NNE Cold Season Thread 2020-2021

[powderfreak]

Still snowing steadily and radar regenerating to the SW.  Probably 3”+ this evening so far.

[bwt3650]

I’m probably about the same...it is steady right now, but lightened up a bit.

[mreaves]

49 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Still snowing steadily and radar regenerating to the SW.  Probably 3”+ this evening so far.

Same here and I’m over an inch. 

[PhineasC]

Snow just started here in earnest. Was getting freezing mist and flurries for a while.

22 degrees.

[J.Spin]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Still snowing steadily and radar regenerating to the SW.  Probably 3”+ this evening so far.

It looks like another burst is just about to hit the spine around here:

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 5.4” Snow/0.31” L.E.

 

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

New Snow: 3.6 inches

New Liquid: 0.17 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 21.2

Snow Density: 4.7% H2O

Temperature: 30.6 F

Sky: Heavy Snow (5-25 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: 21.5 inches

[J.Spin]

15 hours ago, tamarack said:

100 mm - did not know there were Alpine skis that wide.  Except for length, those boards would look appropriate on the jumping hill.  

 

14 hours ago, MRVexpat said:

Yup that's basically the norm these days. Makes sense out West and in the kind of pattern we've been in recently but all too often I'll roll up to the hill in November and see hordes of people with these all mountain/powder skis strapped to their feet just lapping firm groomers. I guess that's why its best to have a quiver!

Alpine skis generally top out at waist widths of ~140 mm, and these wider skis of 100 mm+ are unquestionably better performers in powder.  The extra surface area allows the skier to float higher in the snow, making turns easier, since you don’t have as much snow to push around, and not going as deep means that you have less of that third dimension (depth) to deal with in your powder skiing.  From a photographer’s perspective, the fatter skis can diminish the magnitude of face shots somewhat, so that’s always a bit of irony with respect to the advancement of the equipment.

There’s a limit to how fat you want to go, because the skis eventually get somewhat ungainly to the point where they’re impractical on any firmer surfaces.  The skis will also have varying degrees of reverse camber/rocker to further enhance their performance in the powder:

A more rockered configuration is preferred in powder because it keeps the tips of your skis up and out of the deep snow so that you don’t have to be quite as perfect with your fore-aft balance or worry about your tips diving.  This makes them somewhat more forgiving compared to a cambered ski where you can get more tip dive if your balance is too far forward.  Also, a rockered configuration (much like a whitewater kayak vs. a flatwater kayak) is going to facilitate easier rotation of your skis in deep snow vs. a more traditional cambered ski.

The issue is, while the extra width and rocker are really helpful in the soft snow, they’re detrimental to performance on groomed surfaces.  Edge-to-edge transition is much slower on the wider skis, and you’re getting less edge contact with the snow and rebound out of your turns if you have more rocker and less camber.  Many companies address this issue somewhat by making skis with rockered tips and tails to facilitate easier skiing in deeper snow, but keeping some regular camber in the middle of the ski for better performance on firmer snow surfaces.  The bottom ski image in the figure shows this general structure.

Expat’s point is a good one though, in that you’ll see many people skiing groomed terrain on skis that are woefully too fat and/or rockered for the available snow surface.  Sometimes it’s just that they only have one pair of skis, and they went with something on the wide side because they want that for when they are off piste.  Also, people typically think fatter skis are “cool”, and they may have just wanted them and/or the salesperson could easily sell them on the allure of something fatter than they really needed.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 7.4” Snow/0.37” L.E.

 

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

New Snow: 2.0 inches

New Liquid: 0.06 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 33.3

Snow Density: 3.0% H2O

Temperature: 16.2 F

Sky: Cloudy

Snow at the stake: 23.5 inches

[klw]

Another inch overnight.  I am glad I hadn't bothered to clear the whole driveway when I got home from work yesterday.

[powderfreak]

Ended up with 4.5" between the two rounds yesterday.  Good mini-event.

[alex]

3.7" here. Not bad, given I expected "up to 1""

[PhineasC]

54 minutes ago, alex said:

3.7" here. Not bad, given I expected "up to 1""

Nice, you needed that.

About an inch here. The whole thing just never really got going here.

[powderfreak]

It is dumping up here now.  Bread and Butter on the lake effect WSW flow.

[powderfreak]

HRRR extended version looks good tomorrow for some precip on the Spine.

[J.Spin]

Event totals: 0.1” Snow/Trace L.E.

 

We picked up an additional 0.1” of new snow this morning while we were out on the mountain.  It was tough to decide, but I think there’s been enough demarcation between what seemed like the end of Winter Storm Peggy, and the effects from these more obvious LES bands, to break it out into its own event.

I can see from PF’s radar image that this area around Bolton Valley and our house was a bit south of the main LES band he was talking about, but there are certainly still echoes out there coming in from the southwest and we’ve had additional flakes flying here at our site

 

Details from the 2:00 P.M. Waterbury observations:

New Snow: 0.1 inches

New Liquid: Trace

Temperature: 30.4 F

Sky: Cloudy

Snow at the stake: 22.0 inches

[mreaves]

Had 2”+ here at home. Went riding through the Groton area and up high it looked more in line with PF’s 4”-5”. Didn’t take many pictures today but it was a gorgeous day to be outside. 

[Froude]

9 minutes ago, mreaves said:

Had 2”+ here at home. Went riding through the Groton area and up high it looked more in line with PF’s 4”-5”. Didn’t take many pictures today but it was a gorgeous day to be outside.

I'll second that. Absolute winter wonderland up high in the Greens right now. Looks like a fun week ahead.

[wxeyeNH]

Nice day......sun, clouds passing flurries but I didn't expect so much wind.  Maybe it was so strong on my property because it was more WSW than the NW.  I'm sheltered from the NW but not from this direction.

[powderfreak]

1 hour ago, Froude said:

I'll second that. Absolute winter wonderland up high in the Greens right now. Looks like a fun week ahead.

Good grief, lol.  What a caked shot dude.  The Northern Greens are just plastered.

[powderfreak]

Some great turning conditions out there after 8" in 24 hours at the High Road Stake.

 

2" yesterday through 4pm and then another 6" overnight.

[bwt3650]

Conditions are the best they have been since the storm late last feb...powder everywhere.  Very squally today; it was be puking snow for thirty minutes, then sunny, then foggy, then snowing again. But the woods were deep no matter what.  We picked up about 4 last night and another 2-3 during the day. Really enjoyable skiing the past couple days despite imperfect weather. 

[bwt3650]

3 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Some great turning conditions out there after 8" in 24 hours at the High Road Stake.

 

2" yesterday through 4pm and then another 6" overnight.

Dude, I need a photographer like you..can’t compete with these shots..great stuff.

[J.Spin]

3 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Some great turning conditions out there after 8" in 24 hours at the High Road Stake.

2" yesterday through 4pm and then another 6" overnight.

I saw that Bolton Valley was reporting the same 8” in the past 24 hours, so that seems pretty consistent in this area.

We headed up for a session at the opening of Timberline this morning.  It was bright and sunny when we got there, but before it clouded up and we got some flakes.  For the rest of the morning it was generally cloudy with a bit of snow and the occasional appearance of the sun.

My depth checks in the 1,500’ – 2,500’ range revealed new snow depths in the 6-9” range, which was definitely consistent with the snow report.  The powder was pretty dry (3-5% H2O) so the new stuff alone wasn’t quite bottomless on piste on steep terrain, but off piste it just bolstered the depth of that already bottomless snowpack that’s out there.

A few shots from the morning:

[powderfreak]

HRRR says we get another healthy round of it this evening again.  And the 00z Euro had 5 different events in the next 10 days.

Active pattern for sure.  Here’s this evening’s HRRR total water.

 

[powderfreak]

Great AFD by TABER on the Near Term:

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/...
As of 618 AM EST Sunday...A small pocket of clear skies has
developed ahead of advancing clouds from our south and west,
which has allowed temps to drop sharply this morning. SLK is
crntly -8F, while BTV has been down to 11F. These temps should
warm quickly this morning with advancing clouds and southerly
winds. No other changes have been made to crnt fcst. Still
expecting light snow to develop this aftn, before a band of
heavier snow showers occurs btwn 21z-03z tonight associated with
boundary/dynamics and deeper moisture. Once again favorable
parameters move thru in 1 to 2 hours, but should result in a
quick 1 to 3 inches with localized higher amounts in the trrn.

Interesting day expected acrs our fa with some light snow
developing by early this aftn, but noticing several parameters
coming together for a brief 1 to 3 hour window of moderate to
localized heavy snow this evening from the CPV eastward. First,
impacts from coastal system tracking near the 40/70 benchmark
will be minimal, with just some light snow spreading northward
into central/southern and eastern VT btwn 17z-20z today.
Meanwhile, water vapor shows potent 7h-5h s/w trof and
associated modified arctic boundary acrs the Ohio Valley/central
Great Lakes this morning, along with a ribbon of enhanced mid
lvl moisture. These dynamics/moisture wl interact with mid/upper
lvl moisture streaming northward from departing coastal system
to produce a narrow axis of enhanced snowfall this evening
mainly from the eastern CPV into most of VT. In addition, with
sharpening thermal gradient, creates a developing area of
favorable 850 to 700mb fgen forcing btwn 21-03z from west to
east acrs this region, while llvl convergence is maximized from
south winds in the CPV and developing west/northwest winds with
approaching boundary. A check on soundings show a small 1 to 2
hour window of strong uvv`s, good deep moisture in a relatively
large DGZ, so we should experience high snowfall ratios. The
system is quick mover with well established dry slot developing
btwn 03-06z acrs entire fa, and expect lingering/leftover
upslope snow showers to decrease in areal coverage by 06z.
Bottom line expect a 1 to 2 hour window of 1/2sm sfc vis with
snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inch per hours btwn 21z-03z this
evening from the CPV into most of VT. Have noted SREF 1 hour
snowfall ensemble mean of 0.5 to 0.75 acrs the eastern CPV with
isolated amounts near 1.0 over the central/northern mtns of VT
around 00z this evening. The window of favorable dynamics and
moisture is short, so accumulations generally 1 to 3 inches with
localized 4 to 5 inches in the mountains from Killington Peak
to Mt Allen to Mansfield to Jay Peak.

[alex]

It's been an interesting winter. Lots of small snowfalls which is great, but one thing I'm noticed is that relatively speaking we keep getting the shafts in this area. No complaints really, the difference at the end of the day is not that much and the snow quality has been great, but it seems that coastals just don't want to deliver for us. But hey, if be OK if we continued this way. Better than a couple of years ago when we went into school vacation week with an amazing snowpack only to be wrecked by April like weather. 

 

[PhineasC]

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

Great AFD by TABER on the Near Term:

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/...
As of 618 AM EST Sunday...A small pocket of clear skies has
developed ahead of advancing clouds from our south and west,
which has allowed temps to drop sharply this morning. SLK is
crntly -8F, while BTV has been down to 11F. These temps should
warm quickly this morning with advancing clouds and southerly
winds. No other changes have been made to crnt fcst. Still
expecting light snow to develop this aftn, before a band of
heavier snow showers occurs btwn 21z-03z tonight associated with
boundary/dynamics and deeper moisture. Once again favorable
parameters move thru in 1 to 2 hours, but should result in a
quick 1 to 3 inches with localized higher amounts in the trrn.

Interesting day expected acrs our fa with some light snow
developing by early this aftn, but noticing several parameters
coming together for a brief 1 to 3 hour window of moderate to
localized heavy snow this evening from the CPV eastward. First,
impacts from coastal system tracking near the 40/70 benchmark
will be minimal, with just some light snow spreading northward
into central/southern and eastern VT btwn 17z-20z today.
Meanwhile, water vapor shows potent 7h-5h s/w trof and
associated modified arctic boundary acrs the Ohio Valley/central
Great Lakes this morning, along with a ribbon of enhanced mid
lvl moisture. These dynamics/moisture wl interact with mid/upper
lvl moisture streaming northward from departing coastal system
to produce a narrow axis of enhanced snowfall this evening
mainly from the eastern CPV into most of VT. In addition, with
sharpening thermal gradient, creates a developing area of
favorable 850 to 700mb fgen forcing btwn 21-03z from west to
east acrs this region, while llvl convergence is maximized from
south winds in the CPV and developing west/northwest winds with
approaching boundary. A check on soundings show a small 1 to 2
hour window of strong uvv`s, good deep moisture in a relatively
large DGZ, so we should experience high snowfall ratios. The
system is quick mover with well established dry slot developing
btwn 03-06z acrs entire fa, and expect lingering/leftover
upslope snow showers to decrease in areal coverage by 06z.
Bottom line expect a 1 to 2 hour window of 1/2sm sfc vis with
snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inch per hours btwn 21z-03z this
evening from the CPV into most of VT. Have noted SREF 1 hour
snowfall ensemble mean of 0.5 to 0.75 acrs the eastern CPV with
isolated amounts near 1.0 over the central/northern mtns of VT
around 00z this evening. The window of favorable dynamics and
moisture is short, so accumulations generally 1 to 3 inches with
localized 4 to 5 inches in the mountains from Killington Peak
to Mt Allen to Mansfield to Jay Peak.

GYX: “Maybe a couple snow showers in the north, but otherwise quiet.”

[PhineasC]

47 minutes ago, alex said:

It's been an interesting winter. Lots of small snowfalls which is great, but one thing I'm noticed is that relatively speaking we keep getting the shafts in this area. No complaints really, the difference at the end of the day is not that much and the snow quality has been great, but it seems that coastals just don't want to deliver for us. But hey, if be OK if we continued this way. Better than a couple of years ago when we went into school vacation week with an amazing snowpack only to be wrecked by April like weather. 

 

Yeah, it seems like none of the coastal storms that did get up here have really worked out for you. We haven’t really had a flush hit across the area from a synoptic event. It’s been a SNE-centric winter. The next several impulses have trended south too. We will get a couple inches here and there but no big dogs on the horizon. Where is the cold? Kinda dumb to have the storm track suppressed south when it isn’t even that cold here. 

[backedgeapproaching]

3 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Yeah, it seems like none of the coastal storms that did get up here have really worked out for you. We haven’t really had a flush hit across the area from a synoptic event. It’s been a SNE-centric winter. The next several impulses have trended south too. We will get a couple inches here and there but no big dogs on the horizon. Where is the cold? Kinda dumb to have the storm track suppressed south when it isn’t even that cold here. 

That day 5 system could still trend back north a bit--wouldn't take much.

Trying to get your -30F fix I see...lol

[PhineasC]

1 minute ago, backedgeapproaching said:

That day 5 system could still trend back north a bit--wouldn't take much.

Trying to get your -30F fix I see...lol

Well, if I was -30 that means Alex and the other better radiator spots might be -45. LOL