NNE Cold Season Thread 2020-2021

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 0.2” Snow/Trace L.E.

 

We’ve had light snow of varying intensity this morning since the flakes started up around 10:00 AM. It’s not actually super dry accumulation, since we’re only occasionally seeing slightly larger flakes above the 5 mm range, but average liquid from two stacked cores was 0.0049”, so it rounded down to zero for a trace in this analysis.

 

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

New Snow: 0.2 inches

New Liquid: Trace

Temperature: 28.9 F

Sky: Light Snow (2 to 5 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: Trace

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, bwt3650 said:

That’s been the biggest problem this year is retention.  I’m still optimistic that as we get deeper into the next few weeks, something will break for a good 10-20 inches.  It would really have to be historically bad to fight climatology well int Jan.  But yeah, I’m missing the weeks with snow in the area 5 or 6 days in a row that adds up to a foot or two.  The consistency is what I’m craving right now.  I bet we do see one of those dec 2003 days by the time this winter is done.  Extremes usually balance out with other extremes.  Did you hear about the stateside moving carpet getting blown about 10 feet to right up here?  Closed for “maintenance”...almost have to laugh...complete washout of natural trails and nothing can go right this year.  Such a great place that is just having such a bad year.  

Yeah I saw the photos of the carpet lift up there.  We have had that happen down here too.  One was in a big summer thunderstorm with severe wind IIRC... the whole carpet enclosure was blown like 100 feet off the footings and track.  Those things like to break loose in high winds.  Funny as it even came up in Ops meeting prior to the wind event...have lift maintenance reinforce the two carpets so they don’t blow away again.  Looked like the Jay one got taken for a ride.

[powderfreak]

I’d estimate a fairly steady half inch per hour here at Mansfield the past 2-3 hours.

 

Been pretty consistent 1/2 mile visibility.

[J.Spin]

25 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Actually been snowing pretty good lately, a quick cosmetic inch at 1500ft.

Checking out the Bolton Valley Main Base Webcam, it seems like a similar situation.  I see that it’s snowing steadily and they’ve quickly started to cover up those bare areas of natural terrain.

[PhineasC]

Flurries 26 degrees. 

[wxeyeNH]

So what happened?   The models were insistant in a swath of 2-3" of water coming SW to NE through NH.   I was in the area of 1.25 to 1.50" of rain.  If this had been snow it would have been the 3rd big blown forecast.  Yes it was a rainy 36 hour period but nothing heavy.   What went wrong?

About 10-25% of snow remains in the hood although my property is mostly snow free.  Squirrels are out gathering nuts and turkeys are rejoicing.

[powderfreak]

2.25” so far at 1,500ft on the rock walls for whatever that’s worth lol.  Still snowing surprisingly hard.  Borderline +SN at times.

Heated paver rage incoming.

[alex]

Nice! As is often the case in LE setups, nothing here other than a few flurries and a dusting on the ground

[powderfreak]

It's actually snowing fairly impressively now.  Visibility is definitely less than 1/4 mile.  Flake size is just about maximized, I'd bet 2"/hr rates pulses.

[J.Spin]

45 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Still snowing surprisingly hard.  Borderline +SN at times.

 

17 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

It's actually snowing fairly impressively now.  Visibility is definitely less than 1/4 mile.  Flake size is just about maximized, I'd bet 2"/hr rates pulses.

Clearly we need to get going on some appropriate images/icons for the current event:

[#NoPoles]

Bretton Woods Ski Area has no natural snow left. Only skiable trails are the ones with man-made snow. Everything took a massive beat down. 

[mreaves]

Decided to set up the PWS off the corner of my deck using some brackets and a shelf. Bonus there is it’s a smooth, white board so it can double as a measuring board. It’s about 10’ above ground and about 10’ away from the house. Not optimal so I’ll likely mount it to a pole in the yard this summer. I think this location likely messes with wind direction and speed. Now I have to figure out how to hook it up to the WiFi and join Wunderground. 
 

[bwt3650]

57 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

It's actually snowing fairly impressively now.  Visibility is definitely less than 1/4 mile.  Flake size is just about maximized, I'd bet 2"/hr rates pulses.

Didn't see this coming...heavy at times, wind blown powder falling.  3-4" maybe.  Not deep powder by any stretch, but it's more than just a little dust on crust and much better than expected.  

[Hitman]

Nice rebound today here.  2” and counting.  Wintry look restored.

[tamarack]

Had a few graupel flurries this morning, partly to mostly cloudy this afternoon.  Other than some small piles, there's zero snow cover here.  Rivers have peaked and are on the downslide, with the Kennebec in AUG cresting on the midday high tide at nearly 4' over flood.  (Big floods like 1987 overwhelm the tide cycle, for about 3 days in that one.)

Decided to move the max-min after the heat pump was installed, as the exhaust is about 3' from the old site.  The installer said the pump's exhaust would affect the thermometer when set for AC and that's likely to be about 95% of our use.

[powderfreak]

3-4” on the hill.  

[dendrite]

2 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

So what happened?   The models were insistant in a swath of 2-3" of water coming SW to NE through NH.   I was in the area of 1.25 to 1.50" of rain.  If this had been snow it would have been the 3rd big blown forecast.  Yes it was a rainy 36 hour period but nothing heavy.   What went wrong?

About 10-25% of snow remains in the hood although my property is mostly snow free.  Squirrels are out gathering nuts and turkeys are rejoicing.

NAM/Ukie were closest on QPF up here...GFS and Euro too high. I haven't looked at much as to why the lower end panned out, but the MWN winds were pretty tame compared to forecasts...maybe the LLJ just wasn't strong enough up here and we had weaker forcing.

[J.Spin]

1 hour ago, Ginx snewx said:

This forum is whack lol

 

1 hour ago, dryslot said:

That’s terrible for NW Maine at this juncture, I’m usually riding up there NYE.

 

1 hour ago, Ginx snewx said:

Yea terrible but I was basically talking to SNE weenies along with our apparent NYC imports

While snowfall up here in NNE hasn’t been atrocious, Dryslot’s point is well taken and speaks to the fact that snow preservation has definitely been below average.  It’s going to be quite evident in those places like NW Maine that should really be (on average) developing their substantial winter snowpack at this point.

Ginx is definitely on track with the map for the SNE/NYC complaining stuff though.  I’m pretty sure I’ve heard people down there mentioning how they’re ahead of average on seasonal snowfall?  Haven’t some people down there had not one but two substantial synoptic storms at this point?

[powderfreak]

That was an uplifting afternoon for a snow lover after yesterday’s disaster.  Still snowing.

3.5” (3-4” depending on location of measuring and wind) at 1500ft.

Came home to 2.8” at 750ft.  Grass all covered up again which is really all I care about at this point... looking out and seeing snowy trees and white ground.

[Ginx snewx]

12 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

That was an uplifting afternoon for a snow lover after yesterday’s disaster.  Still snowing.

3.5” (3-4” depending on location of measuring and wind) at 1500ft.

Came home to 2.8” at 750ft.  Grass all covered up again which is really all I care about at this point... looking out and seeing snowy trees and white ground.

You guys never fail to refill quickly.  I would be very encouraged by recent evolution of NYD as well. Could be a winner

[Baroclinic Zone]

4 hours ago, powderfreak said:

2.25” so far at 1,500ft on the rock walls for whatever that’s worth lol.  Still snowing surprisingly hard.  Borderline +SN at times.

Heated paver rage incoming.

I think it’s a good thing to have heated walkways in areas where there is snow and ice like there.  Makes it safer and reduces overhead on having to shovel/salt/sand it.  Liability should be lower as well.

[mreaves]

2 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I think it’s a good thing to have heated walkways in areas where there is snow and ice like there.  Makes it safer and reduces overhead on having to shovel/salt/sand it.  Liability should be lower as well.

Will just threw his Commodore 64 out the window. 

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 0.9” Snow/0.03” L.E.

 

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

New Snow: 0.7 inches

New Liquid: 0.03 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 23.3

Snow Density: 4.3% H2O

Temperature: 27.9 F

Sky: Flurries

Snow at the stake: 1.0 inches

[powderfreak]

50 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

You guys never fail to refill quickly.  I would be very encouraged by recent evolution of NYD as well. Could be a winner

Yeah I will say I doubted it pretty hard as the models didn't show anything to suggest this afternoon's burst.  But you could tell the mood of everyone around here increased pretty quickly.

It was really pounding snow there for a few hours.

 

The MVL ASOS also displayed a nice 3-hour burst of 1 mile or less visibility between hours of higher visibility.  This was a snow quality where 0.75 visibility is near 1"/hr and 0.25 mile is probably approaching 2"/hr.

[powderfreak]

19 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I think it’s a good thing to have heated walkways in areas where there is snow and ice like there.  Makes it safer and reduces overhead on having to shovel/salt/sand it.  Liability should be lower as well.

For sure, there's a reason pretty much all large ski resort bases out west have heated walkways.  Snow removal disappears and the slip and falls go down drastically.  Aesthetically for a snow lover it seems like taboo, and my biggest dislike is that no matter how much snow falls you never get that big huge snowbank and plow piles everywhere look.  But it's also an odd look when there's snow caking literally everything but the walkways and village ground.

[alex]

2 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Yeah I will say I doubted it pretty hard as the models didn't show anything to suggest this afternoon's burst.  But you could tell the mood of everyone around here increased pretty quickly.

It was really pounding snow there for a few hours.

A few inches can make a big difference. I can tell you the mood ain't great on this side lol. Although interesting I talked to renters who couldnt care less. One told me how she comes up for Xmas all the time and she loved it this year being so warm. Lol! And today they went hiking and had a great time. I feel that in a normal year we would be assaulted and verbally abused with these conditions. Maybe this year people are just happy to be somewhere other than home?

[PhineasC]

31 minutes ago, alex said:

A few inches can make a big difference. I can tell you the mood ain't great on this side lol. Although interesting I talked to renters who couldnt care less. One told me how she comes up for Xmas all the time and she loved it this year being so warm. Lol! And today they went hiking and had a great time. I feel that in a normal year we would be assaulted and verbally abused with these conditions. Maybe this year people are just happy to be somewhere other than home?

I can drive down there and give you a stern lecture and rant in your driveway if that helps? LOL

[powderfreak]

Up to an healthy 3" or a few tenths over now, wonder if we can pull an advisory level 4-5" at home.  Seems like borderline moderate snow at times but my bet is it would still be "light" by an ASOS, probably 3/4sm visibility.

I feel like whenever it snows here this year, I never get to share the snowfall with anyone else on the forum, ha.  Like I post obs to myself when it snows, and then sit on the outside when the vast majority of the AMWX New England sub-forum is posting snow obs.

[PhineasC]

2 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Up to an healthy 3" or a few tenths over now, wonder if we can pull 4-5" at home.  Seems like borderline moderate snow at times but my bet is it would still be "light" by an ASOS, probably 3/4sm visibility.

I feel like whenever it snows here this year, I never get to share the snowfall with anyone else on the forum.  Like I post obs to myself when it snows, and then sit on the outside when the vast majority of the AMWX New England sub-forum is posting snow obs.

It’s lonely at the top. 

[powderfreak]

6 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

It’s lonely at the top. 

But not at the top, ha!  Just always meso-scale snow this season.  Even my 10" event in November was localized upslope.  At another point, another very micro-localized 5-6" standing wave event that didn't even hit the mountain, ha.  Now this seems to be a lake effect moisture off Lake Ontario coupled with orographic lift.

There's a noticeable push of moisture coming in from northern NY along this axis so we will have to see what happens when that moves through.  The axis should settle southward a bit this evening, so J.Spin and mreaves should get in on that increasing moisture as well.