NNE Winter Thread

[ORH_wxman]

If I had the means, I'd prob spend like April 1st through May 1st out in some mountain west location skiing on a 15 foot base (maybe I'd delay it a bit in years like this where skiing is still very good in NNE in early April)....then when things start to deteriorate out there, for the next 3 weeks I'd go sit on a tropical beach somewhere, lol.....then come back home by Memorial Day.

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, Cold Miser said:

Good point regarding the notion that pretty much every part of the country has at least "that month" that they don't look forward to.  San Diego is the one place that I hear people say that it is wonderful all year round.  Open to interpretation I suppose, but I hear that sentiment quite often.

lol at the HHH dig.  

Wonderful - perhaps for folks who have little interest in weather.  I think "boring" would better fit many of the weenies on here, starting with me.  Great place for a vacation, but not for 365.  As for miserable wx, NNE (and EMA/RI) spring can have its share, but so can Oct/Nov, and consider even midsummer, like August 2008 when we had 3 days of stratiform rain with temps 61/57/58.

And adding to my above post, yes the tick acquisition was not to my liking, but Saturday also marked our 1st meal of the year from the barbie.  Maybe another one today. 

[powderfreak]

35 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Bingo. But obviously I would let that slide if I could do lots of late season skiing.

But don't you have that down in SNE too?  I mean how much time did you spend outside in the past month doing things like that? 

I get what you guys are saying but I just don't see how you avoid it down there?  Or maybe its still coming this spring?

Hell Kev had his kids playing soccer in the snow. 

[powderfreak]

Nice late-April day at the beach.

Mansfield summit:

 

Mount Washington from Mount Mansfield... with a 300mm lens.

The sicko in me notes how the snow level has now risen above the valley floor and is sitting at around 1,000-1,200ft.  Down at the floor at 700-1,000ft is now mostly snow free except for rouge really shaded spots, cold spots or plow piles and roof slides.

[backedgeapproaching]

3 hours ago, Cold Miser said:

Good point regarding the notion that pretty much every part of the country has at least "that month" that they don't look forward to.  San Diego is the one place that I hear people say that it is wonderful all year round.  Open to interpretation I suppose, but I hear that sentiment quite often.

lol at the HHH dig.  

The monthly temp range is definitely smaller than most regions and in that 60-80F sweet spot year round most enjoy, but its not like your at the beach Nov-Feb, its pretty chilly unless you get some strong Santa Ana winds.  May and June can be pretty cloudy at the beach with the marine layer.  July-Oct are probably the nicest weather wise. I always lived within a mile or so of the ocean and never had AC the 8 years I lived there and didn't really miss it except for a few times.  But, you go just like 3-4+ miles inland and temps can heat up quickly.

Definitely extremely boring weather wise..lol.   Boring weather aside, pretty amazing place to live.

[CoastalWx]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

But don't you have that down in SNE too?  I mean how much time did you spend outside in the past month doing things like that? 

I get what you guys are saying but I just don't see how you avoid it down there?  Or maybe its still coming this spring?

Hell Kev had his kids playing soccer in the snow. 

It’s dried out and fine for spring activities. Weather has been great. It’s just nice to go outdoors and do stuff instead of dealing with a glacier and ensuing mud season, Like we had a couple of weeks ago. I’m not really saying there is no crap weather. Boy do we have those stretches....I just mean it’s nice to be outdoors, 60s etc. 

Of course I’d trade that for the deep winter from November through March. 

[powderfreak]

Just now, CoastalWx said:

It’s dried out and fine for spring activities. Weather has been great. It’s just nice to go outdoors and do stuff instead of dealing with a glacier and ensuing mud season, Like we had a couple of weeks ago. I’m not really saying there is no crap weather. Boy do we have those stretches....I just mean it’s nice to be outdoors, 60s etc. 

Of course I’d trade that for the deep winter from November through March. 

Ahhh ok gotcha.  It just happened earlier.  I think that's my thinking, its going to happen everywhere in New England.  It just comes at slightly different times. 

I've been really surprised at how quickly its dried up here in the mountain valleys.  From full cover to dry lawns in 48-72 hours.  I guess these 10-20% RH days will do that.  Funny how a few days ago I was like, the local kids can't have any spring sport season and now they are out there practicing after school. 

This is the last patch of snow I can see from the living room, take the dog over to it so she can roll in it, ha.  The row of evergreens provides nice shelter. 

The funny thing is there's one yard by the Green Gables Inn down the street that still looks like almost full cover at like 8" of depth.  Everyone else is like 98% bare.  There's always that one sheltered yard that never sees sun but I always laugh because if that guy was a CoCoRAHS observer or something, it would be head scratching depth obs but would be legit for his yard.  I'll try to get a shot driving by.

[CoastalWx]

1 minute ago, powderfreak said:

Ahhh ok gotcha.  It just happened earlier.  I think that's my thinking, its going to happen everywhere in New England.  It just comes at slightly different times. 

I've been really surprised at how quickly its dried up here in the mountain valleys.  From full cover to dry lawns in 48-72 hours.  I guess these 10-20% RH days will do that.  Funny how a few days ago I was like, the local kids can't have any spring sport season and now they are out there practicing after school. 

This is the last patch of snow I can see from the living room, take the dog over to it so she can roll in it, ha.  The row of evergreens provides nice shelter. 

The funny thing is there's one yard by the Green Gables Inn down the street that still looks like almost full cover at like 8" of depth.  Everyone else is like 98% bare.  There's always that one sheltered yard that never sees sun but I always laugh because if that guy was a CoCoRAHS observer or something, it would be head scratching depth obs but would be legit for his yard.  I'll try to get a shot driving by.

Yeah obviously happens earlier here, but that’s also when activities ramp up. At least down here. It’s also my kid driving me crazy and the sooner he’s outside the more sane I am lol. When I was younger I’d root for snow until May if I could. You’ll see one of these days. Of course Like jspin and others  said, if I could live down south for a month...this is when I would go. 

[alex]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Nice late-April day at the beach.

Mansfield summit:

 

Mount Washington from Mount Mansfield... with a 300mm lens.

The sicko in me notes how the snow level has now risen above the valley floor and is sitting at around 1,000-1,200ft.  Down at the floor at 700-1,000ft is now mostly snow free except for rouge really shaded spots, cold spots or plow piles and roof slides.

It is weird how this time of the year the elevation difference really becomes obvious. There really isn't much most of the winter except for orographic snow, but in my neck of the woods retention is actually much better at lower elevation... Till late in the season, when things switch and areas like North Conway are completely snow free while we still have cover. 

 

Regarding the whole "misery month" concept, I agree - all areas of New England have it. Having lived in Eastern Mass a long time I'd argue Eastern Mass is actually worse. When central mass gets into the upper 70s, the coastline can get stuck in chilly Temps due to the ocean. I lived in Central Mass for a few years and remember so many times leaving Boston in chilly weather and getting home to awesome spring conditions 

[Lava Rock]

Wonderful - perhaps for folks who have little interest in weather.  I think "boring" would better fit many of the weenies on here, starting with me.  Great place for a vacation, but not for 365.  As for miserable wx, NNE (and EMA/RI) spring can have its share, but so can Oct/Nov, and consider even midsummer, like August 2008 when we had 3 days of stratiform rain with temps 61/57/58.
And adding to my above post, yes the tick acquisition was not to my liking, but Saturday also marked our 1st meal of the year from the barbie.  Maybe another one today. 

Lived in San Diego for a year. Was great but I'm four season guy and the constant sunny days became boring. To each his own.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[eyewall]

A perfect spring day and evening from the other side of Powder's mountain to the lake:

[Lava Rock]

A perfect spring day and evening from the other side of Powder's mountain to the lake:

Great

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[J.Spin]

I’m passing along a few images from this weekend’s skiing at Stowe – some great April skiing!

[J.Spin]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 11:53 AM, powderfreak said:

Some pics from yesterday's adventures at Stowe... closed skied area and 7-9" of dense upslope snow.  The snow quality was perfect.  So dense you'd never hit any bottom (like floating on graupel and rimed flakes) but not wet and sticky.  Only the type of snow that comes from a cold atmosphere but not in the max snow growth temps.  Like SWFE snow, ha.

Spent the night with some friend's up at Stowe Mountain Lodge...which is one heck of a weenie location to stay.  I mean, it snows in town but not like it does at 1,500ft on Mansfield.  That place knows how to precipitate.  Went walking around the little base area that night while it raged snow and wind.  There was only 2-3" at this point but it was coming down at a steady 1"/hr so we figured that would bode well for tomorrow.

Woke up to 7" in the base area and called my wife, who reported 1-2" and that's about as precise as it was going to get, ha.  The usual gradient here over 5-6 miles from pure mid-winter snowstorm to just some steady light snow in town. 

 

Lifts are fun but it's also fun to get up top and find every run just sitting there covered in fresh powder with no tracks on it. 

PF - I saw your post about staying at the Stowe Mountain Lodge, and my wife and I sort of laughed because we had planned to stay there over the weekend with the boys – it’s definitely the season for great rates there, and the locals know.  It’s pretty cool that you got to be up there during the storm though – were you up there Friday night?  We’d actually looked into staying at Clay Brook at Sugarbush because we had some leftover vouchers to use there (which turned out to be weekday only), but my wife was finding rates in the $400/night range and that seemed sort of excessive – especially when we could stay at the Stowe Mountain Lodge for less than half that amount.  I guess part of the disparity might be because the lifts are still running at Sugarbush?

Anyway, it was definitely nice to finish skiing and just head right over to the lodge.  I’d say the Friday skiing was definitely the best in terms of top-to-bottom powder, but the sunny weather was really sweet on Saturday and Sunday.  Things are definitely peaceful in the lodge and village there at this time of year if you’re looking to get away, and Hourglass and Solstice are open with great food.  Basically, you’ve got everything one needs to ski, eat, and sleep.  A few more shots from the trip:

[powderfreak]

J.Spin- We were only up there on Thursday night... a buddy had one of the 3-bedroom 3-bath Front Four units for the night and I've never stayed there but holy crap that was a huge condo for being inside a hotel.  The thing had to have 1,500 square feet, lol.

 

On another note, here's a photo from yesterday of the Toll Road near the top of Nosedive. 

96" on the COOP report for depth last night.  Looks about right.  The Toll Road was supposed to open in like 3 weeks but we pushed it back to May 26th now I think. 

Daily Hydrometeorological Data
National Weather Service Burlington VT
724 PM EDT Tue Apr 24 2018

Station            Precip   Temperature   Present         Snow
                   24 Hrs   Max Min Cur   Weather     New Total SWE
...Vermont...
Mount Mansfield     0.00    58  42  57                     96

[CoastalWx]

Good shots PF and Jspin.

[J.Spin]

14 hours ago, powderfreak said:

J.Spin- We were only up there on Thursday night... a buddy had one of the 3-bedroom 3-bath Front Four units for the night and I've never stayed there but holy crap that was a huge condo for being inside a hotel.  The thing had to have 1,500 square feet, lol.

Ahh, nice, I haven’t been in those, but they sound like a really cool option if you’ve got a decent-sized group.  I will say, they definitely went to town on a lot of the bathrooms in the complex though.  I’d seen it before in rooms of friends we’d visited, but the bathroom in our unit was almost as large as the living area.  In a pinch you could easily sleep another couple of people in there with a full-sized mattress and room to spare!  It’s pretty sweet slope side lodging overall, and definitely on our list for another visit if the right occasion arises in conjunction with some Mansfield/Spruce turns.

[Cold Miser]

On 4/24/2018 at 9:25 AM, eyewall said:

A perfect spring day and evening from the other side of Powder's mountain to the lake:

Crazy that the ice is gone.
Still full ice in the Adirondacks where my dad's summer house is.

[MarkO]

Winnipesaukee ice-out is likely tomorrow. 

[powderfreak]

5 hours ago, Cold Miser said:

Crazy that the ice is gone.
Still full ice in the Adirondacks where my dad's summer house is.

Lake Champlain is a different beast... lots of open water all winter long, prone to high winds and lots of wave action, not to mention a warmer climate and almost zero radiational cooling factors (so lots of nights when everyone else is 22F and calm, its 38F and breezy over the open water.

What always surprises me, and got me even a couple weeks ago earlier in April... was how the large portion of the lake with 7 miles of open water from Burlington to Plattsburgh was completely ice free, as soon as the lake got "smaller" in the bays and less width it was still frozen white.

[eekuasepinniW]

4 hours ago, MarkO said:

Winnipesaukee ice-out is likely tomorrow. 

It was actually one hour before you made this post. 

[alex]

Snowpack should be done here soon. Open lawn areas are now snow free; the wooded or semi wooded ones still have some. Here's the view from my new house kitchen window

[MarkO]

14 hours ago, eekuasepinniW said:

It was actually one hour before you made this post. 

I had been following Emerson Aviation's posts throughout the day but hadn't noticed they made the call at 5:40 p.m yesterday afternoon. 

[Cold Miser]

18 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Lake Champlain is a different beast... lots of open water all winter long, prone to high winds and lots of wave action, not to mention a warmer climate and almost zero radiational cooling factors (so lots of nights when everyone else is 22F and calm, its 38F and breezy over the open water.

What always surprises me, and got me even a couple weeks ago earlier in April... was how the large portion of the lake with 7 miles of open water from Burlington to Plattsburgh was completely ice free, as soon as the lake got "smaller" in the bays and less width it was still frozen white.

Oh. Yes. Definitely. I was not sure what lake he was referring too.  I thought Winnipesaukee. 

[J.Spin]

Checking out the various models, it looks like the next opportunity for snow is in the Sunday night/Monday timeframe.  The BTV NWS hasn’t said much about in their discussions thus far, but they’re mentioning it in their latest update:

Area Forecast Discussion

National Weather Service Burlington VT

351 PM EDT Fri Apr 27 2018

.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...

As of 318 PM EDT Friday...By Sunday night, the front will have completely cleared the forecast area, and temperatures will drop into the 30s in most areas. Showers will continue as the core of the coldest air moves overhead, falling as cold rain in the Champlain and St. Lawrence Valleys and as snow at higher elevations.

[adk]

12 hours ago, J.Spin said:

Checking out the various models, it looks like the next opportunity for snow is in the Sunday night/Monday timeframe.  The BTV NWS hasn’t said much about in their discussions thus far, but they’re mentioning it in their latest update:

Area Forecast Discussion

National Weather Service Burlington VT

351 PM EDT Fri Apr 27 2018

.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...

As of 318 PM EDT Friday...By Sunday night, the front will have completely cleared the forecast area, and temperatures will drop into the 30s in most areas. Showers will continue as the core of the coldest air moves overhead, falling as cold rain in the Champlain and St. Lawrence Valleys and as snow at higher elevations.

Way more interested in that "80 F" possibility on Wednesday. Ha.

[ApacheTrout]

Thunderstorm, first of the spring, rolling into the southern Champlain Valley at this time.

[wxeyeNH]

Ice out on Newfound Lake today,  April 28th.  More importantly, the last snow patch on my property melted today!   Just waiting for the first Forsythia to open in the area, then real spring begins...

[powderfreak]

Nice day before the rain moved in this evening.

Great day for a skin and ski at Stowe... natural snow trails still top-to-bottom on April 28th.  Skied Starr from top-to-bottom and it was likely my best run of the season on that trail.  Nice corn or wet granular and the rain mellowed out the moguls and smoothed things out.  Very fun skiing.  Glades are still skiable pretty much everywhere too. 

This is where the eastern slope of Mansfield really shows it's snow preservation this time of year.  It's all in the shade during the afternoon max heating while the entire west slope gets baked by sun. 

[CoastalWx]

2 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

Ice out on Newfound Lake today,  April 28th.  More importantly, the last snow patch on my property melted today!   Just waiting for the first Forsythia to open in the area, then real spring begins...

That’s nuts. No yellow yet? Been out for 10 days here. Glad we live here.