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October 2011 Banter/Obs/Disco Part III


HoarfrostHubb

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It's been above normal, but not shocking if you have been watching NE wx for 40 years or so..... I can recall plenty of years where we just couldn't get any sustained chilly wx until around Thanksgiving. Then it turned and we had a cold and snowy winter. So I really am not worrying much about it and I hope Iberia is under a late season Azores ridge in early November. :) Then it can get cold....

Oh and I fly into JFK on the evening of the 16th. ;) ...would be nice timing.

Lol, it could not be further from the truth, you see things only in extremes and in white, the fact is there is nothing average about this autumn, its been an all out torch, and while we get back to maybe a few above normal this weekend, next week will be above. Later in the week, a possible below normal couple of days before another potential torch.

The snow will come, eventually. I was actually thinking about ski operations in the north country, I know a couple resorts like to open later in October, obviously thats not happening, but if this pattern persists it will be interesting to see how late things get going, as you know a Sustained period of cold is needed, not sure when that will happen. It stinks because now its about economics, hopefully November will cool down quickly up north, I still like the 16th for a pattern change.

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We had the two more good snowstorms in later Feb and early March here..... 13" on 2/25 and 12" on 3/6-7.... So really a nice full winter season and 103" total.

Yeah we had our biggies later in the season. 42 inch snowpack after 28" on 3/6-7.

http://www.backtotheearthgroup.com/scottb/Stowe_2011/March%208/IMG_3813_edited-1.jpg[\img]

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I had almost 20" more than my folks down to the se, but stupid urban heat Island screwed me. They're snowpack lasted longer then mine.

Forested and being NW definitely helps...esp this past winter since the gradient in that area was so strong. It happens here too...N and NW side of ORH is much more wooded (and some extra elevation) than the S and SE side of town so there is often a large snow pack gradient.

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Forested and being NW definitely helps...esp this past winter since the gradient in that area was so strong. It happens here too...N and NW side of ORH is much more wooded (and some extra elevation) than the S and SE side of town so there is often a large snow pack gradient.

The biggest saver for me was the severe Tstorm with 2 inches of rain which then froze solid, virtual glacier for weeks on end.

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Forested and being NW definitely helps...esp this past winter since the gradient in that area was so strong. It happens here too...N and NW side of ORH is much more wooded (and some extra elevation) than the S and SE side of town so there is often a large snow pack gradient.

Even in Norwell...they had this displayed even more so than in Marshfield. Being nw def helps. You can joke about it being the Tolland of the south shore, but there are little mesoscale things that happen there. OES is one of them. The other is the very fine gradient that set up this year. A person I knew in Pembroke kept saying how the part of town near Kingston had half the snow the other side near Hanover had. The rain/snow line literally crossed the town.

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It's been above normal, but not shocking if you have been watching NE wx for 40 years or so..... I can recall plenty of years where we just couldn't get any sustained chilly wx until around Thanksgiving. Then it turned and we had a cold and snowy winter. So I really am not worrying much about it and I hope Iberia is under a late season Azores ridge in early November. :) Then it can get cold....

Oh and I fly into JFK on the evening of the 16th. ;) ...would be nice timing.

It has been a top 10 warmest first half of Fall almost everywhere thus far. Here are the stats...

ST  ID     MEAN   RANK      ST  ID     MEAN   RANK
--------------------------------------------------
CT  BDL    64.9    6        ME  AUG    60.2    8 
CT  BDR    67.3    5        ME  BGR    59.2    8 
CT  DXR    63.8    2        ME  CAR    56.2    3 
CT  GON    64.9    3        ME  FVE    53.9    5 
CT  HFD    66.8    3        ME  GNR    56.2    8 
CT  HVN    66.4    4        ME  GYX    55.1    16
CT  IJD    64.5    1        ME  HUL    55.9    4 
CT  MMK    65.2    3        ME  IWI    59.3    2 
MA  ACK    63.8    5        ME  IZG    59.4    2 
MA  AQW    61.2    3        ME  MLT    58.6    1 
MA  BAF    64.0    1        ME  PWM    60.8    4 
MA  BED    63.0    5        NH  AFN    60.0    3 
MA  BOS    66.2    5        NH  BML    56.8    2 
MA  BVY    63.1    3        NH  CON    60.9    4 
MA  CHH    63.7    6        NH  DAW    61.5    3 
MA  CQX    65.8    1        NH  HIE    56.7    2 
MA  EWB    64.2    2        NH  LEB    60.6    2 
MA  FIT    64.1    1        NH  MHT    63.7    3 
MA  HYA    63.9    2        NH  MWN    44.3    3 
MA  LWM    65.1    1        RI  PVD    65.7    8 
MA  MQE    60.9    40       RI  UUU    64.7    2 
MA  MVY    65.0    1        RI  WST    64.9    2 
MA  ORE    61.7    2        VT  1V4    58.8    16
MA  ORH    62.7    6        VT  BTV    61.1    6 
MA  OWD    64.4    1        VT  DDH    60.5    2 
MA  PSF    60.2    7        VT  MPV    58.9    4 
MA  PYM    65.2    1        VT  MVL    58.9    2 
MA  TAN    63.5    3        VT  VSF    61.5    1 

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Even in Norwell...they had this displayed even more so than in Marshfield. Being nw def helps. You can joke about it being the Tolland of the south shore, but there are little mesoscale things that happen there. OES is one of them. The other is the very fine gradient that set up this year. A person I knew in Pembroke kept saying how the part of town near Kingston had half the snow the other side near Hanover had. The rain/snow line literally crossed the town.

They get a lot of CFs to set up right around there...so the part of town that often ends up on the cold side would have more impressive snow and snow pack. I bet thats part of it too. It is definitely neat to see some of the different microclimates when it comes to snow pack retention. It seems to affect the pack more than the actual snowfall itself. Like you said, they kept snow longer on the ground than you did despite you getting 20" more than them.

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speaking of snow pack .....would it be accurate to state the white's keep there pack longer than the greens (in general) .....i just rememer sking wildcat which is mostly shaded from sun....in late april last year and they still had tons of snow ...esp above 3000'. also it would seem there is more QPF in the 200 annual inches of snowfall wildcat get's then say the 300 or so that stowe and jay get.

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speaking of snow pack .....would it be accurate to state the white's keep there pack longer than the greens (in general) .....i just rememer sking wildcat which is mostly shaded from sun....in late april last year and they still had tons of snow ...esp above 3000'. also it would seem there is more QPF in the 200 annual inches of snowfall wildcat get's then say the 300 or so that stowe and jay get.

Yes they hold cold air better than the Greens in general. The WE is higher too in their snow since a lot of the northern Greens snowfall is upslope snow with extremely high ratios. Its like LES.

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a general OT question for will

why does blue hill average nearly 50 percent more snow than boston for a relatively meager elevation change of 600 feet. is there upslipe component off the ocean that is a sizeable factor

it made me wonder when i lived in framingham if the area in Nobscot, Ma (N framingham) that reaches approx 600 feet would average say 20 percent more snow than the surrounding locale's which have about 400 feet less elevation? any idea. btw there is a road that goes up to like 580' next to the top of nobscot hill. OT ....but just wondering

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They get a lot of CFs to set up right around there...so the part of town that often ends up on the cold side would have more impressive snow and snow pack. I bet thats part of it too. It is definitely neat to see some of the different microclimates when it comes to snow pack retention. It seems to affect the pack more than the actual snowfall itself. Like you said, they kept snow longer on the ground than you did despite you getting 20" more than them.

I notice this many times on rt 3. There can be a huge difference between exit 15 (Hingham) to exit 10 (Duxbury/Kingston). If it's not a CF..it may be the mid levels that favor the areas to the north...like this year. The difference between where my parents live and PYM was remarkable. I know those who aren't from the area may not care, but when you are from the area...you notice these things.

Off topic here....but this is kind of interesting. I was telling Will, that sometimes..you can see OES type stuff on radar. Sometimes it shows up as cellular type cells moving in from the ene to wsw. When these cells come in, the snow growth is putrid, but vis sometimes drops below 1/4sm. I see these many times in snow events..even if they are tough to see on radar. I guess what it could mean..is that while snow growth wasn't great...it added to the snowpack and water equivalent..moreso than the actual height of the snowpack. This is more noticeable in cold antecedent events..but it most certainly happens. Again...I know most don't care about it...but something I have noticed while living there. I'm sure Will can bring about examples where he noticed a little lift over the hills..during events with good easterly flow. My friend Dan (meteotrade) used to tell me how drizzle events got a little heavier at the top of his hill near ORH airport.

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4th thunderstorm of the evening in progress... just about an inch since the first storm at 5:30pm.

Each storm has a different intensity... the first one had some good wind gusts... the second had torrential rain and virtually no wind.... the third had very loud thunder and now this 4th one has vivid lightning and some thunder blasts.

Pretty impressive for mid-October....

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a general OT question for will

why does blue hill average nearly 50 percent more snow than boston for a relatively meager elevation change of 600 feet. is there upslipe component off the ocean that is a sizeable factor

it made me wonder when i lived in framingham if the area in Nobscot, Ma (N framingham) that reaches approx 600 feet would average say 20 percent more snow than the surrounding locale's which have about 400 feet less elevation? any idea. btw there is a road that goes up to like 580' next to the top of nobscot hill. OT ....but just wondering

Blue Hill is a bit inland...you can't leave that part out. Its SW of the city so that actually protects it even more on an E or ENE wind vs BOS because of the south shore sticking out just S of BOS. I don't think they get a lot of upslope because the geographical area is too small...maybe some minor upslope. With an area that small, you'd need a much larger elevation change. The areas around MQE probably average low 50s....esp just W of them. The Walpole coop just W of them averages 53" per year. Add about 1" of snow increase for every 100 feet increase and that gets you to 58 inches per year (MQE is 635 feet and Walpole coop is 170 feet)...and you are nearly at MQE's average. They average 60-61". Maybe throw in some minor upslope and a little latitude advantage on Walpole, and that can explain the other couple inches.

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Again...I know most don't care about it...but something I have noticed while living there. I'm sure Will can bring about examples where he noticed a little lift over the hills..during events with good easterly flow. My friend Dan (meteotrade) used to tell me how drizzle events got a little heavier at the top of his hill near ORH airport.

I've seen even in winter where we'll have a light inshore flow with overcast skies and trying to spit flurries...and then when you climb up the east slopes of the hills a bit, it becomes a steadier light snow...almost like a drizzle version of snow...small flakes but dense in coverage...You see is max out on the spine, esp areas like weenie ridge, and then when you go west of the spine, it shuts off and it can be doing nothing at all 5-10 miles W.

I remember this happening on Dec 26, 2009. We picked up a few tenths with that "snizzle" type stuff.

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Blue Hill is a bit inland...you can't leave that part out. Its SW of the city so that actually protects it even more on an E or ENE wind vs BOS because of the south shore sticking out just S of BOS. I don't think they get a lot of upslope because the geographical area is too small...maybe some minor upslope. With an area that small, you'd need a much larger elevation change. The areas around MQE probably average low 50s....esp just W of them. The Walpole coop just W of them averages 53" per year. Add about 1" of snow increase for every 100 feet increase and that gets you to 58 inches per year (MQE is 635 feet and Walpole coop is 170 feet)...and you are nearly at MQE's average. They average 60-61". Maybe throw in some minor upslope and a little latitude advantage on Walpole, and that can explain the other couple inches.

Yeah even where I am...it helps being just a bit inland. I'm only a mile inland, but just a little bit of that colder air aloft mixes down and can help me stay closer to 32 instead of 32.5 or 33 on the water front.

I think MQE maybe gets a little benefit from some very weak upslope and/or land sea convergence, but they aren't necessarily located in the best area for that, which is along the rt 3 corridor south of Braintree...where the wind is perpendicular to the coastline and is also forced up a couple of hundred feet.

Also, Pickles, don't forget...in those storms where Logan is 33 and having trouble accumulating...MQE is 32 and accumulating well. That 1degree F means everything...and this is very common along the coastline near BOS.

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I wish Wachusett had a nice mesonet station and would postcaccurare summit and base totals...

One of the coolest things to see at Wachusett during the 2008 ice storm was that the summit had less ice than lower down. The ice seemed to max out at around 1500 feet.

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