ORH_wxman

Well let’s specify “near”...you could be like 15 miles west near Franklin and get screwed lol. But yeah, Montgomery would be excellent.

Same deal as whitefield, maybe slightly better, unless you are far enough east to be getting right near Bretton woods. It’s actually amazing sometimes driving from Franconia notch right near Cannon where it might be buried to almost nothing within 5 miles just to the north of the notch. Its not always like that but it’s frequent enough that you’ll feel the frustration.

Yeah the terrain forms like a big horseshoe around Montgomery. They probably get absolutely annihilated in somewhat blocked flow events.

Sun finally poking out here...first time in like 3 days. Lol. Gotta get my son outside. Run off some energy.

Kevin says we’re in full greenout

42 and overcast. We ka-ka.

Yeah Wardsboro is pretty solid for snow. Not quite as good as up on the 2200+ foot plateau a bit southwest in Searsburg/Woodford, but you’re prob pulling 120+ in Wardsboro with very good retention assuming you aren’t in the lowest spots on northeast side of town in the river valley. I know Stratton averages like 175ish up on the mountain and you’re really close to there in Wardsboro. The further west in town, I’d think the better....the town sort of slopes down in elevation the further east you are. Though there is another high area just southeast of the center of town. Maybe some other southern Vermonters can chime in. As for Stratton and Mt Snow, they both have solid terrain...not quite as good as some of bigger mountains up north but they are still very good. Only drawback is you get a pretty high influx of New Yorkers during the peak season so on average you’ll battle more crowds than further north mountains. That’s to be expected though...with easier access comes more people. But if you take a random set of weekdays in mid-winter, you’ll still have pretty empty conditions.

Wish we could get some warmth in here...but the pattern is absolute Ka-Ka for the next 10-12 days. At least with some sun we can get 50s... maybe touch 60 if lucky. Better than 40F and drizzle. But it would be nice to get a few rounds of 67-75.

Yeah then you need to be way up north in Coos county in the upslope region near Pittsburg which is far from ski resorts...unless you get lucky and find a big plot in the high terrain of Jackson NH just south of wildcat/Mt Washington (just north of North Conway NH)....might be hard to get 30+ acres there though but there could be a couple opportunities. I’ve occasionally seen bigger plots there before for sale. The further north in Jackson the better...you want to be as close to Pinkham notch as possible. They avg around 150”...and the views of Presidentials would probably be sick. Otherwise you might as well just do Rangeley area which is further northeast but way more uniform in big snow and snow retention. You don’t have to study that area with an electron microscope to worry about snowfall averages. You’re talking big time snow or bigger time snow with each 5-10 mile grid point. Like mentioned further upthread, if you are worried about the viability of Saddleback’s relaunch (valid concern, but this new ownership seems legit), then you could hedge and go maybe halfway between Rangeley and Sunday River. Lots of plots in that zone and probably dirt cheap. You would be about 45 min to each mountain...maybe not ideal. But still really good snow. The other option is if you want to head even further to Sugarloaf area around the carrabassett valley ...exceptionally reliable snow but you are getting really far northeast. If you start hedging back closer to Sunday River then you will sacrifice some snow because you lose a lot of elevation from Rangeley. Unless you stay a little bit north of Sunday River where 1000 feet is easier to maintain. You’ll still do well even right in Newry/Bethel in the 500-700 foot elevation range, but prob like 100” type average. The retention is absolutely excellent there but still nothing like Rangeley. Up there you’re getting 130-170 with sick retention...it’s a different level...so it would probably “feel” like getting 250”+ in Garrett county or Davis WV because of the layers of snow just stacking up and not melting. A horse shit winter in Rangeley would feel like a great winter in ORH. You have a really nice floor there. Maybe just a handful of seasons even under 90”. This post is getting a bit lengthy so I’ll try and be quick on this last point. You can get that similar (or even better) snowfall climo on the spine of the greens. The difference is you’ll likely pay more and it’s a different vibe. Powderfreak and jspin are the resident experts on northern green mountain snowfall climo...but they will tell you that is definitely a spot where you need to take out your electron microscope to look at the terrain...maybe a bit hyperbolic but you get the point. They have insane snowfall gradients there. But the upslope there provides a very reliable snowfall climo. Even when I drove to jay peak a few winters ago late season in April, it was bare ground until I got maybe within 3-5 miles of the mountain going uphill and then it just exploded. Right near the mountain gets buried but 7 miles away can just be “meh” in terms of big time snows...you might get 225-250 near the base of jay but then get half that a few miles away. Nothing wrong with 125 but if I’m gonna get 125, then I want the retention of somewhere like Rangeley or Pinkham notch NH. That doesn’t happen at 1000 feet in Jay VT. Quite different from the mountain base elevation of 1800+ with the added proximity of upslope terrain assist. Oh well that last part went too long too, but there’s a lot to say when it comes to snowfall, snowfall retention, proximity to ski resorts, etc. There’s one last sneaky spot you could consider for a larger plot. Southern VT near Woodford VT or Searsburg. We have a poster there named wxmanMitch. Crazy snow climo there because it’s like a 2000-2500 foot plateau nestled in the southern greens. They prob average 150-175 minimum (might be approaching 200 when over 2300-2400 feet) and it never melts. Hard to say for sure...Mitch said it was horrific this year and he has like 133”. Not that far from either Mt snow or Stratton...prob like half an hour.

New Hampshire has some gorgeous spots but property taxes are huge there. Not ideal if you don’t have residence to take advantage of the 0% state income tax. They have no sales tax either so they make up some of the revenue through property taxes. But Gene (wxeyeNH who posted above) may have some better info on which towns have lower property taxes so you can still find some decent deals. Personally for NH, if I’m looking for 30+ acres, then I’m prob looking not too far from where Gene is southwest of the whites. Good views and reasonable prices. Not too far from several ski mountains and not too far from lakes in the summer. I like way up north too up in Coos county but you risk getting too far from ski areas if you get more than 10-20 miles north of Gorham. Wildcat is the furthest north there. You’ll be hard pressed to find a 30+ acre plot right in the whites since there’s so much national forest there. A problem you don’t see in western Maine too much.

Saddleback has such badass terrain I think it should stay open if run efficiently. There will be people to ski there. But yeah, there’s some risk still. Rangeley is gorgeous in the summer at least if winter skiing kind of craps out. Sunday River is about, what, 90 min south of Rangeley? Could always hedge and get something a little south of Rangeley so that the drive to SR isn’t that far. There’s tons of beautiful land between the two.

Yeah if you are going to be very particular about snowfall then you have to be much more selective in N VT. If you are like 10 miles too far east or west of the spine, your snowfall decreases massively. You are absolutely correct Maine is definitely more Boonies...though Rangeley is not bad. It has some restaurants and stores. Very close to Saddleback and Rangeley itself is mostly 1500-1800 feet elevation so you aren’t giving away a ton of winter climate compared to the base of the mountain. If you get a plot just outside town in Dallas Plantation the elevations are frequently above 2000 feet. If you are looking for winter lasting into like late April and early May, that’s the spot. That whole area often has winter snow pack still ya gong around into mid spring. The views of Rangeley lake and Mooselookmeguntic lake around that area are incredible. If you are worried about drive time from the south though then Maine is going to be a lot longer. N VT much easier to travel to from the Mid-Atlantic. You are also like an hour or less to BTV in most spots up there if you want access to a real town/city. N VT also has that quaint New England feel some of us already mentioned. You drove through a lot of the small towns with covered bridges and farms with rolling hills up there when you aren’t right on the spine.

Man. If this had hit in late February or early March, we’d be talking KU for eastern areas.

Might have a couple legit snow chances coming up with that pattern.

Meh probably not. Real estate is gonna be struggling as many will have financial trouble in the fallout. You might find a lot of vacation homes being dumped because people can’t afford the mortgage on a second home.

Yeah my top two choices would be W Maine fairly close to Sunday river, Saddleback, or Sugarloaf...or N VT somewhere on or near the spine. Rangeley Maine up by Saddleback is a beautiful area in the summer too with the lakes there. With Saddleback having been closed for 5 years (now about to reopen with new ownership), their real estate definitely took a hit so you can probably find some bargains up there. If you like the more rugged rural feel, then Maine would be the choice...and it’s probably cheaper in most cases. N VT is plenty rural too but they definitely have more of the “quaint New England village” feel in many of their ski towns...so if you are looking for that too, then go with N VT. Up near Jay peak will be cheaper than Stowe and near Sugarbush, though the latter two are easier access and have more ski apres in their towns.

Prob a little chilly this morning in the valleys of Baffin Island.

Of course this happens now and not a month earlier. Though I guess we could say that about half of our April dystopia storms. Happening now is more classic "wheel of 'rhea"....we might as well relive May 2005 for a few days coming up.

Yeah, though the 2019 pattern never looked like this one on ensembles...this was looking like 2015 for a while. 2019 was more like a better-looking gradient pattern late Jan and into February, with maybe a few spikes in the PNA mixed in....something like Feb 2014 which would have worked.

Probably the most disappointing aspect of this winter for a snow lover is the utter failure of model guidance in mid January. They were all signaling a massive shift to an extremely favorable pattern for New England around 1/20 and beyond. Then it just abruptly and completely disintegrated on model guidance inside of about 7-8 days...it wasn’t even a case of “oh it’s 12 days out”. It actually made it to like a week out when ensembles have pretty good skill in the longwave pattern.

1992 Dodge Caravan....probably the most classic "mom car" of the 1990s.

23 years ago today:

23 years ago I had about 33 inches.

Nice firehose on the NAM...too bad it wasn't 3 weeks earlier, lol.

Heh, we've had a few Memorial Day weekends and Junes in recent memory with highs in the 40s. I don't think we ever bother with AC until mid June at the earliest.