NNE Spring 2013 Thread

[tamarack]

High yesterday was 31, with wind gusts 30+. I think the only other subfreezing April days I've had here (1999 on) were in 2003, with overcast and/or accumulating snow. Had occ flurries yest, but sometime after my homeward commute the Rome section of Route 27 got a squall - 1/4-1/2" OG this morning, with icy roads consistent with partial melt on pavement. If that had occurred later with colder temps and low/no sun, snow would all have been blown off the road by traffic.

Edit: Wind blew all night, and temp apparently held in the low 20s. I'd been expecting a near repeat of yesterday's 19. Might get that low tonight if the winds quit, as we still have snow on most of the ground - 8" at the stake.

[MaineJayhawk]

I went through a renegade snow/graupel squall in Buxton on my way home last night ... pretty much think that was the last of the falling snow I see this season unless I manage to find some while in the mountains.

[#NoPoles]

i got snowed on, on and off yesterday all day at Loon... surprisingly good skiing for the weather/rain crap that rolled through the other night

[klw]

You need to change the thread's sub-title 

 

Congrats.

Done, plus close to another .5 inches last night.

[powderfreak]

Just took the dog out for a walk on the rec path and it was getting dark quickly... couldn't exactly tell because it was falling so lightly, but it appeared to be snowing.  Now back at home, in the flood light it is definitely snowing. 

 

Radar doesn't look like much, but looks like the northern Greens are trying to squeeze out any available moisture in this dry airmass.

 

[eekuasepinniW]

I just noticed how brutally cold it stayed up in Coos county today.  Got up to 42 here, but Diamond Pond only reached 24 and Pittsburg hit 23.

[powderfreak]

Dusting out there and snowing lightly.  Mid-winter type snow, amazingly cold profile out there.  Mansfield-Bolton getting a pretty good snow shower.  With this type of snow, those 30dbz on composite radar is likely producing some heavy snow (1"+/hr or greater) on Mansfield and south to Bolton.

 

[powderfreak]

I just noticed how brutally cold it stayed up in Coos county today.  Got up to 42 here, but Diamond Pond only reached 24 and Pittsburg hit 23.

 

That is impressive... low to mid 20s for highs.  Pretty chilly airmass.

[MaineJayhawk]

That is impressive... low to mid 20s for highs. Pretty chilly airmass.

I reckon the forsythia aren't in bloom yet up there.

[Nittany88]

Dusting out there and snowing lightly.  Mid-winter type snow, amazingly cold profile out there.  Mansfield-Bolton getting a pretty good snow shower.  With this type of snow, those 30dbz on composite radar is likely producing some heavy snow (1"+/hr or greater) on Mansfield and south to Bolton.

 

I think that was way overdone and mostly virga on this side of the Greens. Didn't see a single flake along the western slopes.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 2.3” Snow/0.05” L.E.

 

I hadn’t really had a chance to finish my updates from Tuesday’s snow, but I’ve got the final evening analysis below.  I suspect there would have ultimately been a bit more liquid in the core than the 0.02” I was able to get out of my gauge, but I’m only able to monitor accumulations by web cam so far – for some reason I’ve not figured out how to get the snow cores that way.  There was certainly some melting and/or sublimation that went on since most snow in sunny areas had totally disappeared, but we work with what we’ve got.

 

As for up on the mountain, I sent in my initial update on Tuesday, but I’ll pass along a couple of pictures below, and the full report from the outing is on our website.  The intense snowfall while I was gearing up and during the initial stages of my ascent was impressive:

 

 

 

The point forecast suggests more chances for snow are on the way over the next week, so that should be fun to watch

 

Details from the 6:00 P.M. Waterbury observations on Apr 2^nd are below:

 

New Snow: 1.2 inches

New Liquid: 0.02 inches (rain/snow gauge)

Temperature: 30.7 F

Sky: Cloudy

Snow at the stake: Trace

[J.Spin]

I think that was way overdone and mostly virga on this side of the Greens. Didn't see a single flake along the western slopes.

 

Indeed, as soon as I saw PF’s post I took a look out back and suspected to see snow falling – but there was nothing.  It’s strange, because there’s some nice signal right over us on the county line at I-89 there, and if there are any sort of pixels over us we’re usually getting something.

[powderfreak]

I think that was way overdone and mostly virga on this side of the Greens. Didn't see a single flake along the western slopes.

 

It was interesting because the lower level scans put those snow showers associated with it on the east side...  still nothing more than a diamond dusting of some low moisture flakes.  This is the 1.5 degree scan of that same composite radar.

 

Surprised J.Spin didn't see anything as it looks to be over his area.  MVL several miles away picked up some -SN but nothing less than 4sm visibility so very light.

 

[powderfreak]

 

 

That was easily one of the more impressive bands of the season on Mansfield.  I've got some radar grabs saved at work but it was just a very narrow band from BTV-Stowe-Peacham that would flare up with 30-40dbz returns as it went over the Spine.  It had some good returns to the south-side too in the Bolton area and then the whole thing collapsed south over Bolton.

 

I'm not exactly sure what transpired earlier in the night, but the groomers said we had picked up 2-3" over the course of the night before the faucet got turned on from 5-7am.  We picked up almost 4" in the base area in those two hours, and I bet the summit was more like 6" in 2 hours.  The radio traffic between the groomers was awesome as that was going on..."I'm stopped on Perry Merrill and waiting for this to pass, I can't even see the blade of my snocat at this point."  "I think we've had almost 2" in the past half hour, hardest I've seen it snow all season." 

 

Around dawn in the base area this was what I was looking at... just milky white and recorded 2" an hour in this:

 

 

You can tell by how the snow was resting on the trees, that it was just high-ratio meso-scale heavy snow.  You only get that sort of stacking on branches from huge, well-formed dendrites.

 

 

Awesome little event to round out the season up here.  It also brought 3,000ft to 280" even on the season, and my highest depth of the season so far at 64".

[weatherMA]

44F/6. Dry, cool, but feels nice after last few days.

[klw]

49 and lovely here in St. J.

[Ginx snewx]

That was easily one of the more impressive bands of the season on Mansfield. I've got some radar grabs saved at work but it was just a very narrow band from BTV-Stowe-Peacham that would flare up with 30-40dbz returns as it went over the Spine. It had some good returns to the south-side too in the Bolton area and then the whole thing collapsed south over Bolton.

I'm not exactly sure what transpired earlier in the night, but the groomers said we had picked up 2-3" over the course of the night before the faucet got turned on from 5-7am. We picked up almost 4" in the base area in those two hours, and I bet the summit was more like 6" in 2 hours. The radio traffic between the groomers was awesome as that was going on..."I'm stopped on Perry Merrill and waiting for this to pass, I can't even see the blade of my snocat at this point." "I think we've had almost 2" in the past half hour, hardest I've seen it snow all season."

Around dawn in the base area this was what I was looking at... just milky white and recorded 2" an hour in this:

photo.JPG

You can tell by how the snow was resting on the trees, that it was just high-ratio meso-scale heavy snow. You only get that sort of stacking on branches from huge, well-formed dendrites.

photo2.JPG

Awesome little event to round out the season up here. It also brought 3,000ft to 280" even on the season, and my highest depth of the season so far at 64".

sweet, round out might not be the best choice of words, looks like you get more.

[powderfreak]

sweet, round out might not be the best choice of words, looks like you get more.

 

Yeah in all honesty, I'm now sort of done with it after that finale... and I know Mountain Operations is starting to get a little worried with the amount of snow on the mountain right now.  It is now getting to the point where it will most likely delay off-season projects.  In a perfect world we would close and 3 days later there wouldn't be any snow left on the mountain so they can jump right back into snowmaking improvements and other large projects that take all summer to complete.

 

As it is right now, most of the snowmaking trails have a 5-9 foot base and natural snow depths are more like 2-7 feet. 

 

There is going to be some serious bulldozing done after closing to open up the work roads as soon as possible.  I can remember back in 2007 I think it was, when the Gondola work road was dozed out and the road cuts were like 8 feet deep where they cut across the ski trails.

 

We are at the point where trail signs that are 10 feet off the ground in December are now level with the snow surface:

 

 

 

I know that these photos aren't all that useful without something to compare them too, but I can't wait to get some "after" shots this summer to show how much snow was here... this is a snowmaking valve house and there is a full-size 7-8 foot door frame on the front of the building that is completely covered now. 

 

 

 

And this one especially I can't wait to compare when it melts.... that fence is at least 10 feet tall.

 

[J.Spin]

Yeah in all honesty, I'm now sort of done with it after that finale...

 

In a perfect world we would close and 3 days later there wouldn't be any snow left on the mountain...

 

Sacrilege!

 

In a perfect world we’d like to see a few more April events like this last one, or maybe with dense snow to really cover up the spring subsurface and substantiate that snowpack – something along the lines of April 10^th of last season with 24”+.  Then things could taper down gradually through May, and by June when the trees finally have all their leaves and temperatures warm, it will be time for more off snow activities.  We must be into the glorious “cutoff season” by now I’d think, at least in terms of the calendar.  On average it’s a couple more weeks before the snowpack at the stake really starts to decrease in an appreciable way:

 

[MBRI]

[MBRI]

[klw]

Yeah in all honesty, I'm now sort of done with it after that finale... and I know Mountain Operations is starting to get a little worried with the amount of snow on the mountain right now.  It is now getting to the point where it will most likely delay off-season projects.  In a perfect world we would close and 3 days later there wouldn't be any snow left on the mountain so they can jump right back into snowmaking improvements and other large projects that take all summer to complete.

 

As it is right now, most of the snowmaking trails have a 5-9 foot base and natural snow depths are more like 2-7 feet. 

 

There is going to be some serious bulldozing done after closing to open up the work roads as soon as possible.  I can remember back in 2007 I think it was, when the Gondola work road was dozed out and the road cuts were like 8 feet deep where they cut across the ski trails.

Why don't you just plan for the work to go later?  It seems that there is never snow till Thanksgiving now.

[Nittany88]

Yeah in all honesty, I'm now sort of done with it after that finale... and I know Mountain Operations is starting to get a little worried with the amount of snow on the mountain right now.  It is now getting to the point where it will most likely delay off-season projects.  In a perfect world we would close and 3 days later there wouldn't be any snow left on the mountain so they can jump right back into snowmaking improvements and other large projects that take all summer to complete.

 

As it is right now, most of the snowmaking trails have a 5-9 foot base and natural snow depths are more like 2-7 feet. 

 

There is going to be some serious bulldozing done after closing to open up the work roads as soon as possible.  I can remember back in 2007 I think it was, when the Gondola work road was dozed out and the road cuts were like 8 feet deep where they cut across the ski trails.

 

We are at the point where trail signs that are 10 feet off the ground in December are now level with the snow surface:

 

 

 

I know that these photos aren't all that useful without something to compare them too, but I can't wait to get some "after" shots this summer to show how much snow was here... this is a snowmaking valve house and there is a full-size 7-8 foot door frame on the front of the building that is completely covered now. 

 

 

 

And this one especially I can't wait to compare when it melts.... that fence is at least 10 feet tall.

 

 

Right because this late in the season, the ski resort really isn't making any money anymore right? Most of it is front-loaded if I recall correctly.

[powderfreak]

Awesome!!

I was looking for any old shots I had of that building, and the big pick-up truck gives some nice contrast.

You couldn't have had a better picture, haha. When I took that yesterday I'm standing like above where your pick-up truck is.

[powderfreak]

Why don't you just plan for the work to go later?  It seems that there is never snow till Thanksgiving now.

 

Haha, yeah well the hope with snowmaking projects is that we are up and running by the end of October.  It does seem as though recently winter has had some late starts but not this season.  That's whats making this winter feel long for me.  We had good cold/snow in November (35 inches at 3,000ft+) and opened for pass holders on November 10th (the earliest Stowe has ever turned the lifts on). 

 

Snowfall has been a little sub-par but honestly I think this sort of falls into 1-standard deviation of normal so could probably be looked at as a fairly normal snowfall winter (280").   If January hadn't been a clunker with less snow than November, we'd likely be above normal.  The snow base has been good (now great given the time of year), but this has been one long season it feels like.  I think the early start in November and now we are in early April and sitting at max depths of the season... that's a long season, especially since this stuff isn't going anywhere quickly.  Especially when compared with years like last year when ski areas opened late then closed early. 

 

I'll have to post some photos from early April at this time last year... there were bare spots where there's 6+ feet of snow right now.

[Lava Rock]

Nice before/after pics.

[J.Spin]

Well, I just looked out from my window here and saw the beginning of snow crashing out along Mt. Mansfield, so I took a look at the radar and indeed there are echoes approaching:

 

 

It sounds like it’s just an approaching cold front with limited moisture, but the change was certainly obvious.  Some related BTV NWS discussion below

 

NEAR TERM /UNTIL 7 PM THIS EVENING/...

AS OF 723 AM EDT FRIDAY...APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUS OF TODAY/S WEATHER...THOUGH LIMITED MOISTURE WILL BRING MORE CLOUDS THAN PCPN. SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT IS ENTERING THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY AT 1130Z AND IS BRINGING SCATTERED LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS TO THE AREA... WITH SPRINKLES/LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS STARTING TO DEVELOP NOW ACROSS THE FAR NRN CHAMPLAIN VALLEY. THE FRONT ITSELF REACHES THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY BY 15Z AND THE CT VALLEY BY 18Z. THERE WILL BE A NWLY WIND SHIFT (WIND SPEEDS 10-20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH THIS AFTN) ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT ALONG WITH CLOUDY CONDITIONS FOLLOWING THE FRONT...BUT AIR MASS AHEAD OF THE FRONT REMAINS EXTREMELY DRY WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE TEENS TO LOWER 20S. THUS...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONGOING ACTIVITY ACROSS INTL BORDER REGION...CONFINED POPS TO 20-40 PERCENT AND PRIMARILY OVER THE NRN ADIRONDACKS AND NRN GREEN MTNS. THINKING WE WON/T SEE MEASURABLE PCPN AT BTV WITH JUST SOME SPRINKLES...BUT FAR N-CENTRAL INTO NERN VT WILL SEE SEVERAL HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH THRU 03Z THIS EVENING WITH SOME UPSLOPE ENHANCEMENT INTO THE NRN GREENS.

[powderfreak]

Snowing up here but pretty darn light. Brief periods of fizzard conditions up above 2500ft haha. No more than flurries at 1500ft.

[weatherMA]

44/25 already at 10am. Should see 55+ later. Nice day!

[powderfreak]

Snowing again from top to bottom... crazy April weather.  Looks like some squalls entering N.NY enroute this way.