Find your exact elevation here

[Ginx snewx]

That's my hope one day. It's funny how some of the old NNE homes were once places where people from East Coast cities went to enjoy the "cooler mountain air" as it's described. There is a place on the Ossipees called Castle in the Clouds which was toted as just that. It's about 1400' ASL.

All around Sunday river they are building homes with elevation, most around 2K, the views are spectacular and the homes are awesome. The prices are spectacular too though.

[dryslot]

479'...for a long time I had 460' or 472' , as only some maps have the weenie 480' contour. The top of the hill is basically 500'.

My GPS always said 530' (Garmin)...one of the ORH county posters also mentioned this.

I always wondered when Weenie Ridge was mentioned where it was, Now i know....lol

[Damage In Tolland]

Would anyone here live in and around West Chesterfield, Mass?

[Ginx snewx]

Would anyone here live in and around West Chesterfield, Mass?

absolutely, Pete showed me the Glen, fantastic spot, the Berks really are nice for low Mts

[Diego]

Where in Noyack?

No crap.. I used to live there.

My error, I misread your question, (was thinking is vs. in).

[powderfreak]

MWN is an awfully tough place to estimate snow, that amount is likely low.

Yes... same with the Mansfield Co-Op being low. I measure a lot more snow than the Co-Op catches in an elevated rain gauge by using a snow board in a very wind-protected area of forest at 3,000ft. There's no way that 3,000ft gets more snow than 4,000ft but that's sort of how it works out above treeline with high winds. Snow falls horizontally up there where as I can get a lot more loft out of the snowflakes by having them fall straight down in a wind-protected clearing at 3,000ft.

Here's my stake at 3,014ft over 1,300ft below the summit...and even 600ft below the top of our lifts. This spot works great because its very sheltered and makes for good/easy measurements. The flakes also get some ridiculous loft so it adds up quickly and easily.

February 25th, this was about 2/3rds of the way through that big upslope event last season... 1pm in the afternoon I had 23" of snow in 22 hours (cleared it at 3pm the day before the storm started):

Its an ideal spot to measure snow... flat hole in the forest protected from wind.

I remember that storm it was an absolute biatch to get to though... my traverse was buried and every tree was releasing two feet worth of snow down on me.

[CoastalWx]

Those pictures sure are nice PF.

[NorthShoreWx]

Noyac and most of that area burned early last century. I wonder where the "pocket" may have been. I know of a couple on kettle holes on the moraine and some areas around trout pond did not burn that have some nice tree collections..

That's interesting; I think the Paper Birch would prefer growing in the burn area (along with lots of gray birch / red cedar)..

[powderfreak]

When I was younger, I was convinced I'd live in some obscene weenie spot at 2,000 feet in NNE or upstate NY or even out in the west like near Lake Tahoo at 7k feet.

But its tough living in those spots...not just for finding actual sources of income to raise a family, but also just tough living in general for modern conviniences...and yeah, those heating bills can be epic, though a woodstove goes a long way.

I think buying a vacation shack up in a weenie spot is probably more realistic for me personally than actually living there year-round.

Unless you work in the ski industry or something related (tourism), most of these spots would be very hard to make an income.

My question would be, don't you work from home forecasting? If you're a private consultant or something, all you need is broadband internet which today means you can live just about anywhere. You don't need to live in your forecasting area.

[powderfreak]

Those pictures sure are nice PF.

Yeah any excuse to post a picture of the white stuff

However it was more to illustrate how its easier to measure a big snowfall total over a season down at a treed/sheltered elevation. I totally get the difficulties with MWN's snowfall total. If you measure at Hermit Lake Shelter at the base of Tuckerman's you'd probably come up with a lot more snowfall than the summit cone.

[NorthShoreWx]

Yeah any excuse to post a picture of the white stuff

However it was more to illustrate how its easier to measure a big snowfall total over a season down at a treed/sheltered elevation. I totally get the difficulties with MWN's snowfall total. If you measure at Hermit Lake Shelter at the base of Tuckerman's you'd probably come up with a lot more snowfall than the summit cone.

On the other hand totals on the lee slopes, inlcuding Tucks, are inflated by all the snow that blows off the summit and the ridge.

I'm not sure about the orientation at Mansfield...perhaps that does not apply where you measure.

[ORH_wxman]

Unless you work in the ski industry or something related (tourism), most of these spots would be very hard to make an income.

My question would be, don't you work from home forecasting? If you're a private consultant or something, all you need is broadband internet which today means you can live just about anywhere. You don't need to live in your forecasting area.

Yes but that is only a partial source of income. If I grew that into something a lot larger, then I could move anywhere and be fine in terms of income. But I currently also work with mutual funds in Boston, so I'm not moving 3 hours away any time soon.

There's still other inconviniences that would probably drive me nuts though, lol. But I can usually take a lot of annoyances if it meant a ton more snow. But buying a small place for vacation is probably the most likely way I'd have a place in a huge weenie spot for snow in the mountains.

Its probably a lot easier to live up in those areas when you are right out of college or something and don't have to worry about much except a place to crash at night and a roof over your head...and can sort of wing it. I kind of wish I did that back when I first got out, but I counted cards down at Foxwoods and Las Vegas instead, haha. Everyone's got their own preferences though...as we always say, to each their own.

[Isopycnic]

That's interesting; I think the Paper Birch would prefer growing in the burn area (along with lots of gray birch / red cedar)..

oaks and laurels are what mostly came back.

[CoastalWx]

Yes but that is only a partial source of income. If I grew that into something a lot larger, then I could move anywhere and be fine in terms of income. But I currently also work with mutual funds in Boston, so I'm not moving 3 hours away any time soon.

There's still other inconviniences that would probably drive me nuts though, lol. But I can usually take a lot of annoyances if it meant a ton more snow. But buying a small place for vacation is probably the most likely way I'd have a place in a huge weenie spot for snow in the mountains.

Its probably a lot easier to live up in those areas when you are right out of college or something and don't have to worry about much except a place to crash at night and a roof over your head...and can sort of wing it. I kind of wish I did that back when I first got out, but I counted cards down at Foxwoods and Las Vegas instead, haha. Everyone's got their own preferences though...as we always say, to each their own.

Can always count cards in Vegas and have a 5 hr drive to the Sierra..lol.

[NorthShoreWx]

oaks and laurels are what mostly came back.

If the burn was 100 years ago, I would think we'd be somewhat close to a climax forest by now. My guess is that there was probably a small stand of Paper Birch tucked away in some corner of the burn area. They may all be gone now. I don't roam around that area much, but next time I do I'll look more closely at the trees.

One tree that I've noticed a lot more of (especially saplings) in the local woods over the past couple of years is the Sugar Maple. At first I thought they were invading Norway maples (and some were) but upon inspection a lot of them were sugar maples. I suspect that some recent winters with relatively consistent snow cover helped stratify the seeds. Its not that hard to find older trees in the woods, but to see a lot of saplings was a joy. The sugar maple prefers a climate just a little colder than LI's, but for the seeds I think they just need a period of consistent near freezing temperatures, rather than artic cold, to have decent germination rates. That's only part of the battle...seedlings are on the buffet menu for rodents and deer.

[powderfreak]

On the other hand totals on the lee slopes, inlcuding Tucks, are inflated by all the snow that blows off the summit and the ridge.

I'm not sure about the orientation at Mansfield...perhaps that does not apply where you measure.

Yeah that's the primary reason for 3000ft location and not 3600-3700ft at the top of the lifts. Certain areas definitely get inflated from blow in from up top but they are closer to the ridge at 4000ft.

Myself and ski patrol do believe the current location gives an accurate portrayal of upper mountain snowfall. Its also 2/3rds of the way up and not at the top, so even if it were in some extreme wind event to get blow-in, that same amount of snow is finding it's way to the trails people are skiing too...and that's essentially what we are looking for, amount of new snowfall on the ski trails but just in a consistent manner.

Folks skiing through knee deep powder don't care where it came from as long as it's there haha.

[NorthShoreWx]

Yes but that is only a partial source of income. If I grew that into something a lot larger, then I could move anywhere and be fine in terms of income. But I currently also work with mutual funds in Boston, so I'm not moving 3 hours away any time soon.

There's still other inconviniences that would probably drive me nuts though, lol. But I can usually take a lot of annoyances if it meant a ton more snow. But buying a small place for vacation is probably the most likely way I'd have a place in a huge weenie spot for snow in the mountains.

Its probably a lot easier to live up in those areas when you are right out of college or something and don't have to worry about much except a place to crash at night and a roof over your head...and can sort of wing it. I kind of wish I did that back when I first got out, but I counted cards down at Foxwoods and Las Vegas instead, haha. Everyone's got their own preferences though...as we always say, to each their own.

Did Charlie Babbit let you drive?

[NorthShoreWx]

Yeah that's the primary reason for 3000ft location and not 3600-3700ft at the top of the lifts. Certain areas definitely get inflated from blow in from up top but they are closer to the ridge at 4000ft.

Myself and ski patrol do believe the current location gives an accurate portrayal of upper mountain snowfall. Its also 2/3rds of the way up and not at the top, so even if it were in some extreme wind event to get blow-in, that same amount of snow is finding it's way to the trails people are skiing too...and that's essentially what we are looking for, amount of new snowfall on the ski trails but just in a consistent manner.

Folks skiing through knee deep powder don't care where it came from as long as it's there haha.

That makes sense. How far from you and what kind of location is the stake?

Edit: "you" = your 3000 foot measuring spot.

[powderfreak]

Its probably a lot easier to live up in those areas when you are right out of college or something and don't have to worry about much except a place to crash at night and a roof over your head...and can sort of wing it. I kind of wish I did that back when I first got out, but I counted cards down at Foxwoods and Las Vegas instead, haha. Everyone's got their own preferences though...as we always say, to each their own.

Yes it was much easier to make that decision out of college. I had done a marketing internship at Stowe while in college and knew the ski industry was where I wanted to work, so when the opportunity came to do social media, snow report, weather consulting, photos of the day, videos, and other on-hill media (like filming tv ads or Skiing Weatherman segments), I took it.

It's been a good starting position to get my foot in the door and work closely daily with the two VPs and CEO. The timing out of college just worked. But now that I'm 27, I'm pretty settled here and wouldn't be able to move out west...you know you have your friends and way of life that you're used to, it's not as easy to move as it is out of college when everyone scatters.

I think having a weenie vacation spot would be a fantastic way to go...it would be fun because you can just cherry pick the spot you want to be. Then head there for fun weather events.

[powderfreak]

That makes sense. How far from you and what kind of location is the stake?

I'm not home right now but later I can post a photo from a distance showing the location relative to the mountain.

The Co-Op snowstake is up at like 3,800ft, a full 800 verts above mine, so its weird because it usually has a deeper depth but I get more "new" snow in terms of total inches because of my collection spot and method. Snow board in a sheltered spot allows for more "inches" to pile up than the Co-Ops standard 8-inch rain gauge that's on a wind-swept rock at 4000ft.

It's also good to note that where the Mansfield Co-Op's snowstake is is not the same place where it collects the new snow. It's too wind-blown and snow never sticks around on the rocks where the rain gauge is, so it's downhill in the woods. At the very least I think they should be together but with 60-years of data, no one wants to move anything. I can appreciate that as even if it has flaws, it's consistently flawed.

[bobbutts]

When I was younger, I was convinced I'd live in some obscene weenie spot at 2,000 feet in NNE or upstate NY or even out in the west like near Lake Tahoo at 7k feet.

But its tough living in those spots...not just for finding actual sources of income to raise a family, but also just tough living in general for modern conviniences...and yeah, those heating bills can be epic, though a woodstove goes a long way.

I think buying a vacation shack up in a weenie spot is probably more realistic for me personally than actually living there year-round.

I did the weenie tour of your dreams back in the 90's, just a bit lower elevation. Spent a winter at 1k in Pittsfield Vt. then moved to South Lake Tahoe, up on ski run blvd around 6500'

Top of Kingsbury grade just up the hill from South Lake is a good weenie spot with many homes in the 7,000-7,500 range. Substantially more snow than in town, I have memories of walking up to people's houses there in what felt like a tunnel with 10' on each side, it really becomes difficult to clear once there's that much.

[ORH_wxman]

I did the weenie tour of your dreams back in the 90's, just a bit lower elevation. Spent a winter at 1k in Pittsfield Vt. then moved to South Lake Tahoe, up on ski run blvd around 6500'

Top of Kingsbury grade just up the hill from South Lake is a good weenie spot with many homes in the 7,000-7,500 range. Substantially more snow than in town, I have memories of walking up to people's houses there in what felt like a tunnel with 10' on each side, it really becomes difficult to clear once there's that much.

Tahoe is just amazing for snow. My aunt has a place up at 7000 feet near the base of Alpine Meadows ski resort. They probably average in the neighborhood of 450" per year there. I routinely would see about a 250" snowpack when I went out there in March. Just crazy stuff. The most I saw was close to 30 feet. I had never seen the chair lifts so close to the "ground". They had actually just reopened one of their lifts that time because it had been buried by snow.

Ironically the worst snowpack I ever saw out there in the winter was when we went there just after Christmas 1995...it had been an epic pattern on the East Coast, but it left them torched and dry out there. They had about 18" of snow on the ground (and actually about 10" of it was fresh so they had been even lower)...and I joked with my aunt that we had more snow on the ground in ORH when I left.

[CT Rain]

Tahoe is just amazing for snow. My aunt has a place up at 7000 feet near the base of Alpine Meadows ski resort. They probably average in the neighborhood of 450" per year there. I routinely would see about a 250" snowpack when I went out there in March. Just crazy stuff. The most I saw was close to 30 feet. I had never seen the chair lifts so close to the "ground". They had actually just reopened one of their lifts that time because it had been buried by snow.

Ironically the worst snowpack I ever saw out there in the winter was when we went there just after Christmas 1995...it had been an epic pattern on the East Coast, but it left them torched and dry out there. They had about 18" of snow on the ground (and actually about 10" of it was fresh so they had been even lower)...and I joked with my aunt that we had more snow on the ground in ORH when I left.

And Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley/Northstar is the big time winner around Lake Tahoe. Snow can get rather heavy there too... not always the best skiing. Sierra Cement lol.

Once you get to South Lake Tahoe or Heavenly the snowfall is rather pedestrian compared to the west slope of the Sierras.

[Isopycnic]

If the burn was 100 years ago, I would think we'd be somewhat close to a climax forest by now. My guess is that there was probably a small stand of Paper Birch tucked away in some corner of the burn area. They may all be gone now. I don't roam around that area much, but next time I do I'll look more closely at the trees.

One tree that I've noticed a lot more of (especially saplings) in the local woods over the past couple of years is the Sugar Maple. At first I thought they were invading Norway maples (and some were) but upon inspection a lot of them were sugar maples. I suspect that some recent winters with relatively consistent snow cover helped stratify the seeds. Its not that hard to find older trees in the woods, but to see a lot of saplings was a joy. The sugar maple prefers a climate just a little colder than LI's, but for the seeds I think they just need a period of consistent near freezing temperatures, rather than artic cold, to have decent germination rates. That's only part of the battle...seedlings are on the buffet menu for rodents and deer.

The "climax" forest is very stunted as the soils were thin to begin with.

Here's a good few hikes:

http://southamptontrails.org/files/Mulvihill_Preserve_Trails.pdf

http://southamptontrails.org/files/Laurel_Valley_Trails.pdf

[powderfreak]

I'm not home right now but later I can post a photo from a distance showing the location relative to the mountain.

It's also good to note that where the Mansfield Co-Op's snowstake is is not the same place where it collects the new snow. It's too wind-blown and snow never sticks around on the rocks where the rain gauge is, so it's downhill in the woods. At the very least I think they should be together but with 60-years of data, no one wants to move anything. I can appreciate that as even if it has flaws, it's consistently flawed.

My clearing in the woods for measuring snow is the red dot at 3,014ft per the coordinates I gave NOAA. It is a full 1,000ft+ below the summit ridge, and 600-700ft below the top of the lift. If we do get blow-in from the ridge at that location, there's really no way to stop it as that spot is a great indicator of snowfall/depth at that elevation on the eastern side of the mountain. I believe higher up near the top of the lift where its below cliffs and such, may see some contamination from above, but at some point as you move down the mountain the effects should lessen. My snow board and stake are right at the elevation where hardwood forest meets the spruce line.

The black dot is where the Mansfield Co-Op is at 3,950ft on the ridgeline (south side).

[MarkO]

I built my cabin on a hill in the NH white mountains mainly for snow purposes (I still can't believe my wife let me build a ski house). But if you are motivated and have free time, it's an awesome project. Noticed this AM temp was 35º. Winter comes a month earlier up there and stays a month later. I have a north facing view of Welch-Dickey and can see the summit of Waterville Valley (Tecumseh) between the nobs of Welch-Dickey. I can also see the summit of Moosilaukee between the trees to my NW and the summit of Sandwich mountain to my NE. It's awesome seeing the storms coming in. And being on the side of a mountain, I get decent winds.

Anway, I met a neighbor up there who is building a castle on the side of a mountain with awesome views. He's up around 1600' in elevation. Check it out: http://www.keenecastle.com/

[bobbutts]

And Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley/Northstar is the big time winner around Lake Tahoe. Snow can get rather heavy there too... not always the best skiing. Sierra Cement lol.

Once you get to South Lake Tahoe or Heavenly the snowfall is rather pedestrian compared to the west slope of the Sierras.

Northstar shouldn't be on that list (and it's a crappy ski resort imo too), it's 350" annual is < Heavenly.

Replace it with Sugar Bowl and Kirkwood.

Also with the boom or bust storm cycle there, even the "pedestrian" places cash big time in many storms. It's the long periods of dry weather that lower the average, which makes sense seeing as it's just one ridge line away from the desert.

[radarman]

Northstar shouldn't be on that list (and it's a crappy ski resort imo too), it's 350" annual is < Heavenly.

Replace it with Sugar Bowl and Kirkwood.

Kirkwood is well south of the lake and nearly always beats Squaw and Alpine on totals.

3 awesome places right there.

[CoastalWx]

I built my cabin on a hill in the NH white mountains mainly for snow purposes (I still can't believe my wife let me build a ski house). But if you are motivated and have free time, it's an awesome project. Noticed this AM temp was 35º. Winter comes a month earlier up there and stays a month later. I have a north facing view of Welch-Dickey and can see the summit of Waterville Valley (Tecumseh) between the nobs of Welch-Dickey. I can also see the summit of Moosilaukee between the trees to my NW and the summit of Sandwich mountain to my NE. It's awesome seeing the storms coming in. And being on the side of a mountain, I get decent winds.

Anway, I met a neighbor up there who is building a castle on the side of a mountain with awesome views. He's up around 1600' in elevation. Check it out: http://www.keenecastle.com/

Are you near Sandwich Notch RD?

[Damage In Tolland]

Are you near Sandwich Notch RD?