obviously it's too early being March 3rd, to determine anything.

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What a long range disaster.

Scott, have you happened to notice what the outlook in AK is for later this month. Been cold and dry there. Looks like I'll be heading up at the end of the month. Hoping to hit it during a snow cycle. Alyeska is off pace with only 370" so far this season.

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Scott, have you happened to notice what the outlook in AK is for later this month. Been cold and dry there. Looks like I'll be heading up at the end of the month. Hoping to hit it during a snow cycle. Alyeska is off pace with only 370" so far this season.

I haven't noticed, but it looks like there should be a trough in the area so I'm sure they will have some snow. I think January sucked for them which is why they are behind.

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I haven't noticed, but it looks like there should be a trough in the area so I'm sure they will have some snow. I think January sucked for them which is why they are behind.

Oh, they'll have snow.lol It's just a matter of will I get any 40+" new powder days. This was the view 2 days before Halloween.

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Figured I'd pass this along, as Tim forwarded this to me and his NECN cohorts like Noyes... I should probably PM this to Steve/Ginx cause he loves WINDEX so much... this is Tim Kelley's 20 second clip of the conditions at 3,000ft during the WINDEX event yesterday.

Weir Lundstedt enjoying the event he named... oh and by the way, conditions are as harsh as Weir looks uncomfortable. He's standing fully exposed at the top of the chute to brutal NNW winds. We clocked some 50mph gusts at the ski area with this squall line.

http://surfskiweathe...index-at-stowe/

Temp this morning is -12F up there.

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Sucks that we lost the snow/ice changeover for Monday.Probably will come back again on tomorrow's runs

The GFS ensembles and to some extent the euro ensembles have it, but it's sometimes difficult to do. It probably won't be sorted out for another 2-3 days, but can't say I'm terribly excited right now.

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