NNE Summer 2013 Thread

[dendrite]

I am pleased.

Unexpectedly substantial rains this morning.... going at 0.49"/hr presently.

I hit over 1"/hr at home. Pushing a half inch.

[CoastalWx]

Just sprinkles here. Sun trying to poke through clouds.

[wxeyeNH]

I hit over 1"/hr at home. Pushing a half inch.

As my usual complaining of no moisture I missed this batch by a few miles. So frustrating to see a good soaking 5 miles south of me. Hoping for rain tomorrow. Surface is dust bone dry although ground water is fine from early July rain.

[MaineJayhawk]

Given the opportunity to hike for nearly an entire day, I planned an epic journey that would hopefully be a test run for doing the 31.5 mile Pemi Loop next weekend.  I decided to summit all of the Northern Presidentials - Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay and Washington - and to also visit Tuckerman Ravine.  If time permitted, I planned on summiting Mt Monroe as well.  An ambitious plan that amounted to nearly 26 miles. 

 

The weather forecast looked promising with the front blowing through on Saturday leaving clearing skies, reasonable winds and comparatively brisk temperatures in its wake.  In order to complete this by my intended finish time of 6pm, I chose to be on-trail at 3am.  And I was!  The temperature at the trailhead was a rather balmy 64F.  I went with long pants on this adventure as the higher summits forecast was for temps around 50F with winds around 20mph - a far cry from the 90/70 weather I had endured only 24 hours prior! 

 

About 2.9 miles in I reached a nice viewpoint just as the sun was breaking the horizon.  The wind was chilly here, and since I was nearly at treeline I decided to throw on my long-sleeved shirt.

 

 

 

 

I made it to the summit of Mt Madison (5367')  at 6:03am.  I measured the temperature at 49F and the wind was blowing at 21mph.  Great views all around.

 

 

 

 

Next up was Mt Adams (5,774'), the second-highest peak in the northeast, which I summited an hour later.  Conditions were virtually the same as at Madison.  And the views over to Mt Washington, Clay and Jefferson were incomparable.

 

 

 

 

Clouds were on the increase as I made my way to Mt Jefferson (5,712').  I summited Jefferson at 8:45 and the conditions were still what they were over at Adams and Madison.  I noted the wind chill was in the upper 30s.  On my way down Jefferson I watched as clouds raced in and fogged Mt Clay, which bummed me as the views from Clay are among my favorite in the Northern Presis.  I summmited Clay (5,541') with visiblity of a  couple hundred feet.  The fog persisted as I summited Mt Washington (6,288') at 11am.   A little cooler here at 46F, but the wind was still only 20mph.  As usual, the summit area was packed with hikers and also those who rode the cog railroad or took the Auto Road up.  I went in the visitor building to have a snack but discovered no available tables.  I refilled my water bottles and headed down to Tuckerman Ravine.

 

The clouds broke just above the ravine, permitting fine views.

 

 

 

 

I went over to Lion Head to have that long-awaited snack.  Lion Head is the rock formation in the pic below.  If you look closely, you can see people standing on it and the trail adjacent.

 

 

 

 

 

I had set 12:00 as my turnaround time, and as I sat at Lion Head I noticed that it was high noon.  Mt Monroe would not be in my plans today after all.  I went back summiting only Mt Clay (still foggy for the most part) and skirted by the other summits.  My feet by this time were killing me - I was making slow time and every rock I inadvertantly kicked sent daggers of pain through my leg.  I wanted to be at Madison Hut by 4:00 (it was 4.0 miles from the hut to the trailhead) but the col between Adams and Madison (where the hut is located) seemed an eternity away.    I put away the camera for the most part and trudged my way there at 4:30.

 

4.0 miles stood between me and the comfort of my lil red hotrod.  The trail swung around Madison laterally over large boulders and eventually dropped below treeline.  Usually I make good time on descents, but this time my feet were shot and every step was pure pain.  I reached the point where I had taken the first pic in this series and hated knowing there was still 2.9 miles to go.  It was 6:00.  I forged ahead, astounded by how steep much of this trail was and how I didn't even notice it on the ascent.  Perhaps not being able to see beyond the beam of my headlamp in the pre-dawn darkness played a role.  I don't know.  I do know this walk out was interminable.  Death seemed to be a viable and welcome option.  Finally I reached the trailhead (7:35).  Upon starting my car I saw a message on my car's computer - my right front tire was down to 3psi.  Great!  Luckily I had my air compressor along (this tire had a known slow leak which accelerated quite a bit while sitting there).  Air was added and off on my way.  Stopped at Subway to grab a sandwich.  While paying for the meal I blacked out.  I came to shortly afterwards, had a few handfuls of M&Ms in the car and drove to the GF's house in Fryeburg.  Made the easy decision to not try the one-day Pemi Loop.

[dryslot]

Given the opportunity to hike for nearly an entire day, I planned an epic journey that would hopefully be a test run for doing the 31.5 mile Pemi Loop next weekend.  I decided to summit all of the Northern Presidentials - Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay and Washington - and to also visit Tuckerman Ravine.  If time permitted, I planned on summiting Mt Monroe as well.  An ambitious plan that amounted to nearly 26 miles. 

 

The weather forecast looked promising with the front blowing through on Saturday leaving clearing skies, reasonable winds and comparatively brisk temperatures in its wake.  In order to complete this by my intended finish time of 6pm, I chose to be on-trail at 3am.  And I was!  The temperature at the trailhead was a rather balmy 64F.  I went with long pants on this adventure as the higher summits forecast was for temps around 50F with winds around 20mph - a far cry from the 90/70 weather I had endured only 24 hours prior! 

 

About 2.9 miles in I reached a nice viewpoint just as the sun was breaking the horizon.  The wind was chilly here, and since I was nearly at treeline I decided to throw on my long-sleeved shirt.

 

 

sunrise.jpg

 

 

I made it to the summit of Mt Madison (5367')  at 6:03am.  I measured the temperature at 49F and the wind was blowing at 21mph.  Great views all around.

 

 

Madison.jpg

 

 

Next up was Mt Adams (5,774'), the second-highest peak in the northeast, which I summited an hour later.  Conditions were virtually the same as at Madison.  And the views over to Mt Washington, Clay and Jefferson were incomparable.

 

 

Washington.jpg

 

 

Clouds were on the increase as I made my way to Mt Jefferson (5,712').  I summited Jefferson at 8:45 and the conditions were still what they were over at Adams and Madison.  I noted the wind chill was in the upper 30s.  On my way down Jefferson I watched as clouds raced in and fogged Mt Clay, which bummed me as the views from Clay are among my favorite in the Northern Presis.  I summmited Clay (5,541') with visiblity of a  couple hundred feet.  The fog persisted as I summited Mt Washington (6,288') at 11am.   A little cooler here at 46F, but the wind was still only 20mph.  As usual, the summit area was packed with hikers and also those who rode the cog railroad or took the Auto Road up.  I went in the visitor building to have a snack but discovered no available tables.  I refilled my water bottles and headed down to Tuckerman Ravine.

 

The clouds broke just above the ravine, permitting fine views.

 

 

Tuckerman.jpg

 

 

I went over to Lion Head to have that long-awaited snack.  Lion Head is the rock formation in the pic below.  If you look closely, you can see people standing on it and the trail adjacent.

 

 

 

Lion Head.jpg

 

 

I had set 12:00 as my turnaround time, and as I sat at Lion Head I noticed that it was high noon.  Mt Monroe would not be in my plans today after all.  I went back summiting only Mt Clay (still foggy for the most part) and skirted by the other summits.  My feet by this time were killing me - I was making slow time and every rock I inadvertantly kicked sent daggers of pain through my leg.  I wanted to be at Madison Hut by 4:00 (it was 4.0 miles from the hut to the trailhead) but the col between Adams and Madison (where the hut is located) seemed an eternity away.    I put away the camera for the most part and trudged my way there at 4:30.

 

4.0 miles stood between me and the comfort of my lil red hotrod.  The trail swung around Madison laterally over large boulders and eventually dropped below treeline.  Usually I make good time on descents, but this time my feet were shot and every step was pure pain.  I reached the point where I had taken the first pic in this series and hated knowing there was still 2.9 miles to go.  It was 6:00.  I forged ahead, astounded by how steep much of this trail was and how I didn't even notice it on the ascent.  Perhaps not being able to see beyond the beam of my headlamp in the pre-dawn darkness played a role.  I don't know.  I do know this walk out was interminable.  Death seemed to be a viable and welcome option.  Finally I reached the trailhead (7:35).  Upon starting my car I saw a message on my car's computer - my right front tire was down to 3psi.  Great!  Luckily I had my air compressor along (this tire had a known slow leak which accelerated quite a bit while sitting there).  Air was added and off on my way.  Stopped at Subway to grab a sandwich.  While paying for the meal I blacked out.  I came to shortly afterwards, had a few handfuls of M&Ms in the car and drove to the GF's house in Fryeburg.  Made the easy decision to not try the one-day Pemi Loop.

 

 

 

Awesome pics, But holy fook at the rest of the trip

[CoastalWx]

Jesus Eric, glad you are ok. Still great pics though lol.

[eekuasepinniW]

That's why I prefer the auto road.

[J.Spin]

Great table - I find this kind of data fascinating. (Of course, since I keep lots of the same info, I have to say that!) Your data highlights some interesting differences between your area and mine, especially the inverse relationship between total snowfall and SDDs:

.............Waterbury...New Sharon....NS/Waterbury

Snowfall (7 yr)..160.0"......94.7"......59%

SDDs (6 yr)......1,522......1874........123% Only in 10-11 did Waterbury have more SDD, though 09-10 and 11-12 were close.

Max depth (7 yr)..28.9".....29.9"

Virtually identical, but lots of noise. Waterbury was tops by 12"/12.5" in 06-07 and 10-11, while New Sharon was ahead by 14"/16" in 07-08 and 08-09. The other 3 years we were within 1".

Methinks the fluff factor is far better in VT. For my snowfalls of 2" or greater, which make up 85% of my total snowfall, I've averaged LE ratios almost exactly at 10:1 over the 7 years. 08-09 came in near 12:1 and both 06-07 and 09-10 were only about 8.5:1. The earlier winter had several IP episodes, especially on St.Patties, while the late Feb mashed potato fest (10.7" and 2.68" = 4:1 - yuck) killed 09-10 ratios.

Edit: Just noted that events >2" also were 85% of your total, last winter only.

 

Nice analyses, you can really see the difference in snowfall/snowpack between this area of NNE and some of those areas farther east.  I also bet that if we had daily data for the amount of liquid in the snowpack and calculated “SWE-days”, the difference might be even greater than is shown through the SDD data.  Sometimes the topmost part of our snowpack is quite fluffy due to recent upslope snowfalls, and that would contribute to SDD numbers more than it would to SWE-day numbers.  It would be far too much work to core the entire snowpack every day, but something like a snow pillow would provide those data.  As PF has mentioned before, our location gets a lot of snow because we can get it from both east side and west side events, but I think a big part of the disparity with respect to SDD is because of snow preservation; snow in our area doesn’t hold as well as some points off to the east because of at least three factors:

 

1.  Fluffy snow – less water content to begin with, and more easily susceptible to warm air

2.  Proximity to the western slopes of the Greens – where warm air intrusions come from

3.  Relatively low elevation – typical temperatures are not quite as cold as higher elevation spots to the east for snow preservation

 

Based on travels around the area, our snow preservation seems notably better than just a few miles off to the west in the Bolton Flats area, but the preservation can get even better as one heads to the east, away from the western slopes and up in elevation.

 

On the LE ratios, at this point it would take a good amount of time to scrutinize my data and dissect out the “snow only” information from all the storms to remove any rain or mixed precipitation and try to calculate a ratio, so the only thing I’ve calculated so far is the ratio between total season snowfall and total liquid during that period.  I’ve only got three seasons of full liquid data, but what I do see is that the ratio of snow to liquid throughout each winter’s accumulating snowfall period is surprisingly consistent for what I’ve got so far:

 

2010-2011:  197.0”/29.64” = 6.6

2011-2012:  115.3”/18.45” = 6.2

2012-2013:  144.2”/22.04” = 6.5

 

This is the first time I’ve looked at the ratio of those numbers, but it’s got some disparate winters in there and speaks to the same thing we say for the mountains around here:  more total liquid means more snow, so just put us in the storm track and let Mother Nature do her thing.

 

[Lava Rock]

Given the opportunity to hike for nearly an entire day, I planned an epic journey that would hopefully be a test run for doing the 31.5 mile Pemi Loop next weekend.  I decided to summit all of the Northern Presidentials - Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay and Washington - and to also visit Tuckerman Ravine.  If time permitted, I planned on summiting Mt Monroe as well.  An ambitious plan that amounted to nearly 26 miles. 

 

The weather forecast looked promising with the front blowing through on Saturday leaving clearing skies, reasonable winds and comparatively brisk temperatures in its wake.  In order to complete this by my intended finish time of 6pm, I chose to be on-trail at 3am.  And I was!  The temperature at the trailhead was a rather balmy 64F.  I went with long pants on this adventure as the higher summits forecast was for temps around 50F with winds around 20mph - a far cry from the 90/70 weather I had endured only 24 hours prior! 

 

About 2.9 miles in I reached a nice viewpoint just as the sun was breaking the horizon.  The wind was chilly here, and since I was nearly at treeline I decided to throw on my long-sleeved shirt.

 

 

sunrise.jpg

 

 

I made it to the summit of Mt Madison (5367')  at 6:03am.  I measured the temperature at 49F and the wind was blowing at 21mph.  Great views all around.

 

 

Madison.jpg

 

 

Next up was Mt Adams (5,774'), the second-highest peak in the northeast, which I summited an hour later.  Conditions were virtually the same as at Madison.  And the views over to Mt Washington, Clay and Jefferson were incomparable.

 

 

Washington.jpg

 

 

Clouds were on the increase as I made my way to Mt Jefferson (5,712').  I summited Jefferson at 8:45 and the conditions were still what they were over at Adams and Madison.  I noted the wind chill was in the upper 30s.  On my way down Jefferson I watched as clouds raced in and fogged Mt Clay, which bummed me as the views from Clay are among my favorite in the Northern Presis.  I summmited Clay (5,541') with visiblity of a  couple hundred feet.  The fog persisted as I summited Mt Washington (6,288') at 11am.   A little cooler here at 46F, but the wind was still only 20mph.  As usual, the summit area was packed with hikers and also those who rode the cog railroad or took the Auto Road up.  I went in the visitor building to have a snack but discovered no available tables.  I refilled my water bottles and headed down to Tuckerman Ravine.

 

The clouds broke just above the ravine, permitting fine views.

 

 

Tuckerman.jpg

 

 

I went over to Lion Head to have that long-awaited snack.  Lion Head is the rock formation in the pic below.  If you look closely, you can see people standing on it and the trail adjacent.

 

 

 

Lion Head.jpg

 

 

I had set 12:00 as my turnaround time, and as I sat at Lion Head I noticed that it was high noon.  Mt Monroe would not be in my plans today after all.  I went back summiting only Mt Clay (still foggy for the most part) and skirted by the other summits.  My feet by this time were killing me - I was making slow time and every rock I inadvertantly kicked sent daggers of pain through my leg.  I wanted to be at Madison Hut by 4:00 (it was 4.0 miles from the hut to the trailhead) but the col between Adams and Madison (where the hut is located) seemed an eternity away.    I put away the camera for the most part and trudged my way there at 4:30.

 

4.0 miles stood between me and the comfort of my lil red hotrod.  The trail swung around Madison laterally over large boulders and eventually dropped below treeline.  Usually I make good time on descents, but this time my feet were shot and every step was pure pain.  I reached the point where I had taken the first pic in this series and hated knowing there was still 2.9 miles to go.  It was 6:00.  I forged ahead, astounded by how steep much of this trail was and how I didn't even notice it on the ascent.  Perhaps not being able to see beyond the beam of my headlamp in the pre-dawn darkness played a role.  I don't know.  I do know this walk out was interminable.  Death seemed to be a viable and welcome option.  Finally I reached the trailhead (7:35).  Upon starting my car I saw a message on my car's computer - my right front tire was down to 3psi.  Great!  Luckily I had my air compressor along (this tire had a known slow leak which accelerated quite a bit while sitting there).  Air was added and off on my way.  Stopped at Subway to grab a sandwich.  While paying for the meal I blacked out.  I came to shortly afterwards, had a few handfuls of M&Ms in the car and drove to the GF's house in Fryeburg.  Made the easy decision to not try the one-day Pemi Loop.

Right at the register? Did you tell them you just hiked your azz off. lol.Your quads must be the size of tree trunks.

[powderfreak]

As my usual complaining of no moisture I missed this batch by a few miles. So frustrating to see a good soaking 5 miles south of me. Hoping for rain tomorrow. Surface is dust bone dry although ground water is fine from early July rain.

Judging by how often you talk about getting missed, you probably have a valid reason to complain, haha. It's either north or south of you by "just a few miles"...gets frustrating if you need the water for the lawn.

I'm surprised though Dendrite and Eek are getting what they are...half inch or more is a good soaking rain.

[eekuasepinniW]

VP2:  0.24"

Manual gauge:  0.24"

 

omg

[dendrite]

0.52" through the tipper at home.

[tamarack]

Nice analyses, you can really see the difference in snowfall/snowpack between this area of NNE and some of those areas farther east.  I also bet that if we had daily data for the amount of liquid in the snowpack and calculated “SWE-days”, the difference might be even greater than is shown through the SDD data.  Sometimes the topmost part of our snowpack is quite fluffy due to recent upslope snowfalls, and that would contribute to SDD numbers more than it would to SWE-day numbers.  It would be far too much work to core the entire snowpack every day, but something like a snow pillow would provide those data.  As PF has mentioned before, our location gets a lot of snow because we can get it from both east side and west side events, but I think a big part of the disparity with respect to SDD is because of snow preservation; snow in our area doesn’t hold as well as some points off to the east because of at least three factors:

 

1.  Fluffy snow – less water content to begin with, and more easily susceptible to warm air

2.  Proximity to the western slopes of the Greens – where warm air instructions come from

3.  Relatively low elevation – typical temperatures are not quite as cold as higher elevation spots to the east for snow preservation

 

Based on travels around the area, our snow preservation seems notably better than just a few miles off to the west in the Bolton Flats area, but the preservation can get even better as one heads to the east, away from the western slopes and up in elevation.

 

On the LE ratios, at this point it would take a good amount of time to scrutinize my data and dissect out the “snow only” information from all the storms to remove any rain or mixed precipitation and try to calculate a ratio, so the only thing I’ve calculated so far is the ratio between total season snowfall and total liquid during that period.  I’ve only got three seasons of full liquid data, but what I do see is that the ratio of snow to liquid throughout each winter’s accumulating snowfall period is surprisingly consistent for what I’ve got so far:

 

2010-2011:  197.0”/29.64” = 6.6

2011-2012:  115.3”/18.45” = 6.2

2012-2013:  144.2”/22.04” = 6.5

 

This is the first time I’ve looked at the ratio of those numbers, but it’s got some disparate winters in there and speaks to the same thing we say for the mountains around here:  more total liquid means more snow, so just put us in the storm track and let Mother Nature do her thing.

 

 

Only #1 and #2 affect our relative snow retention, as I'm only at 380'.  However, the fluff factor is obvious, and the Maine fotthills might be the CAD capital of New England - it usually takes a strong SE system to scour out the cold in midwinter. 

 

I'm not sure the total precip to total snowfall ratios tell us much, other than for NNE, more cold-season precip almost always means more snow, which I think is well known.  You're probably in a better spot than me for scoring early and late season accum.  My ratios for those 3 years are 3.84, 5.04, and 5.64 this past winter.  However, the 2010-11 number is "corrupted" by tiny snows early and late.  If I restrict the period tothat connecting events of 1" or greater, that season would lose only 1.4" of snow but total precip would drop by 9.44", and the ratio would then be 5.92.  I also took a peek at 2007-08, my snowiest winter, and its ratio was 7.14.  For another good year, 2008-09, the ratio was 5.61.  However, the initial event was 2" snow changing to a deluge with total precip 4.61", my biggest November precip event in 40 years of observations across 4 Maine locations.  Pretend that never happened and 08-09 comes in at 7.38".

[wxeyeNH]

Judging by how often you talk about getting missed, you probably have a valid reason to complain, haha. It's either north or south of you by "just a few miles"...gets frustrating if you need the water for the lawn.

I'm surprised though Dendrite and Eek are getting what they are...half inch or more is a good soaking rain.

Powderfreak, I guess it all equals out after time. I jackpotted for Memorial Day weekend thundersnow so just missing out on every T storm and most rain events this summer. Tomorrow nights half inch of rain should shut me up for awhile. You seem to be in a great spot for both winter snow squalls and good thunderstorms!

Attached a picture of my dessert like soil conditions. Even the day lilies are wilting!

PS Great hiking pictures Maine Jayhawk!

[N. OF PIKE]

Very jealous of nne low temps wed nite and thur nite. 40's in berlin and stowe ahhhhhh

[powderfreak]

Powderfreak, I guess it all equals out after time. I jackpotted for Memorial Day weekend thundersnow

I think I'm more jealous over that 2 hour period you had that night than any other weather event in the past year. Thundersnow on Memorial Day Weekend won't be topped by anyone in a long time haha.

As far as this summer's storms go...we may be in a bit more favorable spot being in western New England, but SVR seems to be a crapshoot for the most part. In the 4 years I've lived in Stowe, I've never seen anything like a couple of the storms we've had this summer...just lucky I think. Or well I was thinking unlucky after the second night of no power.

[dendrite]

Tomorrow could be pretty wet for C/S NH before the cP air moves in Wed PM. CON has an outside shot to sneak a min in the 40s before July is over. I don't think anyone saw that coming a few days ago.

[CoastalWx]

Unexpected ass of a day today. Blah.

[dendrite]

Unexpected ass of a day today. Blah.

Yeah...So much for the lawn mowing today.

How long are you up at the lake for? One of these days we'll have to meet up when you're up here.

[CoastalWx]

Just a quick glance at guidance tells me it may rain buckets around central NH.

[CoastalWx]

Yeah...So much for the lawn mowing today.

How long are you up at the lake for?

Normally the week, but have to leave Wednesday to drive to PA for a wedding that I will be part of on Friday. I will be up in August though.

[powderfreak]

Rain incoming...heavy for someone, looks like DDH-RUT-LEB-IZG-CON gets walloped.

 

 

 

 

 

[dendrite]

62F and heavy, heavy rain.

1.00" exactly through the bucket so far and more to come.

[MaineJayhawk]

Only about .4" here.   A lot of fun adding air to the tire at 5:00 am in the pouring rain.

[CoastalWx]

Deluge. 63.3F.

[MainePhotog]

.20" RN 61.9°F

[dendrite]

Up to 2.01". +RA continues. 63F

[ctsnowstorm628]

0.19" at 1V4...thank god this isn't a snow event. Classic downslope scenario and fringe job.

[Lava Rock]

0.78" so far. Wasn't expecting this much. Looking like a nice stretch after tomorrow.

[OceanStWx]

Deluge. 63.3F.

 

May not feel like it down here, but we're juiced aloft. Dual-pol crushing legacy precip estimation so far. Occasionally, the instantaneous precip rates have been climbing over 5 in/hr.