December 2023

[512high]

I talked with a plow company in Mammoth area, all he said what a difference a year make makes! 

[ORH_wxman]

The pack situation is about as bad as it gets up north right now. It will make a comeback for sure over the next few weeks, but there's very few winters that look like that up north on 12/22.

[WinterWolf]

7 minutes ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

Little to no snow in northern Maine in late December also it’s not a 50/50 coin flip either. That’s fake news.

You are a silly kid. 

[jbenedet]

Anyone else hearing packs of coywolves on the regular? 5-8 p.m. ish ?

Thought it was a neighbors wolf-dog/husky for a few weeks, but it clicked when my wife matter-of-factly was like "You hear that howling? That's gotta be coyotes" I was like, "duh, oh shit, she's probably right...." I listened more closely last night, and yes, definitely not the neighbors domesticated dog...

Just taken aback given I'm right in downtown dover. I hear their howls daily, loud and clear echoing from my northwest, further up the Cocheco upstream from the dam at Central Ave. They also sound large, more of a wolf-like tone to the howl...

[Damage In Tolland]

Are there any resorts or trails open anywhere in NE or are they all totally shut em down? 

[radarman]

Post rainstorm pattern as depicted looks ideal for pond ice formation.  Shades of similarly snowless early Jan 2015.

Edit- referring to the ice and the timing, not the pattern. 

[Damage In Tolland]

Just now, jbenedet said:

Anyone else hearing packs of coywolves on the regular? 5-8 p.m. ish ?

Thought it was a neighbors wolf-dog/husky for a few weeks, but it clicked when my wife matter-of-factly was like "You hear that howling? That's gotta be coyotes" I was like, "duh, oh shit, she's probably right...."

Just taken aback given I'm right in downtown dover. I hear their howls daily loud and clear echoing from my northwest, further up the Cocheco upstream from the dam at Central Ave. They also sound large, more of a wolf-like tone to the howl...

Probably coming after your robes. Tearing them off leaving you holding the wine 

[mreaves]

3 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Anyway , I was surprised to see how poorly Mammoth Mountain was doing .
 

26” inches to date . I imagine they have extreme variation from month to month and year to year but I was curious if anyone in the lower 48 had a decent December . Maybe Jackson Hole? 

We had a "decent" December going until Sunday night/Monday, at least northern VT did.  There wasn't any real cold but the ski areas had good snow and all reports indicate that the skiing was pretty good.  It wasn't quite as good for snowmobiling but there was some limited riding available on opening weekend.  Like I said it was "decent" not great.

[Great Snow 1717]

1 minute ago, jbenedet said:

Anyone else hearing packs of coywolves on the regular? 5-8 p.m. ish ?

Thought it was a neighbors wolf-dog/husky for a few weeks, but it clicked when my wife matter-of-factly was like "You hear that howling? That's gotta be coyotes" I was like, "duh, oh shit, she's probably right...." I listened more closely last night, and yes, definitely not the neighbors domesticated dog...

Just taken aback given I'm right in downtown dover. I hear their howls daily loud and clear echoing from my northwest, further up the Cocheco upstream from the dam at Central Ave. They also sound large, more of a wolf-like tone to the howl...

..they have been in my neighborhood for years...

[mreaves]

1 minute ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Are there any resorts or trails open anywhere in NE or are they all totally shut em down? 

It looked like Bolton Valley was open last night.  You can see the night skiing lights heading south on  I-89 in the Burlington/Williston area.

[jbenedet]

3 minutes ago, Great Snow 1717 said:

..they have been in my neighborhood for years...

It's cool. But def unnerving. I tie my dog on at night - these howlers sound big as if they wouldn't have a hard time taking down a 50 lb dog. These guys are hunting deer; not scavenging the local trash. I'm adapting accordingly.

[ORH_wxman]

We get coywolves all the time here...they can get loud at times. Esp if they are attacking something then it sounds really eerie.

[dendrite]

Pheasants have been thriving down here in CON. We’ve had a couple males eating these burning bush berries daily. It’s been pretty easy to find food with the lack of pack. 

[Frog Town]

12 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Anyway , I was surprised to see how poorly Mammoth Mountain was doing .
 

26” inches to date . I imagine they have extreme variation from month to month and year to year but I was curious if anyone in the lower 48 had a decent December .
 

Maybe Jackson Hole? (edit yup 125” summit / 76” mid mountain ) they average upper 400’s up top 

I've summited both the Tetons and Mt. Whitney in the past year.  I was shocked at how much snow was at the top of Mt. Whitney this past August.  Almost couldn't make it to the top.  Middle Teton not so much.  

[jbenedet]

4 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

We get coywolves all the time here...they can get loud at times. Esp if they are attacking something then it sounds really eerie.

It was the perceived size of the animal generating the deep howl, and the regularity of it which threw me off. Large husky size, to my ear. It's like every day now, right after sunset.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

7 minutes ago, jbenedet said:

Anyone else hearing packs of coywolves on the regular? 5-8 p.m. ish ?

Thought it was a neighbors wolf-dog/husky for a few weeks, but it clicked when my wife matter-of-factly was like "You hear that howling? That's gotta be coyotes" I was like, "duh, oh shit, she's probably right...." I listened more closely last night, and yes, definitely not the neighbors domesticated dog...

Just taken aback given I'm right in downtown dover. I hear their howls daily, loud and clear echoing from my northwest, further up the Cocheco upstream from the dam at Central Ave. They also sound large, more of a wolf-like tone to the howl...

It’s just our resident WinterWolf. All you have to do is make snowy forecasts and he’ll go away. 

[STILL N OF PIKE]

10 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Are there any resorts or trails open anywhere in NE or are they all totally shut em down? 

Most all “real “ resorts for skiing are open in central and northern New England . The only one prominence not I believe is Sunday river as a main road washed out 

They all have made snow for the last few days and will continue next couple 

 

[radarman]

Berkshire East is open today and probably skiing pretty good on limited terrain.  You give these places 36-48 hours to blast the guns and the surfaces improve immensely.  With climo rapidly improving, even marginally BN nights and dry days will make for rapid expansion in the 1st week of Jan. Skiers were treated to a high end December up north, now we move onto carving and winter conditions.  

[dendrite]

Just now, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

It’s just our resident WinterWolf. All you have to do is make snowy forecasts and he’ll go away. 

Every evening he sees the CC posts and the blood starts boiling. 

[WinterWolf]

Well it looked like that last year, and in 20, and in 19 too…2021 we rode, but as I said, it was lean. Ya, don’t take it from a guy who’s been there every 12/26 right after Xmas if at all possible, and loves to sled.  And the years I couldn’t go, I mean If you call a crusty inch with grass and dirt showing snow on the ground, then ok. I’m not talking Vermont or NH or the ski resorts. I was just saying where I go to sled. 
 

Yes, it’s a crap year for December up north.  But my point was, Ive seen this in far northern Maine many times before. But hey..let’s call everything the worst ever, cuz that’s what we do. 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

13 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

The pack situation is about as bad as it gets up north right now. It will make a comeback for sure over the next few weeks, but there's very few winters that look like that up north on 12/22.

 

13 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

You are a silly kid. 

Got em 

[mreaves]

4 minutes ago, jbenedet said:

It was the perceived size of the animal generating the deep howl, and the regularity of it which threw me off. Large husky size, to my ear. It's like every day now, right after sunset.

There is evidence/speculation that coyotes have mated with wolves on their eastward migration.  Like Will said, coywolf.

[jbenedet]

4 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

Well it looked like that last year, and in 20, and in 19 too…2021 we rode, but as I said, it was lean. Ya, don’t take it from a guy who’s been there every 12/26 right after Xmas if at all possible, and loves to sled.  And the years I couldn’t go, I mean If you call a crusty inch with grass and dirt showing snow on the ground, then ok. I’m not talking Vermont or NH or the ski resorts. I was just saying where I go to sled. 
 

Yes, it’s a crap year for December up north.  But my point was, Ive seen this in far northern Maine many times before. But hey..let’s call everything the worst ever, cuz that’s what we do. 

Somebody get this guy a squirrel. Cheer em up.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

19 minutes ago, radarman said:

Post rainstorm pattern as depicted looks ideal for pond ice formation.  Shades of similarly snowless early Jan 2015.

Edit- referring to the ice and the timing, not the pattern. 

I may try to skate the flooded cornfield down the street from me tomorrow.

[jbenedet]

8 minutes ago, mreaves said:

There is evidence/speculation that coyotes have mated with wolves on their eastward migration.  Like Will said, coywolf.

Yea I know this is a controversial topic, on the order of politics and religion around here...But thinking of these as coyotes is set up to get surprised in a bad way on your home turf.

Seems much smarter to have in your head that these are small wolves, and adapt to that. 

For one I cant see a coyote taking down deer; especially the large ones around here. A small wolf, sure...Sounds alarmist, but better mindset.

And how do i know they're hunting deer? There's nothing else to eat, especially not on order to sustain a pack of animals that size. Deer has to be #1 on the menu this time of year.

[George001]

Yep, everything is completely normal. Nothing to see here, the average temps in New England being several degrees warmer than 30 years ago is completely irrelevant right? Good ol Wolfie knows more than the scientists who have been studying this shit longer than I’ve been alive.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

9 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Every evening he sees the CC posts and the blood starts boiling. 

 

[WinterWolf]

8 minutes ago, jbenedet said:

Somebody get this guy a squirrel. Cheer em up.

Lol..good one. 

[Spanks45]

Anecdotally, from my perspective....Where have all the smaller snow events gone? Besides 2014/15, I feel like the 1-3/2-4/3-6 storms have all but disappeared. The so called bread and butter events. Growing up in the Mid Atlantic region, they have all but disappeared down there as well...

Would be interesting to see the rates of marginal events per year, I would assume they have decreased in frequency, but....

Snow days have been replaced with wind/flood days.. 

[backedgeapproaching]

34 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

So it was really Tamarack saying it’s desperation and he lives up there , and Wolfie has been going for decades snowmobiling (or not being able to) in December

I don’t live up there and I haven’t even seen the picture but I imagine there is a big difference between nearly bare ground and being able to ride . So I can imagine many years with no riding in late December but not many with like a dusting on ground . I have no idea , how much is on the ground and is there any kind of close COOP data that shows how rare or not the current depth (or lack there of) is ?

 

Looks like only 2 years had 0" depth on 12/21--this year and 1969.  Think there are like 70ish years with recorded depth,with some other missing years since the COOP goes waaay back. So actually reporting 0" on 12/21 seems pretty unusual.