NNE Winter Thread

[alex]

What a day!

[borderwx]

NW winds still demanding jackets and gloves, but a fine day indeed

 

[powderfreak]

Nice guys!

Here's my version.  What a day!

[wxeyeNH]

Took a ride up to the Whites and to visit Alex today.   I have never seen the Whites so white.  Probably its because of the strong late April sun angle but Franconia Notch and the Presidentials were so vivid against the blue sky.  Even though the cone of Mt Washington was in the shadow it was very impressive.  Lots of people taking pictures.

Snow cover was about gone except above 1000 feet or in the woods.  Then it builds up very quickly.  Even just a few miles west of Alex the ground was bare.  Then you enter another world.  It was going quickly today as we were there.

Nice seeing you Alex.  Hold on, spring is just a few miles away.

[Hitman]

One of the best spring skiing days of my life.  Woods skied great and the snow was soft but not slushy.

 

[wxeyeNH]

Driving through Franconia Notch the snow and weather looked epic on Cannon.  It was in the mid 40's at base, deep snow and looking at the mesonet data temps stayed below freezing from around 3500 feet up.  So like you said soft conditions but not marshmallows.  I thought of all the winter days when people freeze in horrible conditions and then to have a weekend like this with no one able to enjoy the snow, at least in NH.  

[Lava Rock]

What a day!

Looks too much like winter. Driving into Naples today and looking out into distance at Mt Washington, it looked liked mid Winter up there. I'm envious of your location, kinda like northern Maine until end of March, then ready to move on to warm days and green grass. Still cool to see in early spring. Enjoy

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[CoastalWx]

36 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

Looks too much like winter. Driving into Naples today and looking out into distance at Mt Washington, it looked liked mid Winter up there. I'm envious of your location, kinda like northern Maine until end of March, then ready to move on to warm days and green grass. Still cool to see in early spring. Enjoy

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

It’s great for skiing but other than that, meh. 

[powderfreak]

The Mansfield COOP report shows how dense this recent snowfall was.  As usual in late season (or early season) upslope events... higher PWATs lead to denser snow.  There's more moisture in the air with the warmer temperatures and despite the low ratios, the mountains can squeeze some decent moisture out.

Only a snow depth drop of 1" today despite consistent later-April sunshine.  Good upslope events in the bookend seasons are hefty.

Daily Hydrometeorological Data
National Weather Service Burlington VT
453 PM EDT Sat Apr 21 2018

Station            Precip   Temperature   Present         Snow
                   24 Hrs   Max Min Cur   Weather     New Total SWE
...Vermont...
Mount Mansfield     0.00    34  21  34                     99

[adk]

8 hours ago, powderfreak said:

The Mansfield COOP report shows how dense this recent snowfall was.  As usual in late season (or early season) upslope events... higher PWATs lead to denser snow.  There's more moisture in the air with the warmer temperatures and despite the low ratios, the mountains can squeeze some decent moisture out.

Only a snow depth drop of 1" today despite consistent later-April sunshine.  Good upslope events in the bookend seasons are hefty.

Daily Hydrometeorological Data
National Weather Service Burlington VT
453 PM EDT Sat Apr 21 2018

Station            Precip   Temperature   Present         Snow
                   24 Hrs   Max Min Cur   Weather     New Total SWE
...Vermont...
Mount Mansfield     0.00    34  21  34                     99

It is unbelievable how much snow is on mansfield. Yesterday the Chin was insanely full of snow. Going to be a long, long time till that place melts out. 

Though, if it wanted to just be 75 and sunny from now on, I'd take it. 

[borderwx]

One more, from Burke yesterday...

 

[J.Spin]

22 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

It’s great for skiing but other than that, meh. 

That’s why you just keep skiing right through May, and when you wake up from the dream in June, the snow has mostly melted and Mother Nature says the warm season is pretty much good to go.

[J.Spin]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 5:48 PM, wxeyeNH said:

I have never seen the Whites so white.

Yeah, alpine areas around here were blindingly white right after the recent snows.  As you mentioned, it’s a combination of the albedo of freshly fallen snow and late April sun angle.  It makes for some amazing scenery due to the incredible contrast.  Here’s a shot on our way to Stowe yesterday to add to the recent collection in the thread:

[alex]

5 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

That’s why you just keep skiing right through May, and when you wake up from the dream in June, the snow has mostly melted and Mother Nature says the warm season is pretty much good to go.

This time of the year can be painful, true, but once the warm season starts the summer is awesome.  Crisp air, chilly mornings and mid 70s to low 80s during the day. And even days like this weekend are pretty fantastic. I went sledding with the kids yesterday. Sure, not everyone wants to be sledding in April but with the bright warm sun, and the beautiful landscape, its hard to complain. 

[wxeyeNH]

Finally, a day that felt like spring.  Mr Groundhog (or Mrs) was evidently hibernating in our stone foundation.  He decided to wake up today.  His freedom was brief as he was relocated with our have a heart trap to a marshy area 5 miles away...

Took the drone up and could see Killington to my west, Mansfield almost 80 miles to my NW  and the vividly white   Presidentials  50 miles to my NNE.

On to spring....

Ice out getting closer on Newfound.  It's going to be early this week, my guess is  Tuesday...

[CoastalWx]

2 hours ago, J.Spin said:

That’s why you just keep skiing right through May, and when you wake up from the dream in June, the snow has mostly melted and Mother Nature says the warm season is pretty much good to go.

Well not everyone can ski though right? Sure if you’re a big skier that’s awesome, but that’s gotta be tough for a large part of the population. 

[mreaves]

1 hour ago, CoastalWx said:

Well not everyone can ski though right? Sure if you’re a big skier that’s awesome, but that’s gotta be tough for a large part of the population. 

I’ll repeat my retirement plan. I love living up here but when I retire I would go somewhere from March 15 to May 15. I don’t ski and those months can be total crap. 

[adk]

7 hours ago, mreaves said:

I’ll repeat my retirement plan. I love living up here but when I retire I would go somewhere from March 15 to May 15. I don’t ski and those months can be total crap. 

I ski and still would GTFO Vermont between March 15 and May 15 (maybe April 1 - June 1).  Skiing doesn't justify being 4 weeks behind the rest of the world in terms of spring. 

 

[J.Spin]

11 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

Well not everyone can ski though right? Sure if you’re a big skier that’s awesome, but that’s gotta be tough for a large part of the population. 

There are other things to do on the snow such as hiking, sledding, snowshoeing etc.  The real deal is, unless one lives far enough south to remove the season transitions all together (at which point you risk losing part of summer to excessive heat and/or humidity), you’re going to get that period of “meh” at some point.  Maybe it’s May, maybe it’s April, maybe it’s March, Maybe it’s February because you’re far enough south that the heart of winter is pretty much an extended period of quasi-winter “meh” to begin with.  My parents have a winter place in northern Florida and essentially pay for it in January or thereabouts with brown grass, occasional frosts and somewhat “meh” temperatures.  My Dad wants to get a place farther south so he can avoid dealing with that stretch.

So aside from a few special places in the country (maybe spots with climates like San Diego, etc.) you’re going to have one or more periods of blah, or even downright annoying weather, and one way around dealing with that is to do what mreaves describes and actually change location temporarily.  Other approaches are possible though depending on local geography.  Mountains aren’t the only example, but they’re one way to do it.  The effects that mountains give you can be quite dramatic, easily providing a couple of extra climate zones, or more, depending on the mountain range.  To some degree they let you pick and choose your climate on any given day.  New Englanders have actually been making use of this strategy since at least the 19^th century, in the form of mountain top hotels and mountain resorts etc.  They’ve sort of fallen out of fashion as of late because now we know everyone prefers excessive heat and humidity all summer long, but there are probably a few people that still sneak away and don’t tell anyone.  Going to the coast is sort of the same strategy as the mountains, but it’s not really practical on the cold weather side of things.

[tamarack]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 6:25 PM, Lava Rock said:

Looks too much like winter. Driving into Naples today and looking out into distance at Mt Washington, it looked liked mid Winter up there. I'm envious of your location, kinda like northern Maine until end of March, then ready to move on to warm days and green grass. Still cool to see in early spring. Enjoy

A bit longer this year - New Sweden reports 18" OG this morning.  Madawaska wasn't listed, and they've been running about 6" more than New Sweden.  Still lots of snow on the crown of Maine.  Just patches in the woods near home, though some were nearly 2 feet deep on my woods walk Saturday.  (Picked up the year's 1st tick, and the dog got her 2nd.  All were deer ticks.  Bleccch!)

Reached 56 yesterday, finally topping Feb. 21 for the year's mildest.  A few hardy peepers at work the past couple evenings, and the wood frogs have been quacking for a while.  May approach 40° diurnal range today, as the low was around 20 and forecast high of 60 or so.  Ice on Long Pond (Belgrades) looks about like that of Newfound (above) and will likely go out with tomorrow's warmth, or more likely, Wednesday's rain.

[eyewall]

It was a great April day for flying despite a little wind high up yesterday. The first shot was from the 20th and then the others are the 22nd:
 

[CoastalWx]

6 hours ago, J.Spin said:

There are other things to do on the snow such as hiking, sledding, snowshoeing etc.  The real deal is, unless one lives far enough south to remove the season transitions all together (at which point you risk losing part of summer to excessive heat and/or humidity), you’re going to get that period of “meh” at some point.  Maybe it’s May, maybe it’s April, maybe it’s March, Maybe it’s February because you’re far enough south that the heart of winter is pretty much an extended period of quasi-winter “meh” to begin with.  My parents have a winter place in northern Florida and essentially pay for it in January or thereabouts with brown grass, occasional frosts and somewhat “meh” temperatures.  My Dad wants to get a place farther south so he can avoid dealing with that stretch.

So aside from a few special places in the country (maybe spots with climates like San Diego, etc.) you’re going to have one or more periods of blah, or even downright annoying weather, and one way around dealing with that is to do what mreaves describes and actually change location temporarily.  Other approaches are possible though depending on local geography.  Mountains aren’t the only example, but they’re one way to do it.  The effects that mountains give you can be quite dramatic, easily providing a couple of extra climate zones, or more, depending on the mountain range.  To some degree they let you pick and choose your climate on any given day.  New Englanders have actually been making use of this strategy since at least the 19^th century, in the form of mountain top hotels and mountain resorts etc.  They’ve sort of fallen out of fashion as of late because now we know everyone prefers excessive heat and humidity all summer long, but there are probably a few people that still sneak away and don’t tell anyone.  Going to the coast is sort of the same strategy as the mountains, but it’s not really practical on the cold weather side of things.

Well I’m not being a wise azz or anything. I just mean that for many spots in the lower elevations, it’s got to be kind of tough. A few posters on here seem to agree. 

[Cold Miser]

7 hours ago, J.Spin said:

There are other things to do on the snow such as hiking, sledding, snowshoeing etc.  The real deal is, unless one lives far enough south to remove the season transitions all together (at which point you risk losing part of summer to excessive heat and/or humidity), you’re going to get that period of “meh” at some point.  Maybe it’s May, maybe it’s April, maybe it’s March, Maybe it’s February because you’re far enough south that the heart of winter is pretty much an extended period of quasi-winter “meh” to begin with.  My parents have a winter place in northern Florida and essentially pay for it in January or thereabouts with brown grass, occasional frosts and somewhat “meh” temperatures.  My Dad wants to get a place farther south so he can avoid dealing with that stretch.

So aside from a few special places in the country (maybe spots with climates like San Diego, etc.) you’re going to have one or more periods of blah, or even downright annoying weather, and one way around dealing with that is to do what mreaves describes and actually change location temporarily.  Other approaches are possible though depending on local geography.  Mountains aren’t the only example, but they’re one way to do it.  The effects that mountains give you can be quite dramatic, easily providing a couple of extra climate zones, or more, depending on the mountain range.  To some degree they let you pick and choose your climate on any given day.  New Englanders have actually been making use of this strategy since at least the 19^th century, in the form of mountain top hotels and mountain resorts etc.  They’ve sort of fallen out of fashion as of late because now we know everyone prefers excessive heat and humidity all summer long, but there are probably a few people that still sneak away and don’t tell anyone.  Going to the coast is sort of the same strategy as the mountains, but it’s not really practical on the cold weather side of things.

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.  

[Cold Miser]

eyewall letting the drone fly free. Nice shots. 

[powderfreak]

19 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

Well not everyone can ski though right? Sure if you’re a big skier that’s awesome, but that’s gotta be tough for a large part of the population. 

I just look at it as a delayed season... I mean some years that's what March 1 to April 15 feels like down in Albany, NY.  Though if anything the Hudson Valley is nicer than most of New England being so far west.  

Depending on the spring, I'd almost wager it's nicer up here than on the coastline...coastal springs are brutal more often than not, too right?

Days like yesterday and today are worth it though.  Pure euphoria haha.  Doing hill-clean up today meant a private chairlift for about 10 of us to ski the mountain picking up bamboo, ropes, signs, etc... but a lot of skiing too.  I'm fried, sunburnt and exhausted.  

The amount of snow in the mountains is staggering, and these mild but very dry air days aren't melting it fast.

 

[ORH_wxman]

5 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

I just look at it as a delayed season... I mean some years that's what March 1 to April 15 feels like down in Albany, NY.  Though if anything the Hudson Valley is nicer than most of New England being so far west.  

Depending on the spring, I'd almost wager it's nicer up here than on the coastline...coastal springs are brutal more often than not, too right?

 

 

Most of New England has garbage weather for a long period between March and May I feel like...and the max period of pain just differs depending on where one lives. Places like southern CT Valleys and SW CT are prob looking pretty good in May a lot...while NNE is prob garbage still and maybe a chunk of eastern MA.

A place like BTV prob gets a few less ugly BDFs than coastal MA and ME...though they sometimes "make up for it" by being north of a stationary front while its 70s in SNE.

 

When it comes to spring in New England, parsing the differences in location is mostly just debating which punch bowl has the least turds floating in it...because they all have at least a few.

[mreaves]

The main point is that there is a period of time when it's tough to do much for outdoor activities, this year being a little bit of an exception for skiers.  You can't really hike, golf courses aren't open yet and most years non-snowmaking supported snow activities are pretty much done. Days like yesterday and today are great for yard work, walking or riding on paved bike paths or other dry recreational trails and that's about it.  Things get better as we move later in the season and the ground starts to dry out but we do have a crappy period.

[powderfreak]

25 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Most of New England has garbage weather for a long period between March and May I feel like...and the max period of pain just differs depending on where one lives. Places like southern CT Valleys and SW CT are prob looking pretty good in May a lot...while NNE is prob garbage still and maybe a chunk of eastern MA.

A place like BTV prob gets a few less ugly BDFs than coastal MA and ME...though they sometimes "make up for it" by being north of a stationary front while its 70s in SNE.

 

When it comes to spring in New England, parsing the differences in location is mostly just debating which punch bowl has the least turds floating in it...because they all have at least a few.

Yeah I guess that's my feeling as well.  Debating that one spot is tougher for the population than another seems mute because we'll find some days when it's east winds and 48F sheet drizzle at BOS while it's 60-65F and sunny at MVL.

I feel like everywhere in New England there's a period of time where outdoor activities suck, aside from skiing maybe... just whether you want to deal with that period from March 15-April 30 or maybe somewhere else it's April 1 to May 15?  Everywhere there is that 4-6 week period where there are some nice days but by and large it's sort of like, well are we done yet?  

You could probably pin point it climo wise to when average highs are 40-55F at any given station.  Below that it's still winter, and after that it's like ok we should be consistently getting 55-60F.  But when your average max is 40-55F is your period of suck.

 

[powderfreak]

26 minutes ago, mreaves said:

The main point is that there is a period of time when it's tough to do much for outdoor activities, this year being a little bit of an exception for skiers.  You can't really hike, golf courses aren't open yet and most years non-snowmaking supported snow activities are pretty much done. Days like yesterday and today are great for yard work, walking or riding on paved bike paths or other dry recreational trails and that's about it.  Things get better as we move later in the season and the ground starts to dry out but we do have a crappy period.

Yeah I agree but I think they have it else where too... it's just earlier in the season.  Maybe it's just more acceptable to have that in March and early April though ha.

Its all on a sliding scale to some degree.  But there are golf courses open in VT, had some friends play yesterday in the valley.  Soccer now going on in Stowe, crazy how fast it happens from snow covered fields to practicing in a few days.  I'm pretty sure DIT posted a pic of his daughters soccer game in the snow a couple weeks ago.  The spring line is moving northward luckily.

[CoastalWx]

32 minutes ago, mreaves said:

The main point is that there is a period of time when it's tough to do much for outdoor activities, this year being a little bit of an exception for skiers.  You can't really hike, golf courses aren't open yet and most years non-snowmaking supported snow activities are pretty much done. Days like yesterday and today are great for yard work, walking or riding on paved bike paths or other dry recreational trails and that's about it.  Things get better as we move later in the season and the ground starts to dry out but we do have a crappy period.

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