NNE Winter Thread

[dryslot]

Fall is over, Some in NNE are off to a real good start on winter, Looks to continue thru the holidays and into the first of the New Year

[alex]

1.3" of very crusty snow with some fluff on top since the frontal passage yesterday. Just very light snow this morning. 

[powderfreak]

It is snowing very heavily in some of these upslope squalls.

Think we got a quick inch at home in about 20 minutes.  Just pouring dendrites.

Classic elevation event last night with 5" found at 3,000ft High Road stake and about 0.75" at 1,500ft. 

Quick clip of snow in this squall:

https://i.imgur.com/QG2Be2e.mp4

[alex]

Heavy squall coming through here

[tamarack]

Pre-dawn graupel-flurry cracks the 10" barrier.  That's 6" below my cumulative average thru 12/20, but the 6" depth is right at par.

[OceanStWx]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Pre-dawn graupel-flurry cracks the 10" barrier.  That's 6" below my cumulative average thru 12/20, but the 6" depth is right at par.

PWM 12.3" for the month, which is pretty close to normal (for the month not date).

[calculus1]

Went snowshoeing out of Pinkham Notch today (on NH 16 between Wildcat Mountain and Mount Washington).  We hiked the portion of the Appalachian Trail that goes over the Old Jackson Road to Low's Bald Spot.  The upslope snow machine caused by orographic lift was in full effect today.  It was steadily snowing for our entire hike, and there was already probably four inches of new snow that the area had accumulated overnight on top of what was already there.  (For comparison, we only got about 0.5 inch overnight in North Conway.)  There was easily 18 inches of snow all over the ground and drifts that were much higher.  Our snowshoes were invaluable, as they kept us near the top of the snow, but there were places where, if we stepped off the trail, we could sink down to mid-thigh.  We had to break trail the entire way, as no one else had taken that trail recently.  The wind on top of Low's Bald Spot was vicious, but most of the rest of the trail was protected from the wind as it was in the forest.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see much from the bald spot as it was all socked in with the snow, but overall, it was an awesome experience hiking in moderate snowfall with deep (for us) snow cover on the ground.

The one downside was stepping into a snow drift that was hiding a stream on the way back.  I couldn't believe how deep I had sunk.  At first I was laughing, and then I felt the water rush into the top of my boot beneath my gaiters.  That was a scary feeling, as I've heard tons of horror stories about people getting frostbite when exposed to the elements, especially when water was involved.  I ripped off the boats and the wet socks and dried my feet with another shirt we had with us.  Fortunately, we also had extra socks in our pack, but I still had to wear the boots down the mountain.  We had a bag of Cheez-its and a bag of pistachios with us, so we dumped their contents into another container, and I stuck one foot inside each bag and then back into my boots.  My boots had become all frozen up, and my hands were all numb trying to finagle the snowshoes back on.  So, we decided to hoof it down the Mount Washington Auto Road instead of going back over the OJR, as it seemed the quickest way back to civilization.  We then bummed a ride from someone at Great Glen Trails back up to Pinkham Notch.  I still have all my toes and a crazy adventure to share...

Still loving it up here!

Video from OJR shortly before reaching the MWAR.

 

[Lava Rock]

27 minutes ago, calculus1 said:

Went snowshoeing out of Pinkham Notch today (on NH 16 between Wildcat Mountain and Mount Washington).  We hiked the portion of the Appalachian Trail that goes over the Old Jackson Road to Low's Bald Spot.  The upslope snow machine caused by orographic lift was in full effect today.  It was steadily snowing for our entire hike, and there was already probably four inches of new snow that the area had accumulated overnight on top of what was already there.  (For comparison, we only got about 0.5 inch overnight in North Conway.)  There was easily 18 inches of snow all over the ground and drifts that were much higher.  Our snowshoes were invaluable, as they kept us near the top of the snow, but there were places where, if we stepped off the trail, we could sink down to mid-thigh.  We had to break trail the entire way, as no one else had taken that trail recently.  The wind on top of Low's Bald Spot was vicious, but most of the rest of the trail was protected from the wind as it was in the forest.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see much from the bald spot as it was all socked in with the snow, but overall, it was an awesome experience hiking in moderate snowfall with deep (for us) snow cover on the ground.

The one downside was stepping into a snow drift that was hiding a stream on the way back.  I couldn't believe how deep I had sunk.  At first I was laughing, and then I felt the water rush into the top of my boot beneath my gaiters.  That was a scary feeling, as I've heard tons of horror stories about people getting frostbite when exposed to the elements, especially when water was involved.  I ripped off the boats and the wet socks and dried my feet with another shirt we had with us.  Fortunately, we also had extra socks in our pack, but I still had to wear the boots down the mountain.  We had a bag of Cheez-its and a bag of pistachios with us, so we dumped their contents into another container, and I stuck one foot inside each bag and then back into my boots.  My boots had become all frozen up, and my hands were all numb trying to finagle the snowshoes back on.  So, we decided to hoof it down the Mount Washington Auto Road instead of going back over the OJR, as it seemed the quickest way back to civilization.  We then bummed a ride from someone at Great Glen Trails back up to Pinkham Notch.  I still have all my toes and a crazy adventure to share...

Still loving it up here!

Video from OJR shortly before reaching the MWAR.

 

sounds like a great day.

[mreaves]

3 hours ago, calculus1 said:

Went snowshoeing out of Pinkham Notch today (on NH 16 between Wildcat Mountain and Mount Washington).  We hiked the portion of the Appalachian Trail that goes over the Old Jackson Road to Low's Bald Spot.  The upslope snow machine caused by orographic lift was in full effect today.  It was steadily snowing for our entire hike, and there was already probably four inches of new snow that the area had accumulated overnight on top of what was already there.  (For comparison, we only got about 0.5 inch overnight in North Conway.)  There was easily 18 inches of snow all over the ground and drifts that were much higher.  Our snowshoes were invaluable, as they kept us near the top of the snow, but there were places where, if we stepped off the trail, we could sink down to mid-thigh.  We had to break trail the entire way, as no one else had taken that trail recently.  The wind on top of Low's Bald Spot was vicious, but most of the rest of the trail was protected from the wind as it was in the forest.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see much from the bald spot as it was all socked in with the snow, but overall, it was an awesome experience hiking in moderate snowfall with deep (for us) snow cover on the ground.

The one downside was stepping into a snow drift that was hiding a stream on the way back.  I couldn't believe how deep I had sunk.  At first I was laughing, and then I felt the water rush into the top of my boot beneath my gaiters.  That was a scary feeling, as I've heard tons of horror stories about people getting frostbite when exposed to the elements, especially when water was involved.  I ripped off the boats and the wet socks and dried my feet with another shirt we had with us.  Fortunately, we also had extra socks in our pack, but I still had to wear the boots down the mountain.  We had a bag of Cheez-its and a bag of pistachios with us, so we dumped their contents into another container, and I stuck one foot inside each bag and then back into my boots.  My boots had become all frozen up, and my hands were all numb trying to finagle the snowshoes back on.  So, we decided to hoof it down the Mount Washington Auto Road instead of going back over the OJR, as it seemed the quickest way back to civilization.  We then bummed a ride from someone at Great Glen Trails back up to Pinkham Notch.  I still have all my toes and a crazy adventure to share...

Still loving it up here!

Video from OJR shortly before reaching the MWAR.

 

The ol’ plastic bag in the boot is a tried and true method that just about all moms in New England have deployed at one time or another to keep feet dry and kids playing outside in winter. On a serious note though, you found out how quickly things can go wrong in a cold winter environment. Glad you ended up ok.  

[dendrite]

Nothing going on, but wanted to check in to the new thread. 25.6F

[dryslot]

1 hour ago, mreaves said:

The ol’ plastic bag in the boot is a tried and true method that just about all moms in New England have deployed at one time or another to keep feet dry and kids playing outside in winter. On a serious note though, you found out how quickly things can go wrong in a cold winter environment. Glad you ended up ok.  

Bread bags FTW!

[mreaves]

15 minutes ago, dryslot said:

Bread bags FTW!

Yep. The waterproofing tech has improved so much that kids today don’t get to enjoy that bit of old school tech much anymore.  I don’t miss them though lol. 

[calculus1]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.  Believe it or not, we use the bread bag trick in the SE too.  Most people don't have waterproof boots down there, so whenever it does snow we have to improvise.  I just didn't expect to have to pull out that trick myself today. 

Here's one more video from the hike.  You can see the wind-whipped snow pretty good in this one.

Snowfall during the first crossing of the Mount Washington Auto Road.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 1.5” Snow/0.17” L.E.

 

Checking the BTV NWS forecast discussion, it looks like today’s additional snowfall is still part of the mid-level trough and associated cold front that came through, so I’m rolling it in as part of that event.

 

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

 

New Snow: 0.6 inches

New Liquid: 0.04 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 15.0

Snow Density: 6.7% H2O

Temperature: 24.4 F

Sky: Cloudy/Flurries

Snow at the stake: 6.0 inches

[Hitman]

Crickets in here.  That’s a good sign.  No whammies.

[wxeyeNH]

I posted in the snow/ice thread...

This mornings model runs have me a bit concerned about a fairly good ice storm up in Central New England on Saturday.  GFS really increased qpf.  Tomorrow's 3-6" of fluff, some of it staying on pine trees and then Saturday's freezing rain in my area.  CAD always overperforms.  Hope we don't get into power issues.  No power is no fun in winter cold and over Christmas too..

 

[Angus]

Leaving the AMC, OJC has a good elevation rise up to the auto road. Done that on XC skis before. The Auto Road gets groomed later in season so you can ski down although I'm not really sure where Great Glen trails (commercial) starts.

[J.Spin]

Well, we’ve got another winter storm expected in the area, and this one’s affecting enough people to be named.  It’s Winter Storm Dylan, which is actually my younger son’s name, so naturally he’s been receiving plenty of crap about that around the house and from extended family.  The BTV NWS has Winter Weather Advisories up in much of the area for a general 3 to 6 inches of snow.  I’ve included the latest BTV NWS advisory and projected accumulations maps below:

 

 

[wxeyeNH]

GOES 16 is now in it's new position.  Better views for us.  Just awesome images!

http://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu/?sat=goes-16&sec=full_disk&x=11230.755859375&y=2502.807373046875&z=5&im=12&ts=1&st=0&et=0&speed=50&motion=loop&map=1&lat=0&p[0]=16&opacity[0]=1&hidden[0]=0&pause=0&slider=-1&hide_controls=0&mouse_draw=0&s=rammb-slider

[dendrite]

It’s back on COD now too.

[calculus1]

We did another snowshoeing adventure out of Pinkham Notch today.  It was a very different world up there today.  Clear blue skies and limited wind made for beautiful pics.  It was also very cold in the shade, but it felt good whenever the sun could break through the trees.  We hiked up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the Hermit Lake Shelters and the caretaker's cabin.  We wanted to go up to the edge of the bowl, but there was considerable avalanche danger and the air was quite cold at that elevation (~4000 ft); so we ate a quick bite and headed back down.  We talked to several skiers who were planning to ski down the ravine on some of the trails that had low avalanche danger.  Those guys must be some kind of combination of crazy and highly skilled.  I'm sure it's an adrenaline rush, but I can't imagine ever skiing down something at such a high pitch.

Another day in the winter wonderland of the White Mountains...

Video of the bowl from the caretaker's cabin.

Pic of interesting red berries.

Pic of Mount Washington from North Conway this evening.

[alex]

1 hour ago, calculus1 said:

We did another snowshoeing adventure out of Pinkham Notch today.  It was a very different world up there today.  Clear blue skies and limited wind made for beautiful pics.  It was also very cold in the shade, but it felt good whenever the sun could break through the trees.  We hiked up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the Hermit Lake Shelters and the caretaker's cabin.  We wanted to go up to the edge of the bowl, but there was considerable avalanche danger and the air was quite cold at that elevation (~4000 ft); so we ate a quick bite and headed back down.  We talked to several skiers who were planning to ski down the ravine on some of the trails that had low avalanche danger.  Those guys must be some kind of combination of crazy and highly skilled.  I'm sure it's an adrenaline rush, but I can't imagine ever skiing down something at such a high pitch.

Another day in the winter wonderland of the White Mountains...

Video of the bowl from the caretaker's cabin.

Pic of interesting red berries.

Pic of Mount Washington from North Conway this evening.

So glad you’re having a good time! We were cloudy most of the day with flurries but when the rockpile showed up, it was gorgeous! Enjoy the upcoming storms...

[J.Spin]

Checking on the BTV NWS website this morning for the latest on Winter Storm Dylan, the changes in the advisories map were immediately obvious, with many Winter Weather Advisories in the area converted to Winter Storm Warnings.  Also, the totals on the projected accumulations map were definitely bumped up a bit here in NVT.  Checking on the BTV NWS forecast discussion, it sounds like they’re incorporating some of the potential backside snows into the numbers now.  I’ve added some relevant forecast discussion and the latest maps below:

 

Area Forecast Discussion

National Weather Service Burlington VT

631 AM EST Fri Dec 22 2017

 

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/...

As of 624 AM EST Friday...Have upgraded winter weather advisory to winter storm warning for northern Adirondacks into central and northern VT for the combined storm total snowfall of 6 to 12 inches, along with up to a quarter inch of ice for southern/eastern VT.

 

Models cont to show more backside bonus snow for most of northern NY into central/northern VT btwn 21z-03z Sat/Sun.

 

 

[eyewall]

I had a feeling I would miss a good one while I was away. I will return on the 28th to the icebox.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[powderfreak]

Just crushing now.  J.Spin is getting annihilated it seems with cotton on his camera.

Definitely down to 1/4sm at the mountain. 

Good fluff factor and a lot colder than expected.  It's still 10F at 1,500ft and was supposed to be upper teens by noon.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 4.2” Snow/0.12” L.E.

 

We’ve had some impressive snowfall occurring out there over the past couple of hours.  The snow growth is very good, with flakes up to an inch in diameter.  After clearing the snowboards at noon, I just measured what collected in 20 minutes and there was already 1.4” of additional snow on them.  That’s probably an overestimation of a longer term rate with settling, but that’s up there in the 4”/hr. range for a short-term sampling.

 

Details from the 12:00 P.M. Waterbury observations:

 

New Snow: 4.2 inches

New Liquid: 0.12 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 35.0

Snow Density: 2.9% H2O

Temperature: 15.1 F

Sky: Heavy Snow (5-25 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: 10.0 inches

[J.Spin]

31 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Just crushing now.  J.Spin is getting annihilated it seems with cotton on his camera.

Definitely down to 1/4sm at the mountain. 

Good fluff factor and a lot colder than expected.  It's still 10F at 1,500ft and was supposed to be upper teens by noon.

 

Yeah, I hadn’t even looked at the radar because I was out making my observations and monitoring what was going on at ground level, but you aren’t kidding – see my previous post but a short term sampling had us up near 4”/hr. for a bit.  It was that region of yellow-orange 30-35 db banding on the radar that did it:

 

[J.Spin]

I did a check on the snowboard at 40 minutes post-clearing and it had 2.0” on the nose, so you can see the averaged snowfall rate coming down now that the band is through.  That’s still 3 in/hr though, which is definitely a heavy snowfall rate.

[Hitman]

let it ride!  ho ho ho

[powderfreak]

2 hours ago, J.Spin said:

 

Yeah, I hadn’t even looked at the radar because I was out making my observations and monitoring what was going on at ground level, but you aren’t kidding – see my previous post but a short term sampling had us up near 4”/hr. for a bit.  It was that region of yellow-orange 30-35 db banding on the radar that did it:

 

Damn!

Just got home and have 6" on the nose.

Still snowing hard though.  Radar looks like it doesn't want to quit just quite yet.