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NNE Winter 2012-13 Thread IV


klw

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I’ve updated the north to south storm totals for the Vermont ski areas associated with the current storm – it’s showing the classic trend of increasing amounts as one heads northward up the spine:

 

Jay Peak: 7”

Burke: 4”

Smuggler’s Notch: 5”

Stowe: 4”

Bolton Valley: 3”

Mad River Glen: 2”

Sugarbush: 2”

Pico: 2”

Killington: 2”

Okemo: 1”

Bromley: T”

Magic Mountain: 2”

Stratton: T”

Mount Snow: 1”

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I'll be heading up to Jay Peak tonight and skiing tomorrow.  It should be awesome with about 120 inches in the past month.  Will report back with conditions

 

Sweet, should be great.  They've gotta be absolutely buried with the snowfall they've reported over the last month.

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3" on the board including the stuff from Friday night. 21F is not very cold but it is the coldest in several days. Would like to be able to get one more ride in next weekend but don't know if the lower elevations will work out.

Did 165 miles locally yesterday. Trails were good in the morning, but junk in the afternoon. Pretty sure this is the last wknd of local riding around here.

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Did 165 miles locally yesterday. Trails were good in the morning, but junk in the afternoon. Pretty sure this is the last wknd of local riding around here.

I am hoping to be able to get one more ride in from home next weekend but that may not work.  I do have Tuesday off due to it being Town Meeting Day and the fact that my town does not hold a traditional town meeting.  Will probably let my 8 year old go to the babysitter for the day and have a day to myself on the trails.

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Ive tried to stay optimistic all winter, but dc getting a blizzard in march while we get skunked again, is the last straw. This winter blows. Cant believe how many times we have been counting tenths of an inch. In nne, it should be feet. Its not right.

 

lol deep breaths...

 

 

Sugarbush had its 3rd snowiest December of all-time with 97 inches, no? Pretty much all of the mountains had a 3 week stretch with 80-110 inches around that time, and February was a great month for skiing (I had an epic mid-week powder day at least once a week during Feb).  We've had our times and the snowpack is robust for a good spring ski season.

 

If you really think about our climo up here, we don't get massive blizzards with the frequency that SNE and mid-Atlantic.  We have a nickel and dime snowfall climate with occasional big ones from either upslope or synoptic snows.  Sometimes the pattern sets up right, but where we get a lot of light to moderate snowfalls, the coastal sections get the occasional big ones.

 

While those are big ticket storms, remember it really hasn't snowed at all in the mid-Atlantic area this winter, so they are due.  Also, while the media hypes these big storms, just think of all the 2-8 inch snowfalls the mountains get while everyone else is dry for weeks on end.  Then they'll get a big one.

 

If you look at BTV's climate page, you'll see that while BTV averages 73 inches of snowfall, they only average 2 storms of 6 inches or greater per winter.  The rest of the snowfall is frequent light events.  That sort of applies to the mountains, though obviously more based on a higher average snowfall.  The northern Greens do end up with usually at least one or two large upslope events each season, with a jackpot zone near 3 feet.  That event this season was two weeks ago when Jay Peak and surrounding towns got 24-36 inches, while Mansfield only picked up 18".

 

Overall, its not worth getting upset about missing big bombs because those generally affect the coastal sections.  Its just how the climate works.  We historically get fringed by them, though you guys in the SB to Killington area do get those more often than up here.  But while those areas are sitting snowless for weeks at a time, we are still getting frequent light snowfalls, so that's the trade off.

 

Anyway, snowpack is robust in the Greens and right where it should be at least in this neck of the woods.  We are almost dead on average right now with two feet of solid snowpack at my 1,500ft stake, and 5 feet up above 3,000ft.

 

 

Snowpack at the summit is a solid 5 feet widespread now.

 

 

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lol deep breaths...

 

 

Sugarbush had its 3rd snowiest December of all-time with 97 inches, no? Pretty much all of the mountains had a 3 week stretch with 80-110 inches around that time, and February was a great month for skiing (I had an epic mid-week powder day at least once a week during Feb).  We've had our times and the snowpack is robust for a good spring ski season.

 

If you really think about our climo up here, we don't get massive blizzards with the frequency that SNE and mid-Atlantic.  We have a nickel and dime snowfall climate with occasional big ones from either upslope or synoptic snows.  Sometimes the pattern sets up right, but where we get a lot of light to moderate snowfalls, the coastal sections get the occasional big ones.

 

While those are big ticket storms, remember it really hasn't snowed at all in the mid-Atlantic area this winter, so they are due.  Also, while the media hypes these big storms, just think of all the 2-8 inch snowfalls the mountains get while everyone else is dry for weeks on end.  Then they'll get a big one.

 

If you look at BTV's climate page, you'll see that while BTV averages 73 inches of snowfall, they only average 2 storms of 6 inches or greater per winter.  The rest of the snowfall is frequent light events.  That sort of applies to the mountains, though obviously more based on a higher average snowfall.  The northern Greens do end up with usually at least one or two large upslope events each season, with a jackpot zone near 3 feet.  That event this season was two weeks ago when Jay Peak and surrounding towns got 24-36 inches, while Mansfield only picked up 18".

 

Overall, its not worth getting upset about missing big bombs because those generally affect the coastal sections.  Its just how the climate works.  We historically get fringed by them, though you guys in the SB to Killington area do get those more often than up here.  But while those areas are sitting snowless for weeks at a time, we are still getting frequent light snowfalls, so that's the trade off.

 

Anyway, snowpack is robust in the Greens and right where it should be at least in this neck of the woods.  We are almost dead on average right now with two feet of solid snowpack at my 1,500ft stake, and 5 feet up above 3,000ft.

 

 

Snowpack at the summit is a solid 5 feet widespread now.

I agree, what makes it bit tough are the warm-ups we received in January.  There was a couple of week stretch where the snow pack had taken a significant hit and we hadn't been replenished.  Having said that, I have had solid cover in my yard since December 15th or so and unless something big happens that looks to continue for the next couple of weeks.  As I said in an earlier post, my tour of parts of Orange County this past Saturday revealed 2+ feet of snow over 1500' - 1600'.  It is definitely not a really low snow year. 

Quite frankly, I prefer the steady snow over the one big event.  2-3 inches per week, punctuated by a nice 6-10 event a couple of times per month adds up to a nice average and good snowpack.  It's easier to move around when it comes that way too.

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Intellectually, I know you guys are right.  But I'm frustrated with how this weekend played out.  I had high hopes for that Low lingering in the maritimes but once again watched snow falling for hours on end to little accumulation.  Then I get into the kitchen this morning and before I can have my tea, I see Sam Champion yapping about the storm for DC.  wanted to throw up in my mouth.  I need a good day or two knee deep in powder but the time for that is quickly diminishing.  serenity now.

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-SN currently in AUG, with a couple inches forecast, though I can't see it accumulating unless it gets into mod-hvy rates. March has begun at about +10 temps - only a couple degrees above for the max, but the mins have been 28-29 against my avg of 10-11 this time of year. Took (with difficulty) a core of the 19" snowpack yest. Expected to find almost 5", measured 6.48". Bottom 1.5" was gray ice, probably 80% water content (needed the old ice chisel, taking care to gather all the shards), then 6" of almost shovel-proof crust - probably 40% water, with 11-12" of solid moist snow perhaps 25% water on the top.

Snow suddenly picked up to moderate, 3/8 mile vis. Still don't know if it will accum.

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-SN currently in AUG, with a couple inches forecast, though I can't see it accumulating unless it gets into mod-hvy rates. March has begun at about +10 temps - only a couple degrees above for the max, but the mins have been 28-29 against my avg of 10-11 this time of year. Took (with difficulty) a core of the 19" snowpack yest. Expected to find almost 5", measured 6.48". Bottom 1.5" was gray ice, probably 80% water content (needed the old ice chisel, taking care to gather all the shards), then 6" of almost shovel-proof crust - probably 40% water, with 11-12" of solid moist snow perhaps 25% water on the top.

Snow suddenly picked up to moderate, 3/8 mile vis. Still don't know if it will accum.

 

Looks like its ready to start picking up here, 20-25 dbz's dropping south thru here in the next 5-10 mins

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Looks like its ready to start picking up here, 20-25 dbz's dropping south thru here in the next 5-10 mins

 

I'm interested to see what type of visibility there is in that band. It kind of went through an observational hole in the CWA and KLEW is still 10SM.

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I'm interested to see what type of visibility there is in that band. It kind of went through an observational hole in the CWA and KLEW is still 10SM.

 

Its much better then that, Looks like 1SM stuff or less right now, The metar for KLEW is always screwed up

 

KLEW 041455Z AUTO 31012G15KT 10SM OVC050 00/M07 A2952 RMK AO1 54000, Its wrong, Where is the metar generated from ASOS?

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Below I’ve got the latest update on Vermont ski area snow totals for our ongoing event - north to south list:

 

Jay Peak: 9”

Burke: 6”

Smuggler’s Notch: 6”

Stowe: 4”

Bolton Valley: 3”

Mad River Glen: 2”

Sugarbush: 2”

Pico: 2”

Killington: 2”

Okemo: 1”

Bromley: 1”

Magic Mountain: 3”

Stratton: 2”

Mount Snow: 3”

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It's not owned or maintained by the NWS so we're kind of at it's mercy sometimes. Shame too because it's actually closer to the WFO than PWM.

 

It has been off forever, It never shows us getting any precip at all,  We are SN 1/2SM right now at best...lol

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Interesting wind event going on across the ski resorts today...  NWS higher summits forecast calls for 20-30mph winds at summit level, and so does our internal forecast.

 

RECREATIONAL FORECAST...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1026 AM EST MON MAR 4 2013

.THE HIGHER SUMMITS FORECAST FOR VERMONT AND NORTHERN NEW YORK...

.REST OF TODAY...SUMMITS OBSCURED IN CLOUDS. A CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER TEENS. NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH.
 

 

However we are getting gusts at 2-3,500ft in the 40-50mph range on lift towers and two lifts are on wind hold.  Jay Peak has upper mountain lifts on wind hold and Sugarbush has 4 or 5 lifts on wind hold.  That doesn't happen at 20-30mph...that's a dead giveaway gusts are probably exceeding 40mph and pushing 50mph+.

 

Somehow the NOAA station at the summit of Mansfield is reading only 20-30mph but that's wrong given what I saw up top an hour ago.  There's like 3" of rime on everything so I wonder if that's skewing the wind readings.

 

 

With this much rime on everything, I have to image its playing with the wind readings.

 

 

 

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