NNE Warm Season Thread 2021

[J.Spin]

Continuing with the storm-related analysis, the next plot lets us look at the largest snowstorm for each season in the data set.  The 2020-2021 season really wasn’t one for large storms in our immediate area, and that’s definitely borne out in this plot.  This past season’s largest storm was just over a foot, it was well below the average, and second lowest in the entire data set.  The trend since that 41-inch storm in 2016-2017 has shown quite the consistent decline in storm size, so we’ll see if this past season marks the nadir of that decrease.

[tamarack]

55 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

Continuing with the storm-related analysis, the next plot lets us look at the largest snowstorm for each season in the data set.  The 2020-2021 season really wasn’t one for large storms in our immediate area, and that’s definitely borne out in this plot.  This past season’s largest storm was just over a foot, it was well below the average, and second lowest in the entire data set.  The trend since that 41-inch storm in 2016-2017 has shown quite the consistent decline in storm size, so we’ll see if this past season marks the nadir of that decrease.

I wonder if that "consistent decline" is merely return to the norm.  Prior to 16-17 half of your winters had storms of 20"+.  Same ratio for the 4 winters since 16-17.  On the other hand, I'd never had back-to-back winters without a 12"+ event from 98-99 thru 17-18, and now I've had 3 in a row, so maybe something's there.

[J.Spin]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

I wonder if that "consistent decline" is merely return to the norm.  Prior to 16-17 half of your winters had storms of 20"+.  Same ratio for the 4 winters since 16-17.  On the other hand, I'd never had back-to-back winters without a 12"+ event from 98-99 thru 17-18, and now I've had 3 in a row, so maybe something's there.

I think on average, folks wouldn’t call this past winter season in CNE/NNE one that was notable for larger storms, and in the case of our site, the data for largest storm of the season speak to that.  I don’t think the downward trend of the past few seasons it’s too much more than normal variance in our neck of the woods though, simply because I wouldn’t have thought twice about even the 17.0” top storm from 2019-2020 – that seems very typical off of a 21.4” average.  The S.D. on that mean is 7.5”, so the 17.0” is well within that.  That record you note from your past three seasons does seem rather anomalous though.

Using just the single largest storm could be a bit misleading for some seasons due to the potential for those “fluke” types of storms that hit every so often.  For example, some areas in central/southern NH and VT were hit with that intense banding storm this past season, so some of those sites may have a big 30-50” total for that largest storm, even though it may not reflect the tenor of the season.  I can’t recall, did those areas have any other notable storms this past season, or was that a “one-off” sort of thing?

For the 2016-2017 season when we had that notable 41.0” storm (Winter Storm Stella), we did at least have three other double-digit storms, topping out at 18.2”, so it wasn’t an entirely anomalous event among a sea of nothing.  A better approach to get the feel for the occurrence of larger storms in a season and reduce the effects of anomalies might be to take the top five, or maybe top three storms, and then take the mean of that group (or maybe median would be even better to remove anomalies).

[tamarack]

4 hours ago, J.Spin said:

I think on average, folks wouldn’t call this past winter season in CNE/NNE one that was notable for larger storms, and in the case of our site, the data for largest storm of the season speak to that.  I don’t think the downward trend of the past few seasons it’s too much more than normal variance in our neck of the woods though, simply because I wouldn’t have thought twice about even the 17.0” top storm from 2019-2020 – that seems very typical off of a 21.4” average.  The S.D. on that mean is 7.5”, so the 17.0” is well within that.  That record you note from your past three seasons does seem rather anomalous though.

Using just the single largest storm could be a bit misleading for some seasons due to the potential for those “fluke” types of storms that hit every so often.  For example, some areas in central/southern NH and VT were hit with that intense banding storm this past season, so some of those sites may have a big 30-50” total for that largest storm, even though it may not reflect the tenor of the season.  I can’t recall, did those areas have any other notable storms this past season, or was that a “one-off” sort of thing?

For the 2016-2017 season when we had that notable 41.0” storm (Winter Storm Stella), we did at least have three other double-digit storms, topping out at 18.2”, so it wasn’t an entirely anomalous event among a sea of nothing.  A better approach to get the feel for the occurrence of larger storms in a season and reduce the effects of anomalies might be to take the top five, or maybe top three storms, and then take the mean of that group (or maybe median would be even better to remove anomalies).

2016-17 ranks 3rd for total snowfall, behind 07-08 and 00-01, but for big storms only 00-01 comes close.  Had 21" events in both Dec and Feb; only other winter I've experienced with >1 event 20+ was 60-61 in NNJ.  Then Pi Day dropped 15.5" as just the 4th (and most recent) storm here that met all blizzard criteria.  (00-01 had a 17" dump in Feb then storms of 16" and 19" in late March.  The 47" depth on April 1 is the tallest I've had, 1" more than 4/1/84 in Fort Kent.)

[alex]

9 hours ago, PhineasC said:

I think I end up with more clear non-upslope days being slightly north of the Presidentials. I frequently noticed it would be partly cloudy at my place and overcast at Bretton Woods. Even on the upslope days, it's more of a situation of fast-moving squall clouds here with breaks of sun versus the low deck that seems to sit down there.

Speaking of which, left Lincoln with broken clouds, hot home with a drizzly misery mist.

went up the cog yesterday though, great day for it. 

[Patriot21]

Drizzle and light rain for the last hour or two.  Looking forward to the rain and cool temperatures the next couple days. This beats the sunshine for me haha. Get sick of the sun after a while and it feels like we've had a lot of sunny hot days this past year.

[mreaves]

47 minutes ago, Patriot21 said:

Drizzle and light rain for the last hour or two.  Looking forward to the rain and cool temperatures the next couple days. This beats the sunshine for me haha. Get sick of the sun after a while and it feels like we've had a lot of sunny hot days this past year.

My wife and son are camping in your town. I don’t think they feel the same way. lol 

[powderfreak]

3 hours ago, Patriot21 said:

Drizzle and light rain for the last hour or two.  Looking forward to the rain and cool temperatures the next couple days. This beats the sunshine for me haha. Get sick of the sun after a while and it feels like we've had a lot of sunny hot days this past year.

Ha I think I'm the exact opposite in the warm season.  Like I posted in the other thread last night, must be getting older or something.  I feel like a retiree yearning for Arizona who wants sunshine and dry every day during these longest daylight days of the year.  I just love the idea of being outside comfortably until like 9pm with just natural light.  You'll see people start mountain bike rides at like 7:30-8pm these days, ha.

We just get so many cloudy days in the cold season... enjoy that sun when we get it.

[powderfreak]

On 7/6/2021 at 2:44 PM, J.Spin said:

 

I think there may be recency, availability, and repetition bias in some of these perspectives though.  When it comes to this forum, whatever happens in the populated areas of SNE is heavily announced, discussed, echoed, rehashed, and dissected to the nth degree.  That’s 95%+ of the discussion, so it largely sets the appearance of what people in the subforum think is happening. 

 

This is extremely true.  Good point J.  When it's wet/snowy/hot/windy whatever in SNE it can often seem like NNE is always left out of it but it's more because our weather doesn't get as much of the discussion (understandably so, not that it's a problem).  It can definitely give a certain perspective of more weather action down there in certain patterns.

The averages up here do tell the tale, it just doesn't make much discussion.

 

[Patriot21]

4 hours ago, mreaves said:

My wife and son are camping in your town. I don’t think they feel the same way. lol 

Lol no I doubt they would. I would not like this while camping either.

[Patriot21]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Ha I think I'm the exact opposite in the warm season.  Like I posted in the other thread last night, must be getting older or something.  I feel like a retiree yearning for Arizona who wants sunshine and dry every day during these longest daylight days of the year.  I just love the idea of being outside comfortably until like 9pm with just natural light.  You'll see people start mountain bike rides at like 7:30-8pm these days, ha.

We just get so many cloudy days in the cold season... enjoy that sun when we get it.

I understand and agree that is a cool feeling to be outside so late and still have daylight. Kind of mystical at times or something. I start my commute at 3:15 am and can see the distant glow of the sun before 4 and I think I enjoy that more than the sun being up so late, cause you can start outside work so early. I lived in Saint Louis for 6 years and the relentless heat/humidity out there just made me dread the sun eventually. I love it when we're socked in with clouds, fog and rain.

[J.Spin]

11 hours ago, Patriot21 said:

I understand and agree that is a cool feeling to be outside so late and still have daylight. Kind of mystical at times or something. I start my commute at 3:15 am and can see the distant glow of the sun before 4 and I think I enjoy that more than the sun being up so late, cause you can start outside work so early. I lived in Saint Louis for 6 years and the relentless heat/humidity out there just made me dread the sun eventually. I love it when we're socked in with clouds, fog and rain.

I’m not sure if you’re actually allowed to say that last part aloud, because the subforum sunshine police will probably lump you in with the standard list of summer pariahs they pull out any time the forecast suggests it might get a bit cool and showery.

Unless you really want/need a consistent San Diego-style climate for your work, exercise, recreation, or daily activities, the summer climate in NNE, especially the mountainous areas of NNE, is pretty sweet.  We don’t have to deal with the constant heat and humidity of the Midwest or Southeast, or even what they seem to experience in parts of SNE.  We still typically get a hot stretch or two each summer, sometimes more, sometimes less, that will warm up the swimming holes and make for great river tubing etc.  As much as it can be a nuisance having to deal with a few sticky nights, it’s a nice change of pace and lets you comfortably get out on the water for some high summer activities.  Even in July though, our temperature averages around here are lows in the 50s F and highs in the 70s F.  Right from those numbers you can get a sense of what the typical, climatological dew points are up here in the summer, even if some warm season agendas in the subforum leave people trying to convince themselves that summer in New England somehow means dew points of 70 F.

I certainly love it when our local trails are dry and the riding is great.  Like PF, I enjoy that Rockies-style climate with the lower humidity, warm sunny days, cool nights, and generally dry conditions for recreation.  However, having lived in the Rockies for several years, I can say that for me, the constant dry, sunny, cloudless days throughout the summer can get quite monotonous.  The generally drier air is great in that it would cool down into the 40s and 50s F each night for consistently great sleeping, but that same dry air and lack of clouds meant that it would easily heat up into the 90s F every day.  You certainly do get that big diurnal temperature range that PF loves.  I just found that the constant sunny, dry, and hot weather, day after day after day all summer took its toll.  Rain was infrequent enough that it was notable when it rained during the summer.  I can distinctly remember the relief of actually having a night of getting to listen to the sound of the rain falling and thinking, “Wow, that is really cool, I wish that would happen more than once in a blue moon.”

Now this was in Montana mind you, so it was nothing in the realm of what spots farther south like Salt Lake City or Arizona deal with, but the summers can still feel unnecessarily hot when it’s day after day of cloudless skies.  If I was to live in the Rockies again, I think I’d pick a spot with more elevation that would provide more opportunities for orographic clouds, precipitation, and lower daytime temperatures.  Here in Waterbury, we get four times the annual precipitation, and five times the annual snowfall compared to where we lived in Montana.  There’s just so much additional potential for weather variety that comes with those numbers.  I can remember a specific day soon after we’d moved back to Vermont where I really noticed a dramatic climate difference.  We were out on the Stowe Recreation Path with the boys, and it was a typical summer day where perhaps a third of the sky happened to be covered with fair weather cumulus clouds.  Every so often, a cloud would pass in front of the sun and bring on some shade.  I’d rather forgotten that one could even have midsummer days like that with cool, refreshing interludes, and it was spectacular.

I love the variety of weather we get here in the mountains of NNE; it’s likely akin to the typical mix of weather that a lot of the Eastern U.S. gets, but biased on the cooler (and in winter, snowier) side due to our latitude and orographics.  I wouldn’t want every summer day to be socked in with clouds, fog, and rain, but I definitely enjoy those days as part of the mix.  Yesterday after work, I was going to go for a ride, but it was a bit misty and gray, and it seemed like the trails might be a bit wet.  So, I decided to go for a trail run instead, and the cool conditions were perfect for that.  In my years up here, I’ve learned that it’s best to have many potential activities in your bag of tricks so that you can easily roll with whatever Mother Nature decides her mood of the day is going to be.  Obviously, some activities have to be planned/scheduled and you have to hope for a certain type of weather, but it pays to have some alternatives available.  If one really needs consistency, I guess there’s always San Diego.

[powderfreak]

Yeah @J.Spin I forget you lived out there in Montana.  I do think half of my desire for that weather is yearning for what friends show out there… just dry trails and sunshine all the time.  Love those diurnal swings, big fetish.  But you’re right, maybe if it did that every single day for months on end it doesn’t seem that interesting.  I think it’s likely only interesting around here because it’s not the norm.  It is definitely a showery climate.

Maybe it’s truly a “grass is always greener somewhere else” type thing (or not green but dead and dusty)…. I still hope to live out there at some point and see it.

[powderfreak]

It’s finally raining with some authority.

Took a while today to get going.

[powderfreak]

Facebook reminded me of this 4 years ago... so guess the snow pile made it at least this far 4 years ago.  July 9th, not bad.

[wxeyeNH]

61F  Driving,heavy rain.  Models had me just out of Elsa's heavy rain shield but it has made it in.  

About .75" since 8am

Would this be considered a deformation band in winter

[wxeyeNH]

63F Light to moderater rain1.15" since 8am 

Note to self in winter...

NW edges can be  off.   This way overachieved here

[mreaves]

38 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

63F Light to moderater rain1.15" since 8am 

Note to self in winter...

NW edges can be  off.   This way overachieved here

How is the pond?

[wxeyeNH]

2 hours ago, mreaves said:

How is the pond?

Here's a pic.  It was  dry last week with grass growing in the basin.  Since it is man made it always goes dry or near dry by summer's end.

Rain has stopped.  I have not been emptying Stratus on a 24 hour cycle so it is hard to say how much rain was from Elsa vs the front but this has been a very wet July so far.   4.15" so far this month.   

[alex]

Not even a tenth of an inch here. Flood worries cancelled 

[powderfreak]

On 7/9/2021 at 7:35 PM, alex said:

Not even a tenth of an inch here. Flood worries cancelled 

Looks like a classic coastal storm spread, ha.  Coastal plain gets smoked.  Sharp drop off into the mountains.

[J.Spin]

On 7/8/2021 at 4:56 PM, powderfreak said:

Yeah @J.Spin I forget you lived out there in Montana.  I do think half of my desire for that weather is yearning for what friends show out there… just dry trails and sunshine all the time.  Love those diurnal swings, big fetish.  But you’re right, maybe if it did that every single day for months on end it doesn’t seem that interesting.  I think it’s likely only interesting around here because it’s not the norm.  It is definitely a showery climate.

Maybe it’s truly a “grass is always greener somewhere else” type thing (or not green but dead and dusty)…. I still hope to live out there at some point and see it.

Don’t let anything get in the way if you have a chance to live out there – we certainly wouldn’t trade our time living in the Rockies; it was simply fantastic.

My comments are of course just noting preferences from a weather/climate perspective, and while people certainly factor that into where they decide to live, it’s typically way down the list relative to factors that actually matter when it comes to making a living.

Based on my years of roaming around and checking out much of Western Montana, I think my preference leans toward the northwestern part of the state if it was solely based on climate.  Where we lived in the Bitterroot Valley is farther south, and when we’d visit equivalent valley areas in the northwestern part of the state, there always seemed to bit more moisture, more clouds, cooler temperatures, more snow, etc.  Those areas are on the windward side of the Glacier National Park area along the continental divide, and like here in NVT, they’re not far from the Canadian border.  I’m sure the bit of extra latitude helps too.  I didn’t know it before we lived out there, but the Canada-U.S. border out in that part of the country is substantially farther north than it is out here.  While the border here in Vermont is at the 45^th parallel, the border out in Montana is notably farther north at the 49^th parallel.

From our numerous visits, I always had the perception that those valleys in the northwest part of the state had more clouds, precipitation, snow, etc., and if I look up the actual numbers, they support that.  You can see the climate difference between where we lived in Hamilton and farther to the northwest in Whitefish:

 

Hamilton, MT

Elevation: 3,570’

Annual Precipitation: 13.1”

Annual Snowfall: 32.1”

Days with Precipitation: 106.4

 

Whitefish, MT

Elevation: 3,028’

Annual Precipitation: 18.4”

Annual Snowfall:  72.7”

Days with Precipitation: 119.7

 

Of course, even the higher Whitefish values for precipitation and snowfall are quite paltry compared to the ~55” of precipitation and ~160” of snowfall we get out here; the precipitation isn’t even in the same ballpark, and the snowfall is only on par with BTV, which is generally chided for how snowless it is for this area.  However, from a comparative perspective, the numbers do speak to my causal observations, and the differences are quite notable.  In Whitefish you’re looking at a ~40% increase in precipitation, and a ~125% increase in snowfall.  In addition, that’s with Whitefish being at ~500’ lower elevation.

It’s funny, because in the grand scheme of Montana geography, even Hamilton is typically considered part of “Northwest Montana” because of the shape of the state, how big the state is, and the way the mountain ranges build natural climate areas (see maps below).  The northwestern region is generally considered the wettest part of the state, but the greater northwestern or “Glacier Country” area extends well to south, and of course, there are many microclimates.  The Bitterroot Valley is in the rain shadow of the 10,000’+ Bitterroot Range, which presumably cuts down on the precipitation and snow there relative to some of the other parts of the region.

If you keep with the ski industry, I’m sure you’d be in a mountainous locale wherever you end up, but just watch out for the potential lack of “weather” and hot temperatures in the lower mountain valleys if that’s of interest.  It’s probably great for the average person who would just as soon have little to no rain or snow where they live, but it’s very benign relative to what we’re used to around here.

[J.Spin]

On 7/7/2021 at 9:03 AM, J.Spin said:

Continuing with the storm-related analysis, the next plot lets us look at the largest snowstorm for each season in the data set.  The 2020-2021 season really wasn’t one for large storms in our immediate area, and that’s definitely borne out in this plot.  This past season’s largest storm was just over a foot, it was well below the average, and second lowest in the entire data set.  The trend since that 41-inch storm in 2016-2017 has shown quite the consistent decline in storm size, so we’ll see if this past season marks the nadir of that decrease.

 

On 7/7/2021 at 4:47 PM, tamarack said:

2016-17 ranks 3rd for total snowfall, behind 07-08 and 00-01, but for big storms only 00-01 comes close.  Had 21" events in both Dec and Feb; only other winter I've experienced with >1 event 20+ was 60-61 in NNJ.  Then Pi Day dropped 15.5" as just the 4th (and most recent) storm here that met all blizzard criteria.  (00-01 had a 17" dump in Feb then storms of 16" and 19" in late March.  The 47" depth on April 1 is the tallest I've had, 1" more than 4/1/84 in Fort Kent.)

Thinking about ways to get at which winter seasons had a tendency to deliver “larger snowstorms” vs. those that didn’t, I’ve made a couple of additional comparisons.  Presenting the single largest storm as done in my initial plot above is certainly useful, but the single largest storm could easily be an outlier and not quite portray the tenor the season.  Bringing a few more large storms from each season into the picture would temper the effect of those “one hit wonder” types of seasons.

There are still plenty of options to consider with respect to how many storms to select, and whether to use mean and or median values from those storms, but here are two plots I made for now:

1) A clustered column plot that simply contains the snowfall for the five largest snowstorms from each season

2) A column plot that presents the sum of the snowfall from the five largest snowstorms from each season

The first plot below is nice in that it lets one view the totals for the five largest storms of the season.  It’s helpful for quickly identifying instances such as you mentioned above, where seasons had >1 storm of 20”+.  I don’t think it works all that well for quickly getting at whether or not a season was one that tended to deliver large storms though.  There’s enough data there in each set that they all just look like stair steps of data points unless you dive in and examine them closely.

I think the second plot may do a better job of quickly highlighting those “big storm” seasons.  Since each point is the sum of the top five storms, a season that consistently brings larger events is likely going to poke its head above the rest of the crowd.  The 2016-2017 season is of course bolstered by the big 41” storm, but it’s still up there even when tempered by incorporating the next four storms.  In this analysis, 2010-2011 and 2006-2007 also seem to pop up as potential “big storm” seasons.  I like that 2006-2007 popped up on that plot, because it did have that “consistent, big storm feel” once it got going with what seemed like a notable storm on each holiday in the spring.  Note that one could also plot the averages for the top five storms for each of these seasons and produce the same relative plot, but I think providing the number for total snow from the five storms gives a more immediate sense for the contribution that those top storms made to the season’s snowfall.

While my initial plot of largest storm of the season certainly suggested that this past season was relatively weak with respect to large snowstorms, I think the plot summing the top five storms from each season solidifies that feel.  This past season again came in as the second lowest in the data set next to the horrendous 2015-2016, suggesting that it was quite weak in the “big storm” department.

[LaGrangewx]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:32 AM, J.Spin said:

 

Thinking about ways to get at which winter seasons had a tendency to deliver “larger snowstorms” vs. those that didn’t, I’ve made a couple of additional comparisons.  Presenting the single largest storm as done in my initial plot above is certainly useful, but the single largest storm could easily be an outlier and not quite portray the tenor the season.  Bringing a few more large storms from each season into the picture would temper the effect of those “one hit wonder” types of seasons.

There are still plenty of options to consider with respect to how many storms to select, and whether to use mean and or median values from those storms, but here are two plots I made for now:

1) A clustered column plot that simply contains the snowfall for the five largest snowstorms from each season

2) A column plot that presents the sum of the snowfall from the five largest snowstorms from each season

The first plot below is nice in that it lets one view the totals for the five largest storms of the season.  It’s helpful for quickly identifying instances such as you mentioned above, where seasons had >1 storm of 20”+.  I don’t think it works all that well for quickly getting at whether or not a season was one that tended to deliver large storms though.  There’s enough data there in each set that they all just look like stair steps of data points unless you dive in and examine them closely.

I think the second plot may do a better job of quickly highlighting those “big storm” seasons.  Since each point is the sum of the top five storms, a season that consistently brings larger events is likely going to poke its head above the rest of the crowd.  The 2016-2017 season is of course bolstered by the big 41” storm, but it’s still up there even when tempered by incorporating the next four storms.  In this analysis, 2010-2011 and 2006-2007 also seem to pop up as potential “big storm” seasons.  I like that 2006-2007 popped up on that plot, because it did have that “consistent, big storm feel” once it got going with what seemed like a notable storm on each holiday in the spring.  Note that one could also plot the averages for the top five storms for each of these seasons and produce the same relative plot, but I think providing the number for total snow from the five storms gives a more immediate sense for the contribution that those top storms made to the season’s snowfall.

While my initial plot of largest storm of the season certainly suggested that this past season was relatively weak with respect to large snowstorms, I think the plot summing the top five storms from each season solidifies that feel.  This past season again came in as the second lowest in the data set next to the horrendous 2015-2016, suggesting that it was quite weak in the “big storm” department.

I know I’ve seen you track the number of snowstorms per year which is great data do you also have data on the total number of days with snow each year? I was looking at some places. I believe old forge in lake effect country is around 75 and the johnsweather guy in Pittsburg is around 85. I would guess yours is high as well with all the constant upslope. 

[PhineasC]

6 minutes ago, LaGrangewx said:

I know I’ve seen you track the number of snowstorms per year which is great data do you also have data on the total number of days with snow each year? I was looking at some places. I believe old forge in lake effect country is around 75 and the johnsweather guy in Pittsburg is around 85. I would guess yours is high as well with all the constant upslope. 

I believe he said it’s about 100 days there on average. 

[tamarack]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:32 AM, J.Spin said:

 

Thinking about ways to get at which winter seasons had a tendency to deliver “larger snowstorms” vs. those that didn’t, I’ve made a couple of additional comparisons.  Presenting the single largest storm as done in my initial plot above is certainly useful, but the single largest storm could easily be an outlier and not quite portray the tenor the season.  Bringing a few more large storms from each season into the picture would temper the effect of those “one hit wonder” types of seasons.

Some similar though not graphic numbers:
Season  Total *   Lg *  Sum top 5
98-99     79.2      14.5    44.2
99-00     67.2        8.2    35.5
00-01    137.1       19.0    72.5
01-02     72.5        9.0    34.0
02-03    67.8       13.8    37.0
03-04    72.7      24.0     55.8
04-05    94.3      21.0     54.4
05-06    52.8        5.9(!) 22.2
06-07    95.3      18.5     62.9
07-08   142.3     12.5     49.7
08-09   101.4     24.5     67.2
09-10     64.8     10.7     40.2
10-11     100.5     15.1     46.3
11-12      68.0       9.7     37.5
12-13     90.4      12.5     49.9
13-14    101.3      13.5     59.8
14-15    112.8      20.2     57.2
15-16     48.2       8.5      27.0
16-17    125.3    21.0(x2) 72.5
17-18    105.5     19.9      66.4
18-19    109.2     11.7      40.9
19-20     85.1      10.3     37.0
20-21     52.5      9.5      30.7
Avg.       89.0     14.5      47.9

[J.Spin]

6 hours ago, LaGrangewx said:

I know I’ve seen you track the number of snowstorms per year which is great data do you also have data on the total number of days with snow each year? I was looking at some places. I believe old forge in lake effect country is around 75 and the johnsweather guy in Pittsburg is around 85. I would guess yours is high as well with all the constant upslope. 

 

6 hours ago, PhineasC said:

I believe he said it’s about 100 days there on average. 

That’s actually great timing on the inquiry LaGrange, days with snow was the next category I was planning to cover.  Phin’s recollection is correct, based on the data I’ve collected so far, the average days with snowfall per season at our site is around 100.  I didn’t track days with snowfall before joining CoCoRaHS, so I only have data from 2010 onward, but the plot is below.  This past season didn’t have much to lay claim to since it was kind of lackluster in general snow stats, but days with snowfall was a category in which it edges out all the other seasons in the data set.  Therefore, at least in our area, we had plenty of days with snow this past season, even if it was only average in terms of total snowfall.

 

[wxeyeNH]

Just had quite a thunderstorm as far as lightning goes.  Many cloud to ground strikes around Newfound Lake.  No wind and storms weakened as they past.  Only .15" as the core went just south.

[powderfreak]

5 hours ago, J.Spin said:

 

That’s actually great timing on the inquiry LaGrange, days with snow was the next category I was planning to cover.  Phin’s recollection is correct, based on the data I’ve collected so far, the average days with snowfall per season at our site is around 100.  I didn’t track days with snowfall before joining CoCoRaHS, so I only have data from 2010 onward, but the plot is below.  This past season didn’t have much to lay claim to since it was kind of lackluster in general snow stats, but days with snowfall was a category in which it edges out all the other seasons in the data set.  Therefore, at least in our area, we had plenty of days with snow this past season, even if it was only average in terms of total snowfall.

 

The days of snow per season holds some pretty serious weight in terms of "wintry appeal" of a given winter.  To me, having flakes flying is important mostly because it usually leads to a fresh looking surface.  There are deeper snowpacks, more inches, but I absolutely love having a sparkling looking top sheet of snow.  When you get even 0.2-0.4" of sparkling dust or even synoptic snow, the surface looks fresh.  "Looks" is the key word.  You can look out the window and see the existing snow sparking or having this undisturbed look.  It appears like it all could've fallen overnight.  There's no crusty, glazed, or brown snowpack. 

Even a couple tenths is enough to hide the dirty old snow.  Get a thaw that melts it down to crust but passing snow showers on the back-end leave even 0.6" of new snow on top... it just looks a lot better than a dry air freeze.  You can't see the crust so the pack looks the same as if it just fell when looking out over the yard. The winters with "days of snowflakes" can feel the most mystical... like it's just always snowing.  Fluffy flakes floating down out of passing clouds in a cold air mass.  It's a very wintry vibe.  The metric of "days with snow" definitely influence the overall "vibe" of a winter.

[tamarack]

16 hours ago, J.Spin said:

 

That’s actually great timing on the inquiry LaGrange, days with snow was the next category I was planning to cover.  Phin’s recollection is correct, based on the data I’ve collected so far, the average days with snowfall per season at our site is around 100.  I didn’t track days with snowfall before joining CoCoRaHS, so I only have data from 2010 onward, but the plot is below.  This past season didn’t have much to lay claim to since it was kind of lackluster in general snow stats, but days with snowfall was a category in which it edges out all the other seasons in the data set.  Therefore, at least in our area, we had plenty of days with snow this past season, even if it was only average in terms of total snowfall.

 

Thanks to zero upslope and less overall snow, we're way lower than the above.
             Avg.  Med.    Hi/Lo
Trace    67.5   72.0    79/48
0.1"+     41.8   42.0    55/27
1.0"+     21.7   22.0    32/13
4.0"+      7.4     7.0     14/3
6.0"+      4.0    4.0       9/0