powderfreak

Radar just exploded and it is pounding.

2" and snowing steadily at the mountain. Visibility seems pretty low, about an inch in the past hour.

Gun to head I like a dense 12-15” in Randolph.

Winter in the mountains is very popular these days.

But man, this event is just an all out QPF firehose for you NH guys. I can't wait to see what happens in that 6 hour period when the best low level jet dynamics mix with that warm conveyor belt.

Like if this was a compact storm we'd be getting smoked in a cold conveyor belt.... but it's this giant circulation with the SFC low sort of disjointed from the mid-levels. Like the 12z NAM track normally would be fantastic here if it was compact but instead the best mid-level low is way way west. It tries to curl it in but it'll be like sloppy seconds, ha. This should be the pivot point in some events that feature similar surface tracks. Of course the next event that tracks just off the coast will be a compact nuke just hitting the coastal regions . If this thing tracked by the Benchmark we'd be the perfect spot.

Yeah its not even that to be honest. Any snow is good snow. We have done well on east flow events before being on the east side of Mansfield... if the flow is blocked it can really go to town. It's all in the overall set-up. This one is just weird. Like usually if a low tracks up into N.NH we'd be getting crushed in a CCB. But the upper level lows are so far west. You guys get into the best low jet dynamics as they slide up the coast. Should make hay there before the dry slot moves in.

I'm not pessimistic, I just don't need a lot to be quite content, ha. Been walking around on the same 4-5 inches of crusty stuff for a while now. I'd take even 3" to be honest to look nice. Sorry my post wasn't in relation to the event.

Ha me too.

Grew up going up there all the time from Delmar. I know we met up what seems like 15 years ago and talked about it over a beer. That place is a weenie heaven and cool geography.

Hats off to one of the best gifs on here. That’s a keeper.

I can’t wait to see when that fire hose runs into the Whites. Should really be something… maybe 3-4”/hr rates.

We can chat off-line but the short answer is you need humans who want to work outside, in the dark, with loud high pressure water and air…and who will walk down steep terrain in moist cold environments under the guns. It’s not easy and takes a dedicated person to want to do that in 12-hour shifts. That’s one where pay scales will hopefully catch up to the need, maybe they end up like skilled tradesmen. But that job can be a hard sell to many in todays society.

We got -20F last night. Leveled off early though. -18F now.

I also truly believe our mountain ops staff is one of the best. Lack of staffing in ancillary stuff like F&B is pretty normal now. Heres something I posted today about a couple mornings ago… “A look at the Mountain Operations Team in action, and an example of how much behind the scenes work goes into keeping things running on Vermont’s highest peak on a daily basis. Recently when starting the Quad in the early morning and running the daily checks, lift maintenance was getting a tower fault as the electrical loop wasn’t closing. The lift maintenance electrician was dispatched to the tower to find out why. He snowmobiles up to a communicated spot and is picked up by a winch cat still operating on the trail. This photo is of the winch operator delivering him to the tower, which is then climbed to find the problem (its an extreme weather environment for electrical sensors). A replacement part is needed but the lift is safe to load chairs on with the mechanic monitoring on the tower. He hangs out on the tower while the line is loaded with chairs from the barn. Lastly, @mountmansfieldskipatrol riding line check brings the replacement part up the lift (which is stopped when they reach the tower so the electrician can retrieve it). Once the MMSP line check off-loads at the top, the lift is secured and the replacement of the part takes place. The FourRunner Quad is then good to go, clearances are given, and it opens to the public with only a slight delay. All of this takes place before 8:30am in the morning on a cold, dark mountain and it’s routine work. Every time I see the communication, teamwork between departments, and skill that daily operations take… it blows my mind a bit. Even after 15 years around here. Gratitude to all the people who work together to deliver us to our favorite terrain on a daily basis.

It’s amazing for some of us. My last paycheck before taxes was around $4k for two weeks. That’s a $100k rate over the course of a year. Granted it doesn’t sustain that much out of season but we have never been paid better. Not even close. They keep throwing money at it, adding bonuses, increasing pay structures and we keep benefitting. The service industry is getting overhauled. It’s amazing to see and we are just along for the ride. It’s not even close to being done either. The next year or two will be awesome for rising pay corrections. The more people complain, the better we live. As an economics person, I think it’s totally out of whack but I’ll ride the wave.

Does Bretton Woods require vaccination status to be employed? From all I've heard, that is a major factor in the NH mountain communities. Something as simple as proof of vaccination in the wrong political environment can sink a ship.

Transplants like myself, need to find the zen zone... NNE is a full mixing pot at this point. Suburbia moves to the country.

-17F and falling here. METAR KMVL 160345Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR M27/M29 A3042 Minus 27C is pretty cold in this area. Your spot is just tanking.

Water is frozen solid outside Lake Champlain's depth and volume. Any smaller body of water is just creating ice rapidly in these air masses.

-15/-20 at both the MVL ASOS and my closest PWS. It's cold. Still some room to fall given the dew points. Decking and trees are popping. Loud pops heard outside during last time out with the dog.

MVL ASOS at -15/-20. So is the closest PWS to me just across the river. It is frigid outside. Dog wants no part of it on our last foray outside for the night. Still have some room to fall with those dew points.

I honestly don’t know, not often but not completely uncommon either. The full calendar day below 0F though might be more rare (usually some cheap high at midnight or something on many days below zero during daylight). Feels like maybe once a winter but hard to say. Some years like 2015 have a bunch of them.

It sounds like some interpreted that as they would be mowing their lawn come Tuesday. Hilarious line of exchanges from saying it gets into the 40s to “you wanna fight bro, I’ll still have snow left.”

Today was absolutely brutal. High of -4F at the ASOS and I just got home with -8F on the car thermometer at 6pm. Good old max temp below zero type of day.