powderfreak

Recently the ice covered branches have been leaning over the upper mountain study plot… catching snow and generally infringing on the 360 degree opening in the forest canopy. Would be nice to melt the ZR… makes skiing through the woods easier too.

Going from 42" to 6" in 48 hours would be quite a feat, though I guess we saw similar after that Dec 2020 time period in CNE to E.NY. But this is presumably a pack that is dense enough to see no settling at all. That stuff would take an absolutely substantial energy to melt that fast, even with 2" of rain. Obviously some wild unlikely things in that snow depth listing.

It reads like those guys were talking about change in snow depth, not necessarily SWE. Went from 9-12” around the lower elevations from here to your area on 12/15 and ended at 2-4” on 12/20. The mountain elevations at 1500+ did see a snow depth decrease but added water and then rebuilt the depth back up rapidly. Our High Road stake dropped into the upper 40s for depth (lost a good foot during that pre-Xmas rainer) but rebounded stronger back up to low 60s again with more water than before. I agree that the snowpack is stronger coming out of these events, including what looks to happen over the next few days. The more frozen water locked up in there, the more energy it takes to melt it. Even if the gains wash out in terms of depth, the snowpack is more stout.

4” new overnight and hammering away at the base of Mansfield. Had 2.3” at home.

4” new and snowing hard at 6am here.

They often get upslope snow on the west side there that can be pretty decent too. That whole area is very snowy just very few people around to report it. I had a friend living at 1900ft in Stannard and he always had more snow on the ground than the Stowe base area. It’s just in the middle of nowhere where though.

Yeah the interior hills there. RT 15 gets up near 2,000ft in Walden and that’s a very snowy area. Some of those towns on the west slope of those hills like Stannard get a ton of snow and preserve it very well.

BTV with 3” so far this evening. Dumping over there in the Champlain Valley. Only 1.5” here. Pretty good fronto band going NW-SE through BTV to the Mad River Valley.

That map is insane, I don’t remember that. Weedwhacker worthy.

It’s also been early in the season too, working with December normals. The same departures in February would be the real deal.

You’re learning a lot about NNE climate ha.

Nice light snow event next 24 hrs?

Regardless of how other areas are doing relative to normal, the best vibes are in the relative jackpot area compared to normal.

That's a phenomenal deal.

A week ago we got to 33F. That felt sort of nice, despite being an ice storm. The past 5 days have been below 20F, with a min of -10F during that time. Not excessively cold, but just a continuation of solidly cold departures with temperatures holding the past couple days in the 0 to 10F range down here in the valley. Some positive departures would feel nice. Vehicle batteries would appreciate it.

They have to salt or sand though right?

Yup. Only thing I could do without is that ice crust from last Monday. That’s not going away easily.

South shore in January vibes.

You just gotta bring some with you to SNE.

Saw some moderate snow obs out of SLK… along with the persistent 1.5-3.0sm vis -SN… that’s a nice snowy winter day out of nowhere.

At least when you go out to a ski town like Aspen there’s still a fun mountain town vibe to enjoy regardless of conditions.

We are getting like an inch every 10 hours at 3,000ft in this persistent flurry, ha.

Finished December with a -5 departure and snow cover throughout here in the valley with frequent snows. Currently a frigid -6F this evening after last night’s refresher and these well-below normal arctic shots continue with frequency. Normal is 28/9. Today is 23/-6 because of a midnight high last night. Daytime hours never got above 16F.

Ended up with a 7.5” measured total in 24 hours at 1500ft. Gondola was on wind hold so never got to the High Road plot. Skiing was fluff on top of pond ice or slick hardpack. Steeper stuff was very sporty.

Yeah, picked up another 1.5" after that for a total of 7.5". Total fluff on top of like tilted pond ice on the Front Four lol. Looks great in photos. Skis like you want to hold on for dear life.