Jump to content
  • Member Statistics

    17,586
    Total Members
    7,904
    Most Online
    LopezElliana
    Newest Member
    LopezElliana
    Joined

Our first torch of 2011 April 11-12th


Damage In Tolland

Recommended Posts

While the snow melting is in no way awesome, the photos every so often of the melting are great to see. If you can, keep us up to date until the last patch of snow is gone.

Will do... I have a feeling it'll be a lot sooner than I'd like down here in the Village. Even another mile or two down the road from me and only 100ft lower the snow is getting very, very sparse except for true north facing aspects. The snow-on-the-ground elevation/level is rising quickly now, but it's going to take a lot longer to get rid of the snowpack above 1,200ft. Route 108 through Smugglers Notch to Jeffersonville is still covered with 2-3 feet of glacial-like snow (road maxes out around 2,200ft) and won't be open for quite some time. Last season on this date the road was snow-free and open. What a difference a year makes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 603
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Yes, that little depression on the back side of the hill. It faces north too which is a plus. There's still some decent patches of 6-8" of snow in there from actual snow pack and not piles. I bet that northeast side of weenie ridge still looks like winter right now. I'll have to take a drive up there soon and get some pics. I'm always amazed at how long the snow holds on in these little "favored" areas...even on winter hill. I know some of the snow in those patches is from April 1 because I could see the "whiteness" of it and the crustier appearance of the snow underneath it.

I noticed a few blobs of white on the visible satellite the other day up in nrn ORH county, so I bet there is some snow up on weenie ridge. Imagine if we had a snowy March.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been keeping an eye on the snow in Bigelow Hollow over in Union. I was there on Saturday and happy at the amount of natural snow still there. A week ago it was almost like late winter but it was nice to see a fair amount still in SNE, if not near my back yard. Not sure how much will be left after today, but we'll see. I might take a ride over after work just to check on it. Outside of naturally lying snow, there's another place along Rte 32 where the town dumps snow but it doesn't get a lot of sun. I'm waiting to see how long that will be there.

Sweet! Good to hear the ol' Hollow still has some snow left in it. As a kid who spent summers at our family's lake house in Woodstock, we'd often venture over to Bigelow Hollow state park to canoe out to a small island with an awesome rope swing. Many a summer days were spent in Bigelow Hollow... that place does seem like a spot that would trap snow with a decent elevation, lots of evergreens to shade snow, and the topography is just awesome for creating a cold pocket.

If there's still snow there... I could see a patch or two remaining deep in the north-facing woods in North Woodstock above 800ft.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed a few blobs of white on the visible satellite the other day up in nrn ORH county, so I bet there is some snow up on weenie ridge. Imagine if we had a snowy March.

There is definitely still some significant snow pack in the woods there. It was at least a foot deep about 5 days ago..probably even more in spots. Those sheltered areas will take forever to melt. It'll obviously get less and less visible on the satellite because the sun areas are going to melt, but the shaded sheltered areas still had a ton of snow a few days ago up there.

I was shocked that even the back side of winter hill had 8" of snow in spots in the woods earlier today when I was back there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I drove through there the other day. It is kind of nice to see that are of CT with snow still hanging around. I think there are some deep wood, north faces in Woodstock that still have a bit of snow, but barely.

Amazingly, there is still actual snow pack (not from piles) in the woods on the back side of winter hill in North Worcester. There's patches still holding on. The larger piles might make it until May.

Every spring I find myself driving around to the places that I know hold the snow the longest and seeing what's left. It's amazing where you can find those places. You need either a north facing hill or an open field on the northern edge of a dense evergreen woods. The taller the better. That's what's great about Bigelow...you get both. I know another place in Monson, MA that does a great job....usually good for an extra week. I find myself looking extra hard this year because of the deep pack that we had. Reminds me of leaving Lyndon in May and still finding some snow deep in the evergreens there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All that's left here are a few drifts along the leeward edges of fields. A few of the biggest ones may survive this torch..... There is a massive pile yet at my dump (transfer station) which is on the shady side of the Helderberg Escarpment at around 1400 ft. asl. That pile may make it to May 1st.

There is definitely still some significant snow pack in the woods there. It was at least a foot deep about 5 days ago..probably even more in spots. Those sheltered areas will take forever to melt. It'll obviously get less and less visible on the satellite because the sun areas are going to melt, but the shaded sheltered areas still had a ton of snow a few days ago up there.

I was shocked that even the back side of winter hill had 8" of snow in spots in the woods earlier today when I was back there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is definitely still some significant snow pack in the woods there. It was at least a foot deep about 5 days ago..probably even more in spots. Those sheltered areas will take forever to melt. It'll obviously get less and less visible on the satellite because the sun areas are going to melt, but the shaded sheltered areas still had a ton of snow a few days ago up there.

I was shocked that even the back side of winter hill had 8" of snow in spots in the woods earlier today when I was back there.

The tenacity of snowpack in the spring can be rather impressive... I'm always amazed at how long it can take to melt a solid, mature snowpack on north-facing slopes. That's awesome to hear that there's still snow down there. I bet some of the north facing areas even up here in town may be able to make it close to May 1st... piles in shaded areas are definitely going to make it quite a long time as long as we don't get a week of 80F weather (which I would welcome with open arms). At this point though, I could care less about keeping it around and if the chance came up to get a nice week of 70-80F temps, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The tenacity of snowpack in the spring can be rather impressive... I'm always amazed at how long it can take to melt a solid, mature snowpack on north-facing slopes. That's awesome to hear that there's still snow down there. I bet some of the north facing areas even down here in town may be able to make it close to May 1st... piles in shaded areas are definitely going to make it quite a long time as long as we don't get a week of 80F weather (which I would welcome with open arms). At this point though, I could care less about keeping it around and if the chance came up to get a nice week of 70-80F temps, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

The amazing part about here (unlike up there) is we had virtually no snow in March to bolster the pack. If we had a great March, it would have lasted even longer and be deeper right now.

I remember in 2001 when even wide open areas still had 8-10" on April 10th...where the sun can do its work....the south facing torch areas were bare, but the neutral areas had good pack and the sheltered areas held on to "non-pile" pack until close to May 1st.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All that's left here are a few drifts along the leeward edges of fields. A few of the biggest ones may survive this torch..... There is a massive pile yet at my dump (transfer station) which is on the shady side of the Helderberg Escarpment at around 1400 ft. asl. That pile may make it to May 1st.

There are some northeast facing spots in Thatcher Park on top of the Escarpment that'll hold snow forever. There's some nice, cold, ravines that are shaded by evergreens that I used to be able to find snow in up there at 1,200-1,300ft almost till May... usually a full month after the last snow melted down at home (15 min away) in the Hudson Valley.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could break some record lows on Fri night and record low maxes on Sat if the Euro is correct - LOL.

Interesting... I'm seeing a trend here across the last consecutive Euro and GFS solutions (deterministic). They are both trending more W with the now D6 OV cutoff.. In fact, this run actually fails to bring the lower tropospheric baroclinic axis east of us...

In fact, this Euro run gets us cool to cold on Friday and Saturday (although April 15 sun amid cerulean blue sky will do wonders to off-set that) then you notice out of nowhere the D8 chart has a quasi warm sectoral thermal ridge along the EC.

This may not be done trending. This next week to 10 days could very well wind up being just a 2 day cool snap amid a milder pattern. Spring pattern is notoriously badly modeled. That said, the PNA is negative according to the American model cluster right out through the end of the 2-week period, with one interruption in the middle being questionable as it is presented at CDC. That is not really a cold pattern.

Confusing: The NAO is heavily positive, so much so that we are getting this cold shot at week's end because the PV up N becomes so giant and powerful. However, and perhaps what is the confusing part, it is approaching neutral out in time. That neutralizing may weekend the continental cold conveyor system...leaving the pattern prone to express more of the -PNA. Unless the NAO goes negative, in which case blocking does it for a different reason...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The amazing part about here (unlike up there) is we had virtually no snow in March to bolster the pack. If we had a great March, it would have lasted even longer and be deeper right now.

I remember in 2001 when even wide open areas still had 8-10" on April 10th...where the sun can do its work....the south facing torch areas were bare, but the neutral areas had good pack and the sheltered areas held on to "non-pile" pack until close to May 1st.

Yeah we have a distinct advantage in terms of snowpack from that HECS up here on March 8th. That extra 2 feet of dense snow really set us up... no doubt you would still have snow if you got that storm. This is my first winter "in the interior" (ie. outside of the Champlain Valley) and I've always known the snow lasts a lot longer on this side of the mountains... but it is impressive because Burlington and the Champlain Valley has been snow free for a couple weeks now. Hudson Valley and Champlain Valley lose snow so quickly, that even a spot much further south like ORH has much better snow retention than BTV. That always used to annoy me when we'd lose snow cover almost immediately in the spring over there, while everyone from Tolland northward (CAD locations) would have snow long after it melted even up to the Canadian border in the Champlain Valley.

I was over in the Burlington area a week ago and the college girls were already breaking out the sun-dresses and sitting on the grass in the parks... while 25 miles east of there we had 18-24" on the ground with only a 500ft elevation difference. BTV is the BDL of NNE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another spot here in this greater CD area is what they call the "snow hole" over near Pownal, VT. It is like a small ravine surrounded by rock shelves and shaded totally along the Taconic Crest Trail....just north of the NY/VT/MA triple point. I guess it is notorious to hold snow well into May at least. I hiked up from route 2 (Petersburg Pass) and saw it one September so can't vouch for it.

There are some northeast facing spots in Thatcher Park on top of the Escarpment that'll hold snow forever. There's some nice, cold, ravines that are shaded by evergreens that I used to be able to find snow in up there at 1,200-1,300ft almost till May... usually a full month after the last snow melted down at home (15 min away) in the Hudson Valley.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another spot here in this greater CD area is what they call the "snow hole" over near Pownal, VT. It is like a small ravine surrounded by rock shelves and shaded totally along the Taconic Crest Trail....just north of the NY/VT/MA triple point. I guess it is notorious to hold snow well into May at least. I hiked up from route 2 (Petersburg Pass) and saw it one September so can't vouch for it.

I've read about that place... that's gotta be the hole/ravine that I've heard people say they've seen snow still there in June. A lot of skiers in that area always talk about this hole in the ground near RT 2 along the MA/VT border that holds snow for months after it melts elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah we have a distinct advantage in terms of snowpack from that HECS up here on March 8th. That extra 2 feet of dense snow really set us up... no doubt you would still have snow if you got that storm. This is my first winter "in the interior" (ie. outside of the Champlain Valley) and I've always known the snow lasts a lot longer on this side of the mountains... but it is impressive because Burlington and the Champlain Valley has been snow free for a couple weeks now. Hudson Valley and Champlain Valley lose snow so quickly, that even a spot much further south like ORH has much better snow retention than BTV. That always used to annoy me when we'd lose snow cover

almost immediately in the spring over there, while everyone from Tolland northward (CAD locations) would have snow long after it melted even up to the Canadian border in the

Champlain Valley.

I was over in the Burlington area a week ago and the college girls were already breaking out the sun-dresses

and sitting on the grass in the parks... while 25 miles east of there we had 18-24" on the ground with only a 500ft elevation difference. BTV is the BDL of NNE.

Its all elevation. Im right next to ORH but only at 475', and with the exception of 1" on march 21st, and 4" on April 1st, weve been snowless for about 3-4 weeks now, and almost 5 weeks on south facing slopes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another spot here in this greater CD area is what they call the "snow hole" over near Pownal, VT. It is like a small ravine surrounded by rock shelves and shaded totally along the Taconic Crest Trail....just north of the NY/VT/MA triple point. I guess it is notorious to hold snow well into May at least. I hiked up from route 2 (Petersburg Pass) and saw it one September so can't vouch for it.

There's a few places like that in the Berks'. Mt Greylock in NW Mass out near North Adams has a "hole"-like cave structure on its backside that holds snow almost year round. My sis' went to college there and she said they saw snow in bottom of it in early August back in like ...circa 1991

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah we have a distinct advantage in terms of snowpack from that HECS up here on March 8th. That extra 2 feet of dense snow really set us up... no doubt you would still have snow if you got that storm. This is my first winter "in the interior" (ie. outside of the Champlain Valley) and I've always known the snow lasts a lot longer on this side of the mountains... but it is impressive because Burlington and the Champlain Valley has been snow free for a couple weeks now. Hudson Valley and Champlain Valley lose snow so quickly, that even a spot much further south like ORH has much better snow retention than BTV. That always used to annoy me when we'd lose snow cover almost immediately in the spring over there, while everyone from Tolland northward (CAD locations) would have snow long after it melted even up to the Canadian border in the Champlain Valley.

I was over in the Burlington area a week ago and the college girls were already breaking out the sun-dresses and sitting on the grass in the parks... while 25 miles east of there we had 18-24" on the ground with only a 500ft elevation difference. BTV is the BDL of NNE.

My cousin went to school at St. Mikes in BTV, and I was always amazed at the snowpack difference between here and there even in mid winter. They can't hold onto it at all if there's any type of mild spell. A lot of it is those CAD events in winter where it will be 31 and icing here and they will be 38-39 and rain while the mountains east of them will be a totally different world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its all elevation. Im right next to ORH but only at 475', and with the exception of 1" on march 21st, and 4" on April 1st, weve been snowless for about 3-4 weeks now, and almost 5 weeks on south facing slopes.

Local geography helps a lot too. Your area just doesn't hang onto cold as well on those SW winds or S winds. There's areas up in W Boylston at 400-500 feet that still had decent snow pack last week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it's a few mile hike north along the ridge from route 2.....

I've read about that place... that's gotta be the hole/ravine that I've heard people say they've seen snow still there in June. A lot of skiers in that area always talk about this hole in the ground near RT 2 along the MA/VT border that holds snow for months after it melts elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a few places like that in the Berks'. Mt Greylock in NW Mass out near North Adams has a "hole"-like cave structure on its backside that holds snow almost year round. My sis' went to college there and she said they saw snow in bottom of it in early August back in like ...circa 1991

Isn't there a name?? I thought it was Devil.....something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to the torch observations...

I'd assume the warm front passed through here because we sat all morning in the low 40s at 800ft and mid 30s at 1,500ft... and now its 60F at 800ft and 56F at 1,500ft.

Also, I don't have reliable dew point data, but at MVL the dew point went from 42F mid/late morning to 55F now. That's a noticable difference as this time of year a Td of 55F feels downright humid. I can certainly feel the difference in the airmass now and I have the windows open after being cold in the 36-42F dampness all morning.

Lastly, it would appear the Mount Mansfield co-op has set the record high for the date. The record high on this date (60 year data-set) is 51F and it appears the summit has at least hit 52F briefly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Local geography helps a lot too. Your area just doesn't hang onto cold as well on those SW winds or S winds. There's areas up in W Boylston at 400-500 feet that still had decent snow pack last week.

Yeah, but those areas are rare. The majority of areas below 800' have been without snow-pack for almost a month with the exception of the two snowfalls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...