powderfreak

36F at the summit with some showers moving in. Might need to get to the picnic tables.

Heavy rainer.

2.51” in the stratus this morning. Leaf accumulation of 2-5”.

Over 2” here now… we are on the light side compared to just west/southwest locally. Most models nailed a decreasing gradient through VT from west to east today.

1.65” and pouring. 50F.

Adirondack High Peaks area getting crushed… 3-6” Keene Valley, Wilmington (Whiteface area).

That’s the time of death on summer right there. FROPA through and we falling.

Yeah it’s such a wide range of dates… we’ve been shoveling snow off the deck at the top of the Gondola as early as like the beginning of October and then I know we’ve also waited till November for the first dustings. We’ve had a 24-30” pack in late October (I think 2005 or 2006 it was) after a couple big events… or watching grass grow in mild/dry. Thats why my gut says mid-October as a mean blend of early and late. Tons of variance.

I’d honestly have to look at the old Coop data, that has/had the longest reliable data. Off the cuff I’d say mid-October.

I’m gonna need it near FVE like the GFS for a day or two of cyclonic upslope. Thanks in advance.

Torrential sheet rains. Seems small droplet but dense if that makes sense. Soaks very quickly.

Some satellite image works that show foliage from space. Imagery is crazy in this day and age. Mansfield zoom. Stowe southeast of the crest, Smuggs northwest of the divide.

I’d imagine sun angle and mixing has at least something to do with it. In just two and a half months the sun angle starts rising. Right now, there’s residual summer warmth with cold season solar. It wedges.

The wedge that develops there (during the cold season under the surface inversion) is a fun phenomenon. SE of the mountains, just pocketed in those CAD areas.

BTV still 70F on the blowtorch southerly flow. It’s pretty impressive. 67F MVL.

Oh I hope it didn’t sound like I wasn’t enjoying it! Ha. Been outside till dusk every single day. The rain and cold afterwards will suck… won’t enjoy that as much for sure for being outside. I hope by mentioning the historical relevance that it didn’t come across as I am yearning for cold. This has been a great stretch of blow torch.

72F today and currently 66/61 at 8:45pm. Its like a summer evening with dews over 60F. Our normal low is now in the upper 30s (38F or 39F at MVL). This first week is going to be like +13 lol… hard to recover from fully for the month. This has been a torch for the ages.

Town of Stowe holds a massive arts/crafts fair during this long/holiday foliage weekend in the Topnotch Fields and it is often one of the biggest clusterf*cks of the year. Maybe the field will be a mud pit with hundreds of cars marooned axel deep? The traffic this weekend historically can be bumper to bumper from I-89 through Waterbury/Center and through Stowe lol. It’s been gridlocked past my place 4 miles away from the craft fair too. People love when leaves change color.

Yeah I think this looks primed to come down in the rain. If we get 2” and some breeze, it’ll be stick season real fast.

Ha yup, Nantucket in summer, Stowe in winter. And not to go down the economics rabbit hole but things are different than they were pre-COVID. Stuff just costs more. Labor costs have doubled, energy costs, replacement parts/maintenance costs, etc. Corporate greed hasn’t changed in decades, but operating margins have shifted. And places aren’t going to operate at a loss. The $10 pizza is now $24. The $20 Gondola ride is now $37. Could play this game with any number of goods and services. Back to weather… this sunrise is bonkers this morning. And it’s 55F outside. That’s a real mild night in October.

I get the sentiment but those things aren’t cheap either to build and maintain and insure. Killington is $30+ and $24+. Pretty standard rates in industry is $25-$40 for a senic lift ride. You hike up and it’s free to ride down at least, ha. I don’t know, it’s got a 20+ minute line to ride in the fall so at that price there’s a demand. I always go back to economic principles on this stuff; no one would look at what goes on in the fall and think, yeah this is priced too high. Like I said, you start to figure out there is an enormous amount of wealth in the northeastern US working in some of these resort towns.

It is. Full manual with DSLR. Getting the contrast and light to optimize color is key. You need to “stop down” to reduce the light entering. Time of day is absolutely critical too, even with just an iPhone camera or something. If foliage is getting blasted by harsh/high-sunlight, everything washes out. The natural eye notices it very easily. You see noon foliage on a warm sunny and it can be underwhelming… foliage in the early morning or late afternoon light just glows when in the warm low-angle lighting. Dark, rainy days can be the best foliage color to be honest. Wait till this weekend and it’s dark, damp… foliage will pop more noticeable to the eye.

I want to say $37. Kids are maybe 10 bucks cheaper? It’s not cheap, but offers a bit more novelty than Toll Road to me. But it adds up quick for a family of 4. Mild evening for Oct… 63F at 9:30pm. High of 83F. Evening walk as it got dark around 6:30pm. Free of charge, ha.

Ha I worked at the Sturbridge Host Hotel just down the road in that time frame.

And these are all tomato plants you see out of the right side windows…