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NNE Cold Season Thread 2020-2021


wxeyeNH
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Looking beyond the early week storm things don't look too bad for winter weather next weekend.  Many different possibilities.  For those of us that missed the upslope event it sure has been a quiet January.  So whatever happens a week from now looks at least interesting to watch.  We are almost getting to the time that the solar insolation is strong enough to start heating the interior of your car or eating away at snowbanks even if the air temperature is well below freezing.

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20 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

I need to get used to this snow retention stuff. The bottom 10 inches of my pack has been compressed into very dense sheet that is exhausting to shovel away and laughs at my snowblower. I basically can cut it into blocks and stack it. The snow in MD melts away long before it has a chance to turn into this. 

I call it glaciated snow.  It takes a lot of energy to melt  it off.  One 40F of sunny weather can melt away 6" of fluff but once it goes threw it's melting and refreezing cycles it is very, very  durable.  A cutter does not easily melt it easily either.  In the begining of April you can make a vertical cut in it and see the different layers from the many storms over the winter.  That is why once you get a durable pack like this your good until spring.  Once we get into April there will be big disparities between south facing sunny slope and north facing shady ones.  Snow pack is great but once you get to May 1rst and still have snow and bare trees it starts getting  old.  I'm getting off track but I find that I run about 3 weeks later in the spring season than my folks in Pikesville.   I bet your at least a month later than your place down there.  I'll get a call from my folks in Metro Baltimore saying the trees are almost fully leafed out while it is still bare up here.  April is spring down there while May is our spring month.  Black flies are a whole other discussion!

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3 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

I call it glaciated snow.  It takes a lot of energy to melt  it off.  One 40F of sunny weather can melt away 6" of fluff but once it goes threw it's melting and refreezing cycles it is very, very  durable.  A cutter does not easily melt it easily either.  In the begining of April you can make a vertical cut in it and see the different layers from the many storms over the winter.  That is why once you get a durable pack like this your good until spring.  Once we get into April there will be big disparities between south facing sunny slope and north facing shady ones.  Snow pack is great but once you get to May 1rst and still have snow and bare trees it starts getting  old.  I'm getting off track but I find that I run about 3 weeks later in the spring season than my folks in Pikesville.   I bet your at least a month later than your place down there.  I'll get a call from my folks in Metro Baltimore saying the trees are almost fully leafed out while it is still bare up here.  April is spring down there while May is our spring month.  Black flies are a whole other discussion!

For a couple of our Fort Kent years we were taking the kids to an allergy specialist in Lawrence, MA (it worked - multiple allergies reduced to almost none) and on a mid-April appointment we would see some green on the early-riser trees.  Local folks would comment on the green-up and asked about our area and we'd report the 25" or so still on the ground.  Good for the occasional jaw-drop.  :lol:
Coldest morning this season though only by 1-2° from the -5 in Dec.   Maybe <-10 by tomorrow sunrise?

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1 hour ago, PhineasC said:

I need to get used to this snow retention stuff. The bottom 10 inches of my pack has been compressed into very dense sheet that is exhausting to shovel away and laughs at my snowblower. I basically can cut it into blocks and stack it. The snow in MD melts away long before it has a chance to turn into this. 

I made the mistake of letting that accumulate under the roofline of my garage my first year here. First time it rained, all the water coming down from the roof channeled right into the garage, where it then froze solid. Took me weeks to get rid of the dam, and had a frozen garage all winter. Not doing that again!

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19 minutes ago, alex said:

I made the mistake of letting that accumulate under the roofline of my garage my first year here. First time it rained, all the water coming down from the roof channeled right into the garage, where it then froze solid. Took me weeks to get rid of the dam, and had a frozen garage all winter. Not doing that again!

Yes. I made the same mistake with ice from the roof melt and now I have a mess. It will take days to clear. 

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1 hour ago, wxeyeNH said:

I call it glaciated snow.  It takes a lot of energy to melt  it off.  One 40F of sunny weather can melt away 6" of fluff but once it goes threw it's melting and refreezing cycles it is very, very  durable.  A cutter does not easily melt it easily either.  In the begining of April you can make a vertical cut in it and see the different layers from the many storms over the winter.  That is why once you get a durable pack like this your good until spring.  Once we get into April there will be big disparities between south facing sunny slope and north facing shady ones.  Snow pack is great but once you get to May 1rst and still have snow and bare trees it starts getting  old.  I'm getting off track but I find that I run about 3 weeks later in the spring season than my folks in Pikesville.   I bet your at least a month later than your place down there.  I'll get a call from my folks in Metro Baltimore saying the trees are almost fully leafed out while it is still bare up here.  April is spring down there while May is our spring month.  Black flies are a whole other discussion!

April was always my favorite month in the Mid Atl.  No bugs and lots of nice days with lots of blooming, trees, flowers etc.  Its literally the only month I would take out of the12 months vs here in VT.   The rest of the months in Mid Atl are too hot or not snowy enough.  The bugs are ridiculous  here though--best time of summer for me is AUG/SEPT when the fly family goes away and weather is just perfect.  Screened in porch FTW in NNE, that along with a bad ass mudroom...ha.

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3 hours ago, backedgeapproaching said:

April was always my favorite month in the Mid Atl.  No bugs and lots of nice days with lots of blooming, trees, flowers etc.  Its literally the only month I would take out of the12 months vs here in VT.   The rest of the months in Mid Atl are too hot or not snowy enough.  The bugs are ridiculous  here though--best time of summer for me is AUG/SEPT when the fly family goes away and weather is just perfect.  Screened in porch FTW in NNE, that along with a bad ass mudroom...ha.

When I retire, if I leave VT, it will be from March 15 — May 15. Those 2 months suck. 

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3 hours ago, mreaves said:

Mud season everywhere away from the slopes. 

Yup. When you are skiing in a mesh bug proof jacket and head net and you need a nice sunscreen/bug dope combo to protect your skin you park a gallon of water at the bottom of the lift and make sure you have something salty in your pocket for a snack. It could be 80 and sunny or snowing and it could also thunder and pour rain at any minute.  I don’t miss a day once Killington goes to 3 days a week in May.  Nothing like carrying your skis on and off a moving lift and having to hike to get to the snow.  Protip.....the black flys are worst where the mud meets the snow and you have to stop hiking and put your skis on.  And those F’rs will bite through the vents in your helmet.  I know mud season skiing well.  I’m a slush specialist lol.

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15 hours ago, alex said:

I made the mistake of letting that accumulate under the roofline of my garage my first year here. First time it rained, all the water coming down from the roof channeled right into the garage, where it then froze solid. Took me weeks to get rid of the dam, and had a frozen garage all winter. Not doing that again!

February 1981 was nearly 15° AN in northern Maine, but after the early near-50 RA temps dropped well below zero.  Runoff from the rain/thaw backed up from the plow piles and the result was 5-6" of ice in our detached garage.  Unfortunately, the Chevette was parked inside and I had to use the ax (carefully!) to free it.

-19 at 7 AM here, trees are popping.  In other news, the club groomer is still disabled on our woodlot.  The tractor is a Gilbert 01339 - I've no idea of its provenance but it looks anything but young.  They're now using a 4' drag pulled with a snowsled and it's a tight fit between an 8" diameter oak and the dead groomer, but there were a few sleds running the trail yesterday.

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