NNE Winter Thread

[eyewall]

2 minutes ago, ono said:

the local Champlain effect can be pretty cool last year or the year before (?)... light snow down by old north end flats, and then increases as you travel uphill into a sustained moderate clip.  fun localized stuff.

I think it was last year if I am not mistaken. I remember it was very fine flakes when it occurred (I believe it was during the one cold shot we had in Feb). It didn't amount to a huge accumulation but it was enough to reduce vis and cause a few accidents.

[backedgeapproaching]

17 minutes ago, eyewall said:

I think it was last year if I am not mistaken. I remember it was very fine flakes when it occurred (I believe it was during the one cold shot we had in Feb). It didn't amount to a huge accumulation but it was enough to reduce vis and cause a few accidents.

I think there was one in FEB, but maybe the one your thinking of was on 1/4/16 I believe.  I happened to be driving up to BTV for work that day.  This was on 22 heading north,  little south of Vergennes maybe? Think it was like 3F midday with S+. Pretty cool micro climate event.

 

 

 

 

[eyewall]

I think there was one in FEB, but maybe the one your thinking of was on 1/4/16 I believe.  I happened to be driving up to BTV for work that day.  This was on 22 heading north,  little south of Vergennes maybe? Think it was like 3F midday with S+. Pretty cool micro climate event.





 

 

 

 

Yes that was the one! It was amazing to see. As that occurred the sun was out in Williston.

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[alex]

Heavy snow in the Woods, unexpectedly. Approaching 3"

[ono]

44 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

I think there was one in FEB, but maybe the one your thinking of was on 1/4/16 I believe.  I happened to be driving up to BTV for work that day.  This was on 22 heading north,  little south of Vergennes maybe? Think it was like 3F midday with S+. Pretty cool micro climate event.

 

 

 

 

I remember this picture from that time- very cool vibe that event had- it was like this twilight zone feeling around town knowing it was really low stuff.  Lake effect is pretty cool.

[powderfreak]

Looks like some good squalls possible tonight.

High fluff factor.

[backedgeapproaching]

33 minutes ago, ono said:

I remember this picture from that time- very cool vibe that event had- it was like this twilight zone feeling around town knowing it was really low stuff.  Lake effect is pretty cool.

Yea, only lake effect snow I've ever been in--was pretty neat.  It's funny, I just decided to take Rte 22 that day for the first time and had no idea that lake band was even cranking.  I drove up and saw the really low cloud deck ahead and drive straight into it and was at a loss for what was happening and then checked the radar on my phone and saw the streamer coming off the lake. Definitely some 5MPH driving happening during the heaviest part.

[powderfreak]

35 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Yea, only lake effect snow I've ever been in--was pretty neat.  It's funny, I just decided to take Rte 22 that day for the first time and had no idea that lake band was even cranking.  I drove up and saw the really low cloud deck ahead and drive straight into it and was at a loss for what was happening and then checked the radar on my phone and saw the streamer coming off the lake. Definitely some 5MPH driving happening during the heaviest part.

The thing about that area is its so flat and open the wind is NEVER calm...its always blowing and drifting there which makes it worse.

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Yea, only lake effect snow I've ever been in--was pretty neat.  It's funny, I just decided to take Rte 22 that day for the first time and had no idea that lake band was even cranking.  I drove up and saw the really low cloud deck ahead and drive straight into it and was at a loss for what was happening and then checked the radar on my phone and saw the streamer coming off the lake. Definitely some 5MPH driving happening during the heaviest part.

I remember going 5 mph from a different sort of Champlain effect.  Visibility on the NY side of the Crown Point bridge was 25 feet at best and much less at worst, with 30+ northerly gusts coming all the way down from Canada.  It was late January, 1971, and given the brutal cold of that month, I'm confident the lakes were one big snow-gathering expanse.  There was a 3-car accident a few yards off the NY end of the span, a head-on at foolish speed (30?) judging by the wreckage, plus a rear-ending at much lower speed by the 3rd car.  Tow truck was just setting off with one of the totaled cars as I arrived, and I noted bindings between the ski racks on the roof of the other wreck, the boards obviously having rocketed out into the field upon impact.

The tow truck driver knew the road, and maybe his sitting 4-5 feet higher than I in my Nova offered a bit better visibility in this sunny-day ground blizzard, so he went faster than I cared to, and once 25 yards out, his yellow blinker was obscured and I slowed to a white-knuckled 5 mph, fearing a paunch into an invisible 4' drift, then getting squashed by a pulp truck headed for Finch-Pruyn.  Met only one vehicle, and though his headlights became visible inside the 10-yard space, our fast-walk velocity allowed easy avoidance of contact.

[eyewall]

NWS Mentions waterspouts/steam devils on Lake Champlain Fri morning. I remember seeing the steam devils last year

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 1.5” Snow/0.10” L.E.

 

We picked up an additional 0.2” of snow before I left the house today, but it had mostly sublimated by this evening so I could only register a trace of liquid.  The weather certainly cleared out today, so whatever happens next will be a separate event.

 

Details from the 6:00 P.M. Waterbury observations:

 

New Snow: 0.2 inches

New Liquid: Trace

Temperature: 19.9 F

Sky: Partly Cloudy

Snow at the stake: 6.5 inches

[eyewall]

Looks like we are about to get a nice snow squall line with the next front shortly here.

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[ono]

25 minutes ago, eyewall said:

Looks like we are about to get a nice snow squall line with the next front shortly here.

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for sure- looks like that firehose kinda north-south curl as it wraps up against the spine- somewhat similar to the last round a few days ago, albeit more confined.  The band seemed to pivot south a bit a few hours ago.

 

This setup seems to have happened a few times this winter- a WSW-ENE axis off Lake Ontario- it kinda brushes the northern 'dacks, and seems focused north of Mansfield.  These lake bands- could this could be a factor in making the Jay Peak area top out over Mansfield? They benefit from the W-NW upslope events (obviously) with the fewest obstructions to the N and NW, yet the far northern peaks around Jay/Big Jay/North Jay have a more clear, unobstructed flow coming off Lake Ontario.  Just a thought. The far northern Greens more open to the WSW with respect to the Great Lakes as well.  Talk about location?

[eyewall]

It was a nice squall but nowhere close to Nov 2013 when I witnessed some of the heaviest snow rates I have ever seen and the line had an MCV. Still it nuked pretty nicely with big dendrites. The mountains are sure to clean up on a bit of fluff over the next few hours. 

[ono]

48 minutes ago, eyewall said:

It was a nice squall but nowhere close to Nov 2013 when I witnessed some of the heaviest snow rates I have ever seen and the line had an MCV. Still it nuked pretty nicely with big dendrites. The mountains are sure to clean up on a bit of fluff over the next few hours. 

Looks to be a good night. easily 1.5" rates for a while.  The mountains will do well from the looks of it- one of the AFD's hinted at several inches with locally higher amounts for higher elevations (this afternoon, by Taber).

[powderfreak]

3" Barnes Camp stake overnight here at 1,500ft.

At home I eyeballed only 3/4ths of an inch but once I finally went outside it was just a little over an inch but maybe 1.1-1.2".  Not as fluffy as I thought it would be.  Cold but looked like some rimed flakes or graupel even?

 

[powderfreak]

12 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

3" Barnes Camp stake overnight here at 1,500ft. 

Grooming said 4" at 3,000ft is a very safe bet but blowing around so they said leave it until I can get to the High Road stake.

For other ski resort reports:

Jay Peak: 4-6"

Smuggs: 5-6"

Stowe: 3-4"

Bolton: 3"

Mad River Glen: 1-3"

Sugarbush: 3-11"

Killington: Dusting

[mreaves]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

3" Barnes Camp stake overnight here at 1,500ft.

At home I eyeballed only 3/4ths of an inch but once I finally went outside it was just a little over an inch but maybe 1.1-1.2".  Not as fluffy as I thought it would be.  Cold but looked like some rimed flakes or graupel even?

 

About the same at my place. I also got about 1/2" yesterday.  I was completely unaware as there was nothing here at work.  My son said it was like a mini blizzard out when he was in math class around 9:00.  It's nice to be in a pattern with regular snowfalls again, even if they aren't huge amounts.

[qg_omega]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Grooming said 4" at 3,000ft is a very safe bet but blowing around so they said leave it until I can get to the High Road stake.

For other ski resort reports:

Jay Peak: 4-6"

Smuggs: 5-6"

Stowe: 3-4"

Bolton: 3"

Mad River Glen: 1-3"

Sugarbush: 3-11"

Killington: Dusting

6 inches at whiteface from LES.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 1.6” Snow/0.07” L.E.

 

The overnight snow was like a thief in the night – I went to bed around midnight or so and there was nothing going on, nor was there any activity this morning at observations time.  I knew it might end up that way though, the LES firehose was expected to travel south along the spine, and it came through our area in the wee hours of the night to drop 1.6 inches of powder.  It did look a bit settled relative to what it might have been when it had just fallen, but the ratio was still roughly 23 to 1.

 

Details from the 6:00 A.M. Waterbury observations:

 

New Snow: 1.6 inches

New Liquid: 0.07 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 22.9

Snow Density: 4.4% H2O

Temperature: 18.1 F

Sky: Cloudy

Snow at the stake: 7.5 inches

[eyewall]

Is that 11 inches at Sugarbush from Drifty McDriftface?

[alex]

just over 3" yesterday, then 3/4" overnight here

[ono]

55 minutes ago, eyewall said:

Is that 11 inches at Sugarbush from Drifty McDriftface?

watch that webcam... it appears somewhere around 2:30AM to 4:30AM it racked up ~7". Looks like Drifty McDriftface snuck out last night.

 Apparently, the people at Sugarbush putting that camera together up top said they spent last season ironing out the problems. It's a really nice effort, but it doesn't seem like last season was a good one to set a baseline for as far as drifting, and that this is probably (or hopefully) an ongoing project- it would be cool if they could do something a bit more rigorous as far as measuring like PF.  The only thing I can knock about Stowe right now is that the Spruce Peak Plaza webcam is upside down.

 Smuggs is so off the radar with snowfall-  and they're generally conservative as well (sometimes it seems they lowball themselves). It would be interesting to see their methods.   

[MBRI]

33 minutes ago, alex said:

just over 3" yesterday, then 3/4" overnight here

Alex, Hear they are riding out of Fabians?  to Jefferson Notch rd? what do you have total on the ground? headed up tomorrow mid day to break one in.

[MBRI]

kids at Sugarbush now 11"  is about right

[eyewall]

2 minutes ago, MBRI said:

kids at Sugarbush now 11"  is about right

Well there you have it! Very nice. Bolton is on Wind hold today. 

[ono]

11 minutes ago, eyewall said:

Well there you have it! Very nice. Bolton is on Wind hold today. 

eating a shoe right now, it appears.  good to see Bolton with 31 trails- they don't exactly have the latest, greatest snowmaking and getting natural help to open terrain is a good thing for that place- it's a really great spot for local families especially. 

[J.Spin]

Since it’s mid-month today, I decided to do a check on where things stand with respect to December snowfall/snowpack for our site.  Current snowfall for the month stands at 19.8”, which is actually a few inches ahead of average (15.5”).  Snowpack depth as of this morning’s report was 7.5”, which is very much in line with average (mean depth = 7.0”, median depth = 8.3”).  I haven’t cored the snowpack since last week, but with no major thaws, the liquid we’ve gotten since then would suggest that it’s got about 1.20” of liquid in it depending on whether or not there’s been any substantial sublimation or melting from below.

[powderfreak]

Dumping now again. 
Ridiculously deep out there. 

6" at the 3,000ft stake but some of this is skiing like a foot of fluff under the ridgeline.

[J.Spin]

I cleared the J&E Productions Live Web Cam board this morning, but just looked and saw that there was about a half inch of accumulation on it.  The recent push of moisture through the area was visible on radar:

 

 

Based on the BTV NWS forecast discussion, as well as the obvious northwesterly flow, this isn’t really related to any LES, but instead the arctic frontal boundary that is coming through.  So, this accumulation will be the start of its own separate event:

 

.NEAR TERM /UNTIL 10 PM THIS EVENING/...

Band of snow showers along the arctic boundary/surge of colder air moving through northeast NY and northwest VT now. Pops over the higher terrain in good shape & already account for it. No change to temps with hourlies crashing through the day. Lake effect snow band has shifted well south of the region as low level winds become more northwesterly.