powderfreak

Yeah tomorrow will be legit. I’m off and don’t plan on skiing .

I notice it most in the younger demographic. High schoolers, college kids, second job folks. One of my employees put it perfectly the other day… literally two years ago you couldn’t find a job even at very entry level service positions. It was “we’ll call you if something opens up” even at a gas station or Dunkin Donuts. He said it felt like a privilege to have a job. Now in just two years every single business you drive by will hire you on the spot in the service industry for 30% to even 40% more money. I still haven’t figured it out…what exactly happened.

Wind is cranking. Just a roar moving through at times. Inversion broke. Well mixed now.

I won't lie, snow conditions do not improve when the temperature drops to -30C at H85 level. It just doesn't. Snow becomes slow, crystals are grabby. Any residual moisture is frozen solid in an absolute way. It's just cold and the snow surface changes. Unless there is decent snowfall right ahead of it or with it, I do think turning conditions will be variable on the firm/crusty side. Snow conditions often improve greatly on the rebound side of the arctic shot. When it goes arctic, and then moderates to like 25F, the snow seems to loosen up very nicely. Best turns IMO will be on the rebound side of the cold shot.

Noticed on radar that the real cold front boundary seems to be creating some squalls. That looks like some squally snows... wind is roaring here at times. That gusty WSW flow ahead of a FROPA is classic. Then we'll get a brief heavy burst of snow and wind.... followed by some brutal cold coming tomorrow night through Tuesday night.

Below 2500ft I found a zipper crust that was noticeable in untracked off-piste areas. Can see a plate of crust on my skis for example. Up higher it skied much better… dense but sand-like.

I feel like I’ve had 3-6” on the ground for weeks now. Out walking the dog now via headlamp, todays sleet and freezing rain added more heft without depth. There’s like 5” that the dog can walk on top of around home. It’s been annoyingly consistent pack but can’t break that like 7” mark.

Well that’s not why, lol. Trust me if ski areas could blow good powder and not sleet they would… it’s not a choice to blow wet mank .

It’s better to have loved and lost, then never loved at all? I agree with you though, I just like watching it snow. Don’t care what type it is.

Lol certainly not down there if you lose it that fast in January. I mean if you can’t preserve a powder pack in January, when can you?

Ha same here! It's rare to have rain with wet-bulbs under 26F.

Thanks! Lovely weather out there too, ha. Just pouring tiny sleet and some freezing rain mixed in up here at the mountain. It might be just enough precip to mess up the snow surface before the arctic blast. We'll see. I didn't think we would get much of anything but there's some QPF coming out of the sky.

Thanks guys. I want some PSU E-Wall SREF crush job maps, toggle to ARW family. Pouring very tiny sleet with ZR mixed in here at the mountain. Just when we were starting to build some fluff it crusts over, this winter is the winter that just keeps giving, ha.

23F and raining. This is lovely, ha.

Sunrise by an excellent snowcat operator on Mansfield this morning. Town down in the valley, the cold sink.

That video is a worst nightmare. The factors that come together to lead to that… the pressure of a fully charged line is incredible.

I went there with a UVM class visiting community ski areas in 2003….back then it was just the T-bar which was an awesome vibe and they were cutting trails above for a new lift. The outlook was good then and it is now.

Agreed, just because of how rare those temps are.

They get some monsters from time to time though in the central NY zone. West of ALB and north of BGM have had numerous 36”+ events past 15 years. 2/14/07 3/14/17 12/17/20

12z EURO had a max temp of -10F at MVL here in the afternoon lol. 850mb at -32C .

40” is hard to do. But I think if a storm could’ve put up an isolated 45-50” it was last Dec near BGM or near Ludlow/Okemo in VT. Both spots seemed to have legit 40+ amounts on the level.

I love the debate because I do truly enjoy the fluff. Sitting stacked nicely on the tree branches this morning. Just straight up. But when I was growing up in ALB and never knew when the next flakes might fall, bring wet paste and give me suburban snowbanks lol.

But what if the fluff kept falling? That’s the key. Like today you get another 3”, then wait a couple days and get 3-5”, etc. If Tippy’s dopamine drip continues, you don’t notice the settling lol. Its totally different from a single fluff event in urban areas IMO. But we know where everyone stands lol. If you are going to get one in a month, make it wet I guess.

We ratioed at the ski area this afternoon/evening. Nothing like 0.10-0.15” and like 4-5” . J.Spin pulling 50-65:1 ratios the past two days in his liquid analysis. When like 0.03-0.04” water is 2”/hr.

Snow likes to find 10:1 ratios eventually in my experience, or near there. But those under the band almost certainly had more QPF as well.