NNE Winter Snow Thread II

[nzucker]

Yeah, todays storm basically came on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 storm. A friend of mine who used to work at the btv nws office said that the march 2001 storm up in btv was his 2nd favorite storm of all time (behind the blizz of 78). He left btv for box about 5 yrs ago and is pretty pissed, lol.

BTV did amazingly well in 00-01 and 77-78, actually unusual for a weak Niño to be snowy in VT as most have been cold and dry. Weak Niño winters and moderate Niño winters have averaged the least at BTV since records started in the late 1800s, I did the research a couple years ago for a winter forecast. The 77-78 season was a huge one for NYC-ALB-BTV corridor, however, very powerful sub-tropical jet in a high-end weak Niño, lots of storminess. It was a big difference from the low-end, east-based weak Niño of 76-77 which was only good for Eastern New England and the lake effect zones from the cold, of course.

The parade of SW flow events in 07-08 and late this winter has really benefited BTV, we've seen a lot of classic tracks with coastals forming near NYC...I had two 20" events at Middlebury last year, 1/3 and 2/24. That was just incredible, don't think it's ever happened before at Middlebury! Also had 25" in V-Day and I think the campus had about 24" in this snowstorm, so a great run of winters since 06-07. 05-06 was a clunker up there, however.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 22.5” Snow/3.45” L.E.

Monday 3/7/2011 12:00 P.M. update: Snow continued through the morning at roughly an inch per hour, with 5.8 inches received in the 6:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. timeframe. The density did drop down a bit, but it was just below 10% H2O so it was still medium range and synoptic-like in density. The flake structure, which had some stellar plates and some flake aggregates up to 15 mm in diameter at times, did make the stack a bit less trapezoidal than this morning:

I ran the snow thrower through the driveway in the late morning, and it definitely took longer to clear things than usual. Biting off over 20 inches of synoptic snow at once was just about as much as my snow thrower could handle, but I used the lower speeds (even had to use a lot of the “turtle” setting) and it definitely met the challenge. I grabbed a measurement shot before I cleared the last slice of the driveway accumulation, and that came in at around 21 inches. The storm total at that point was 22.5 inches, so with the synoptic-level density of the snow, it really hadn’t been settling too quickly.

This morning’s run was certainly the deepest synoptic snow I’ve thrown in one pass, and the height of the intake on my snow thrower is only 22 inches, so that’s pretty close to the max. It is nice not to be shoveling like we did for the 2007 Valentine’s Day storm though, or we’d still be out there. Between the additional snowfall we picked up since noon and the new berm at the end of the driveway from the subsequent plowing, I need to do another pass this evening. I’ve still got my 6:00 P.M. update to write up, but I’m going to throw the rest of the snow and I’ll finish that up later.

Some details from the 12:00 P.M. observations are below:

New Snow: 5.8 inches

New Liquid: 0.56 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 10.4

Snow Density: 9.7% H2O

Temperature: 19.6 F

Sky: Snow/Heavy Snow (1-15 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: 39.0 inches

[dryslot]

Good place for it.

I have a feeling there may be a washout or two around S & C ME.

Just rode here. Hubba hubba.

Vim Toot!

Really? ya think

[radarman]

MRG - WINNING!!!!!

So says their website.

Superlative today. Single was open for only about an hour in the morning... I missed it. Tomorrow will be amazing too as a result. Hiked the mid-station a number of times though, not that there wasn't enough to keep busy on the double. Chest deep in the pockets and light enough to blast on through. Air came with some of the softest landings I can remember. Certain days stand out always in the minds of those who were there and today was one of them for sure. I had non-wx weenies throwing out VD comparisons at me on the lift, and that's when I knew we had something special. Last night I decided I wouldn't go, but I couldn't sleep all night thinking what I was going to miss out on, and come 6 AM I just said, "screw it, I'm going". What a great decision.

[dendrite]

Well the 00z NAM puts up a fight here in the foothills with the CAD out ahead of the next system. 78hr I'm an isothermal snow from H85 down. 81hr is a little iffier. Verbatim it is close to an advisory snowfall here with close to 0.50" QPF by 78hr. Of course it has to be taken with a grain of salt at this time frame. That's a 1046mb high sitting over N ME at 36hr so it means business.

[dryslot]

Well the 00z NAM puts up a fight here in the foothills with the CAD out ahead of the next system. 78hr I'm an isothermal snow from H85 down. 81hr is a little iffier. Verbatim it is close to an advisory snowfall here with close to 0.50" QPF by 78hr. Of course it has to be taken with a grain of salt at this time frame. That's a 1046mb high sitting over N ME at 36hr so it means business.

Yeah, We may at least get some frozen out of this one unlike yesterdays and todays trainwreck

[klw]

here are a few pictures from today. I think we got 12-15 inches but there was a ton a drifting and it could have been a little more. I found 30 inches base on the undisturbed ground.

[dryslot]

here are a few pictures from today. I think we got 12-15 inches but there was a ton a drifting and it could have been a little more. I found 30 inches base on the undisturbed ground.

Nice pics, You guys in VT did very well...

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 25.0” Snow/3.55” L.E.

Monday 3/7/2011 6:00 P.M. update: We spent the morning around at the house, and then we headed up to the mountain at some point after 1:00 P.M. to check out the snow and get in some storm day turns. Bolton’s Vista Quad was on wind hold, but Timberline was running well and we spent the afternoon there. I did several depth checks in the 1,500’ to 2,500’ elevation range and got measurement of 26 to 31 inches for the depth of the new snow. There were some gusty winds at times, but Timberline is fairly protected and wind wasn’t bad except on the ridgelines. I added a couple of shots of the boys below:

At 6:00 P.M. the snowboard had another 2.5 inches of snow on it, and the storm was winding down. The density of the snow had definitely dropped a lot, down to 4% H2O, so the event ended getting topped off with some fluff as Powderfreak mentioned.

This storm was already our largest synoptic system of the season by noontime, and it was threatening to become the largest system altogether if it could beat out the 23.4-inch event from early December. Well, it cruised right on past that and is now the largest snowfall of the season here.

Also of note was that at the 6:00 P.M. observations, the snow depth at our back yard stake came in at 40.5 inches. We have only been here since ’06-’07, but that is the highest I’ve seen here. We’ve been at 37 inches a couple of times before, but not above 40 inches. The report is in from the Mt. Mansfield stake this evening, and the snowpack depth there is now 90 inches after this event.

This storm gave ’10-’11 the shot in the arm that it really needed to catch up to the ’07-’08 and ’08-’09 La Niña seasons. It has now cruised right past ’08-’09, and is within an inch of where ’07-’08 was (179.3 inches) on this date

I’ve added the latest storm totals I’ve seen from some of the Vermont ski areas that have updated this evening, and some are approaching the 3-foot mark. The areas are listed north to south:

Jay Peak: 34”

Burke: 28”

Smuggler’s Notch: 30”

Stowe: 26”

Bolton Valley: 32”

Mad River Glen: 30”

Sugarbush: 34”

Pico: 14”

Killington: 14”

Okemo: 4”

Bromley: 2”

Stratton: 4”

Mount Snow: 0”

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

New Snow: 2.5 inches

New Liquid: 0.10 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 25.0

Snow Density: 4.0% H2O

Temperature: 20.3 F

Sky: Light Snow/Flurries

Snow at the stake: 40.5 inches

[CardinalWinds]

Better late than never! Total 22-23". Two miles NW Montpelier at 850' ASL.:

[powderfreak]

Absolutely stunning morning out there... driving up to the hill it really hit me just how much snow there is on the ground. The snowbanks leading up to the resort now resemble tunnels. I guess 42" on the ground will do that.

Here's a shot from the BTV airport this morning of Mansfield... lots of snow across VT.

[adk]

That was an awesome storm.

The question I have is...who is ready for round 2? Who doesn't think this next storm complex plays out shockingly similarly to the last storm. Not as much total QPF for sure...but track and pattern similarities for sure.

[powderfreak]

This morning I've been called "honest to a fault" haha as I am reporting *only* 22-28". I decided to report what was on the snow boards and only what was on the snow boards and that was 22" of wind-packed snow at 1,500ft (42" depth), and 28" at 3,000ft (depth 75").

I really trust the 28" 3,000ft number, although the 22" at the 1,500ft snow study area is wind effected so that is likely low... realistically though its probably not anymore than 24"-25" in the most sheltered locations.

Also, these snow boards were NOT cleared at any point during the storm so these are final storm depths. It might be more if I had cleared it religiously every 6 hours, but I'm not about to tack on 2-3" just because of that. I really dislike when folks up their total just because they haven't cleared the board.

I'm not sure of the methods used by other ski areas, but if its the same way we used to do snowfall (rogue measuring) then you can pretty much find whatever amount of snow you want to find. So if we take the top numbers reported by ski areas we get:

Jay 42"

Smuggs 30"

Stowe 28"

Bolton 32"

MRG 32"

Sugarbush 37"

Killington 16"

Also, the 3,000ft snow board is almost 700ft lower than the top of our lift system, so it isn't out of the question that there's 30-31" up there. Overall, a solid storm, haha. However, while this storm beat out Valentines Day at BTV, I do think Valentines was more impressive in the mountains than this storm.

[Allenson]

Found 3.5" (0.32" LE) new on the board last night when I got home giving me a 10.2" storm total and 101.5" now for the season.

Pretty chilly morning--bottomed out at 1F.

OK, the snow can now melt and the mud can now dry, time to ride.

[mreaves]

I think that we ended up with around 22". A colleague who lives in East Hardwick reported that he measured 32". I think that I'm with Allenson, time to think about golf!

[wxeyeNH]

Coles Pond Vermont

[Allenson]

I thought it looked blue this morning, but light was just breaking so wasn't completely sure. Certainly saw it on the way home, very cool looking. I was kind of suprised the water levels weren't higher with that jam down river in West Leb, they did drop the flooding, so maybe it had receded by the time I went by today.

It was very cool to see and again, unlike nothing I've seen on the river before. It wasn't nearly as blue this morning, more of a gray...

Here're a couple more from yesterday morning taken on River Road, heading south toward Hanover from the Thetford/Lyme bridge--first one looking south, second looking north:

[adk]

This morning I've been called "honest to a fault" haha as I am reporting *only* 22-28". I decided to report what was on the snow boards and only what was on the snow boards and that was 22" of wind-packed snow at 1,500ft (42" depth), and 28" at 3,000ft (depth 75").

I really trust the 28" 3,000ft number, although the 22" at the 1,500ft snow study area is wind effected so that is likely low... realistically though its probably not anymore than 24"-25" in the most sheltered locations.

Also, these snow boards were NOT cleared at any point during the storm so these are final storm depths. It might be more if I had cleared it religiously every 6 hours, but I'm not about to tack on 2-3" just because of that. I really dislike when folks up their total just because they haven't cleared the board.

I'm not sure of the methods used by other ski areas, but if its the same way we used to do snowfall (rogue measuring) then you can pretty much find whatever amount of snow you want to find. So if we take the top numbers reported by ski areas we get:

Jay 42"

Smuggs 30"

Stowe 28"

Bolton 32"

MRG 32"

Sugarbush 37"

Killington 16"

Also, the 3,000ft snow board is almost 700ft lower than the top of our lift system, so it isn't out of the question that there's 30-31" up there. Overall, a solid storm, haha. However, while this storm beat out Valentines Day at BTV, I do think Valentines was more impressive in the mountains than this storm.

That jay number is Bull**** and you know it PF. They reported consistent totals in the 30-34 range yesterday evening when the other ski areas reported the 30-36 reports. Then overnight they "bump" it up to 42.

That's crap.

Spotters in Orleans county reported 28-30 inches so I'm supposed to believe in a synoptic storm like this that Jay got a whole extra foot?

Come on now...this junk just gives Jay a bad name.

[Allenson]

Anyone else having trouble seeing the images posted in this thread?

[klw]

That jay number is Bull**** and you know it PF. They reported consistent totals in the 30-34 range yesterday evening when the other ski areas reported the 30-36 reports. Then overnight they "bump" it up to 42.

That's crap.

Spotters in Orleans county reported 28-30 inches so I'm supposed to believe in a synoptic storm like this that Jay got a whole extra foot?

Come on now...this junk just gives Jay a bad name.

BTV updated their storm totals.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BTV&issuedby=BTV&product=PNS&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

...ORLEANS COUNTY...
  3 SW JAY              34.0   924 AM  3/08  CO-OP OBSERVER
  WESTMORE              30.0   910 PM  3/07  TRAINED SPOTTER
  1 WNW WESTFIELD       29.5   924 AM  3/08  COCORAHS
  1 NE NEWPORT          29.0   924 AM  3/08  CO-OP OBSERVER
  7 SE MORGAN           25.0   925 AM  3/08  COCORAHS
  3 ENE BARTON          25.0   925 AM  3/08  COCORAHS

[Allenson]

Big spread all of a sudden between the haves and the have-nots.

[dryslot]

Big spread all of a sudden between the haves and the have-nots.

Most of it it elevated related....

[tamarack]

Most of it it elevated related....

Or latitudinal, as N.Maine plays catch-up.

After the 2" of soggy IP thru 7 yesterday, I measured 0.32" additional (storm total LE of 2.26"), all ZR though add'l accretion was closer to 0.2". Had a tense ride down I-95 from Orono yest aft/eve, in freezing dz down to about WVL. Numerous vehicles visiting snowbanks, including an SUV on its roof pointing back the way it had come. Finally got home about 7:45, and most of New Sharon north of Rt 2 was dark, though I didn't notice until I'd turned off Rt 2. Before then I'd stopped at the store on the corner of Rts 2/27, and when 3 bucket trucks and a CMP pickup pulled in, I should've been suspicious that things weren't good.

Power finally back on 5:35 this morning, after 4 false starts 20 min earlier. Saw the reason for outages as I came in this morning - lots of branches on lines, cut away from lines, a large aspen hit the lines north side of Mile Hill and was lying roadside in pieces, probably 0.5-0.6" accretion there. The IP in my yard is bulletproof now, given the the added armor and the single-digit low this morning. 22" at the stake, probably a semi-breakable crust there, absolute worst for walking w/o snowshoes, but my raquets don't have cleats, so even with them a woods walk would be a real adventure. Not looking forward to any kind of repeat performance later this week. If not mostly/all snow, I'd prefer all rain, and not much (unless it's snow, of course.)

[Allenson]

Most of it it elevated related....

Plays a bigger part in the equation early & late winter than it does in the heart, certainly. Longitude made a big difference with this last one as well--partially setting the stage for the look of the current snowpack map.

Coastal plain swept pretty clear now by the looks of it.

[dryslot]

Or latitudinal, as N.Maine plays catch-up.

After the 2" of soggy IP thru 7 yesterday, I measured 0.32" additional (storm total LE of 2.26"), all ZR though add'l accretion was closer to 0.2". Had a tense ride down I-95 from Orono yest aft/eve, in freezing dz down to about WVL. Numerous vehicles visiting snowbanks, including an SUV on its roof pointing back the way it had come. Finally got home about 7:45, and most of New Sharon north of Rt 2 was dark, though I didn't notice until I'd turned off Rt 2. Before then I'd stopped at the store on the corner of Rts 2/27, and when 3 bucket trucks and a CMP pickup pulled in, I should've been suspicious that things weren't good.

Power finally back on 5:35 this morning, after 4 false starts 20 min earlier. Saw the reason for outages as I came in this morning - lots of branches on lines, cut away from lines, a large aspen hit the lines north side of Mile Hill and was lying roadside in pieces, probably 0.5-0.6" accretion there. The IP in my yard is bulletproof now, given the the added armor and the single-digit low this morning. 22" at the stake, probably a semi-breakable crust there, absolute worst for walking w/o snowshoes, but my raquets don't have cleats, so even with them a woods walk would be a real adventure. Not looking forward to any kind of repeat performance later this week. If not mostly/all snow, I'd prefer all rain, and not much (unless it's snow, of course.)

Yes, That to, But the high terrain really stands out

[Organizing Low]

news report from montreal and sherbrooke, including video

http://www.globalmontreal.com/Winter+snow+storm+slows+commute/4395119/story.html

[ineedsnow]

my dad got rcoked up there!! The only problem is he was suppose to be home last night and hes still not home and cant get ahold of him

news report from montreal and sherbrooke, including video

http://www.globalmon...5119/story.html

[Allenson]

my dad got rcoked up there!! The only problem is he was suppose to be home last night and hes still not home and cant get ahold of him

Wow, sorry man--hope he's OK and good luck!

[ineedsnow]

im at his house watching his dog and he called sunday night to let me know he was staying another night because it was so bad.. i wonder if phone service is out up there now?

Wow, sorry man--hope he's OK and good luck!

[Organizing Low]

my dad got rcoked up there!! The only problem is he was suppose to be home last night and hes still not home and cant get ahold of him

thats crazy......isnt he in some smaller town in the eastern townships?

im pretty sure they would be snowed in as there is a state of emergency for the townships in effect.....and it will take some time to all the roads cleared of the 2-3 feet of snow that fell.

they are still working on getting people out of the residential areas of sherbrooke as of this morning, though they said the main roads in sherbrooke have now been cleared.