powderfreak

The situation out west is wild. It just keeps snowing. These places have already broken record snowfalls and it just keeps going. Another 1-2 feet expected later this week before another system hits over the weekend. It's like feet of snow in the Wasatch/Cottonwood Canyons every 2-3 days another one rolls through.

Friday and yesterday sucked *so* bad. This type of dense, poor snow growth but not wet snow, is totally the way to go. Snow was definitely dry enough to blow and drift but good QPF.

That's awesome.

Today was phenomenal.

The worst period is the wet “grayscale” as we call it at the ski area that’s at the bottom of the pack. Like pure ice that’s the last layer to go, usually with patches of mud mixed in.

I love the snow on the mountain but I’m itching for 50F and sun. Come home and walk the dog through wet snow… can’t wait till it’s down to pavement and dry with shorts and a hoodie on. We are sitting around 10” of high QPF snow depth on average in the valley bottom… 0-18” depending on aspect in town. “Slow painful death” phase of the snow season down low. Had 0.49” water produce 2.0” snow with this last one down here for a 4:1 ratio. Just keeps adding water SWE to the pack unfortunately.

That’s wild, you hit 60s in NE CT?! 39F here.

I just saw that Flagstaff, Arizona has had 140” of snow this season and two feet recently? Guess that’s what happens when records are being broken from Sierra to Utah and SW CO.

And most have given up. Empty, snowy day with a 3-7 foot snowpack.

First day it’s 65F and sunny his kids have their windows open, talking about how nice it is to get a fresh breeze inside after 5 months…. in walks Dad carrying the A/C unit saying it’s time to strap it all down again.

Not like you to rush to the next season… ha.

3" base of ski area and snowing hard this morning while checking the Snow Plot. Down in town we had 34-35F snow all night that never seemed to get past 1.5" or so. But never switched to rain that I saw.

Yeah we went back over to decent snow. 1.5 mile vis -SN but its all fresh white again. An inch or so.

Maybe a half inch? Light snow and sleet mix now. Enough to whiten the trees up a bit.

Yeah the supposed middle class glory days and boom years post WWII definitely spent more on food as a percentage. One also has to consider we have more more bills to pay these days too compared to back then… cell phones and cellular plans aren’t cheap, internet, streaming subscriptions, etc. Feels like most households have these relatively new monthly payments they don’t truly *need* that weren’t around even 30 years ago. But they are things we feel we can’t live without now (and allow us to post on here, ha) so when food increases it hits most middle class harder.

Alta, UT broke their Collins Plot snowfall record with 749”. Lol at 51” and 3.68” water storm total.

18F down here in the tropics.

It has to be an operational and employee sh*tshow. I can’t imagine how all those western spots have done it this season with record snows, multi day road closures, etc. Everyone has an overnight bag in their cars, sleeping bags in their offices, etc.

If I couldn’t live in the mtns it would be on the coast. I decided long ago growing up in Albany NY that the interior did almost nothing for me if not mountains or ocean. Need one or the other.

This stuff is bonkers. Avalanche danger through the roof with extreme snowfall rates during the ski day. This would be a dream, lol. Damage. Being in Mountain Operations as this stuff happens has to be an adrenaline rush. Authorities closing roads, and the only real Marshal Law used in the United States on a regular basis where it is illegal to go outside.

Alta, Utah is 6” from their all-time record at their Collins Snow Plot. Had like 18” today (resets at 8am). Had a dumping this afternoon. Friend living and working up there says record is 748”. Edit: They just had another 1.5” last hour to get to 744”. So 4” away.

Feel lucky up here to be in the mountains, pretty snowy, great thunderstorms and squall lines, all sorts of weather… and can walk to a dozen great restaurants, breweries, live music, etc. Definitely not the norm though in NNE.

Will feel like a Christmas afternoon.

January 2015 the Euro had 1-1.5” QPF way up through BTV like 24 hours or less from go-time. Reality was like 0.25”. It has had its bad blown big storms. I think it’s reputation has also fueled this idea that it’s worse. People “remember” this reputation of the GFS being horrible and Euro being God… when that wasn’t quite the case. But in their heads, that’s how it was 5-15 years ago.

100% selective memory and recency bias. People remember a few distinct events and not the 360 other days out of a year too. All it takes these days is one or two big snowstorms to completely change opinions of models. Although it’s like a pitcher in baseball who puts up quality outing after quality outing, then gets lit up when the most eyes are on them. No one remembers the 10 previous wins, only the bad blown loss.