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NNE Fall Thread


wxeyeNH

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1 hour ago, alex said:

Temps are really plummeting tonight. Down to 26 already. I think it's the coldest evening we've had so far. 

Im 31/19F.  Just checked and your down to 24F.   Clouds will come in soon to stop the radiational cooling but the air is dry.    When precip starts the temp should drop a bit.  I think we will get quite a bit of frozen something.  

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3 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

Alex took a great picture of the Presidential Range.  Really nice to see everything white almost down to base level.  With the bare foreground and blue skies this picture is a keeper

That is pretty nuts.  The blue today against the white was amazing but that is a caked mountain range, in both snow and rime right there.  The cloud bases have been real low too, probably low enough to rime up the north slope of the Presidentials there right to the horizon line.  Awesome.

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10 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

That is pretty nuts.  The blue today against the white was amazing but that is a caked mountain range, in both snow and rime right there.  The cloud bases have been real low too, probably low enough to rime up the north slope of the Presidentials there right to the horizon line.  Awesome.

Yes the cloud deck was definitely low - I noticed lots of cracking at ski resort level too, which is quite low. It seems to be about 2500 ft up. But the blue sky definitely completed it. 

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I didn’t find out until I saw it on The Weather Channel local forecast, but we’re under a Winter Weather Advisory here.  It’s still October, so this is the first winter advisory here in the Greens as far as I’m aware.  General snow accumulations mentioned in the advisories range from 1 to 4 inches, with up to a tenth of an inch of ice.  Related maps are below:

27OCT18A.jpg

27OCT18B.jpg

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3 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

PF and Jspin, hows Waitsfield, VT? We may go up there in Feb. Friends of ours invited us up. Looks beautiful.

The Mad River Valley (Waitsfield, Warren, Fayston, etc.) is beautiful.  It’s certainly got some of the resort area vibe with the presences of Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, which means plenty of amenities, but much lower key than Stowe.  Many people prefer it over Stowe due to the less developed, more authentic feel.  I like both places, and in Waterbury we’re essentially halfway between them, which means great access to both.  If you like Mexican food, certainly don’t miss The Mad Taco if you’re going to be in the Mad River Valley.

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Event totals: 1.1” Snow/0.53” L.E.

As I noted earlier in the thread, snow started up around 10:30 A.M. or so here at our place in Waterbury, and it continued to snow lightly until it ramped up to a fairly heavy intensity in the 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. range.  Huge wet flakes up to 2 inches in diameter were coming down for a time, with very low visibility, and then some granular flakes and eventually sleet started to mix in, so I took observations at 3:00 P.M. at that transition.  After that point it was a mix of precipitation types that gradually moved toward light rain.  I made my next round of observations at 9:00 P.M. and I’ve got those below as well.  I was out and about and went for a ski tour at Stowe as well, so I’ll put those observations together in a bit.

 

 

Details from the 3:00 P.M. Waterbury observations:

 

New Snow: 0.8 inches

New Liquid: 0.16 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 5.0

Snow Density: 20.0% H2O

Temperature: 34.9 F

Sky: Moderate Snow

Snow at the stake: 1.0 inches

 

 

Details from the 9:00 P.M. Waterbury observations:

 

New Snow: 0.3 inches

New Liquid: 0.18 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 1.7

Snow Density: 60.0% H2O

Temperature: 37.0 F

Sky: Light Rain

Snow at the stake: 1.0 inches

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I was out an about for a bit yesterday amidst the snow, so I’ll pass along some observations from the area.  Our snowfall at the house in Waterbury began mid-morning, and it was light but consistent from that point on.  Temperatures started out here in the mid to upper 30s F though, so for the first few hours we really didn’t have any accumulation aside from a bit on elevated surfaces.

As the snow continued to fall, temperatures did come down throughout the day, and they were in the low to mid 30s F as the precipitation jumped up in intensity in the midafternoon period.  The snow began to accumulate on all surfaces, and then Mother Nature really turned on the spigot and we got into a period of heavy snowfall composed of big wet flakes up to 2 inches in diameter.  By 2:00 P.M. the snow had quickly accumulated to half an inch on the boards.

I’d been thinking of heading out for a ski tour, and with the heavy snow falling it seemed like as good a time as any with respect to catching any new accumulations on the slopes before substantial changeover to various forms of mixed precipitation.  Bolton Valley hasn’t been running their web cam yet, so I really didn’t have a feel for what the snow situation was up there.  I decided to head up to the Village and see if there was potential there for skiing, or whether I’d want to head off to Stowe (where I have a decent sense for the snowpack thanks to PF’s reports).  The heavy snowfall continued as I drove through Bolton Flats, and visibility was way down there in the ¼ to ½ mile range or even less at times.

As I began my ascent up the Bolton Valley Access Road, the bit of slush down around the 300’ elevation quickly turned into a more substantial covering of snow as I gained elevation, and it wasn’t long before I realized that that the road hadn’t been plowed.  Even the Subaru was slipping a bit as the snow got deeper and I climbed some of the road’s steeper pitches, and there was no way I wanted to try heading all the way up to the Village above 2,000’ on an unplowed road.  I had no idea how much snow I’d find higher up, and some sleet was just starting to mix into the snow, so I certainly didn’t want to try coming down the road later if any glaze was coming.  I turned around at the 1,000’ elevation, and inched my way back down the road into the valley.  As I headed back toward the house through Bolton Flats, the challenging road conditions certainly made their presence known as I saw a car that had gone off the road and flipped on its side.  That must have happened in just the few minutes I’d been on the access road, but fortunately police were already on the scene.  With the precipitation starting to change over, I stopped back at the house and made 3 P.M. weather observations to catch that segment of the storm, finding 0.8” of total snow on the boards.

As I’d been thinking, I headed off to Stowe for some skiing, and I was fairly confident that the driving would be fine with the route at mostly low elevation.  Consistent snow on the ground through Waterbury gave way to the weirdest microclimate change as I approached the town of Stowe.  As I climbed Shutesville Hill at the Waterbury/Stowe line, I expected the snow on the ground to increase as usual, but instead it totally disappeared!  That was the way the ground stayed all the way through Stowe, and it was as if it hadn’t even snowed there.  The precipitation had changed over to pouring rain, and it was strange heading all the way up the Mountain Road with nary a trace of snow visible.  Even at 1,000’ there were only the faintest hints of snow, and it wasn’t until I approached the base elevations of the resort at 1,500’ that there was a solid covering on the ground.

At the resort itself I found 1-2” of snow at 1,500’ by the Mansfield Base Lodge, and 3-4” of snow up at 2,300’ at the Mountain Chapel where I topped out on my tour.  Precipitation was mixed when I first arrived at the mountain, but changed back to snow for most of my tour before tapering off as I was finishing up.  I’ve added a few shots from the day below:

27OCT18C.jpg

27OCT18H.jpg

27OCT18D.jpg

27OCT18E.jpg

27OCT18F.jpg

27OCT18G.jpg

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13 hours ago, J.Spin said:

The Mad River Valley (Waitsfield, Warren, Fayston, etc.) is beautiful.  It’s certainly got some of the resort area vibe with the presences of Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, which means plenty of amenities, but much lower key than Stowe.  Many people prefer it over Stowe due to the less developed, more authentic feel.  I like both places, and in Waterbury we’re essentially halfway between them, which means great access to both.  If you like Mexican food, certainly don’t miss The Mad Taco if you’re going to be in the Mad River Valley.

Well said.  Mad taco, canteen creamery, American flatbread and mad river barn for dining.  Also peasant and pitcher inn for fine dining.  Lawson’s should be great.  

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Nice write up J Spin

Light snow started here mid morning.  32.7F.  Picked up midday, temp around 34F.  Briefly we had moderate snow min vis 3/4 or so.  Mixed with lots of sleet we only picked up about 1/2" as the sleet was compacting it since so much was mixed in. Turned to light rain mixed with sleet in the PM.  By later in the day just light rain and drizzle. Temps stayed in the mid 30's all day and rose to upper 30's late evening

Winds were fairly impressive.  Gusted to 41mph on my old Davis.  Total qpf was .63" Picture below was about max depth before sleet took its toll.  Last snow melted mid day today

snow.jpg

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On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 3:21 PM, wxeyeNH said:

Nice write up J Spin

Thanks, and thanks to you and everyone else that’s been adding their reports, images, and web cam links - it’s great to see the NNE thread coming to life as we move into the colder season and snow is back in the picture.  Snow, and mountains (which mean even more snow) are our specialty up here, so ‘tis the season!

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24 minutes ago, alex said:

A dusting of microflakes this morning 

There’s nothing to report in terms of new snow at our site this morning, but I saw some peeks of elevation and it looks like the freezing line is a little below 2,000’ in the Winooski Valley.

I’m assuming there’s been at least a bit of accumulation up high, and if that’s the case it would make it at least the seventh storm with accumulation this October.  Although none of these storms have been whoppers with respect to snow accumulations around here, that’s still a strong run for October snowstorms.  And, that was all done in just half the month too, so the frequency of snow events has been impressive.

We typically only see one or two accumulating storms at our place in October, but even down in the valley we’ve had four accumulating events this month, which is the most I’ve seen now at this site, beating out October 2016.  Heck, even November only averages four to five accumulating storms at our place.  November ultimately averages much more snow than October of course, but it will be interesting to see how the two months compare this year in terms of how many storms bring accumulation.

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10 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Another October day where the temperature stayed in the 30s... high of 38F and raw with some morning flurries, snow grains.  

Hard to believe the difference from the first half of the month to the second half.

Even here in Burlington the sky is spitting out some frozen stuff this morning.  Looking out at Mansfield with the snow caked down Sunset Ridge, it could just as easily be April, except for the fact that there’s some autumn foliage still around here in the valley.

31OCT18A.jpg

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6 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

Even here in Burlington the sky is spitting out some frozen stuff this morning.  Looking out at Mansfield with the snow caked down Sunset Ridge, it could just as easily be April, except for the fact that there’s some autumn foliage still around here in the valley.

31OCT18A.jpg

I was in Burlington a couple days ago and was surprised at the leaves still on trees...especially from Richmond westward.  I guess it makes sense as those Champlain Valley temps seem to average a good 5F warmer than east of the mountains, but even in Stowe we have been sticks in the valley for what seems like 2 weeks now.  Extended stick season for sure, I'd rather the leaves stuck around a bit longer.

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On 10/27/2018 at 10:32 PM, CoastalWx said:

Thanks Jspin. I hope to make it up there if the wife gets time off. Want to get some skiing in!

Hey man you can't go wrong in the MRV... or really anywhere in the RT 100 corridor, especially Killington on northward.  Definitely a different vibe to each town and spot but great winter spots.  

MRV is less developed and a bit more spread out than the Waterbury-Stowe-Morrisville stretch and it's definitely a plus in ways.  Less ability to walk to various bars, restaurants than Stowe or Waterbury but the MRV is pretty classic Vermont mountain town vibe.  Less larger hotel properties than Stowe and more smaller bed and breakfast places and inns.  

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27 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Hey man you can't go wrong in the MRV... or really anywhere in the RT 100 corridor, especially Killington on northward.  Definitely a different vibe to each town and spot but great winter spots.  

MRV is less developed and a bit more spread out than the Waterbury-Stowe-Morrisville stretch and it's definitely a plus in ways.  Less ability to walk to various bars, restaurants than Stowe or Waterbury but the MRV is pretty classic Vermont mountain town vibe.  Less larger hotel properties than Stowe and more smaller bed and breakfast places and inns.  

It was really VT-classic back in the stone age (1971) when I bought a half-price (offered during all of Jan) ski week at the old Glen Ellen - M-F lift tickets/lessons, couple of evening parties with ski movies, could even spend one of the 5 days at MRG, but I needed the lessons more than the adventure.  Stayed at a nice clean $3/night sleeping bag place (named "The Bagatelle") in Waitsfield, skied top-to-bottom on Sat thanks to GE's free 1st hour ("Come check it out, then decide") and spent less than $100 for the week, including gas for the round trip from NNJ.  The classic Vermonter running the lodgings was typical thrifty (or tightwad, take your choice) NNE-er; even the napkins came for a price - 3 for a penny.  :lol:

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Wow.   Some very impressive rainfall totals coming up over the next week.  7" totals in places.  Thankfully there will not be large melting snowfall runoffs adding  to the rain so hopefully flooding will be minimal.  Some spacing between the Friday/Saturday event and possibilities for next week.  Alex,  I think you will be fine after your past disaster.

Here is 18Z GFS 7 days qpf totals.  Looks like just about all will be liquid not frozen

 

Untitled.jpg

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