powderfreak

You guys have definitely taken the skunked award. I kept waiting for one of those Miller B specials that just hammer like NE Mass on up through the Maine coastal plain/interior... but just hasn’t happened. You guys can get one of those at 15-20” in like 12 hours that equals about 5-6 of my 3” fluffers in the snow table, lol. Just hasn’t hit yet maybe... not that one would save the winter but I’m sure a 15”+ would offer some redeeming value.

That's the place Dryslot has posted photos of before, right? The topography there looks perfect for WNW flow.

There’s a lot that factors into it, IMO. Veering in the low levels under 850mb, speed/velocity, inversions, stability, etc. That’s why BTV studies the Froude number so much. In some events a certain wind direction at 850mb can result in a downslope, but then in another event that same wind direction seems to be pushing the moisture over the barrier so effectively it’s a QPF jackpot. Here sort of explains it... if there’s blocking then the Lee side down slopes, if it’s unblocked the Lee side actually jackpots. BTV often references it on NW flow but it goes for all wind directions... sometimes I think we do great with an east flow in a synoptic storm only to find the precip maximum ended up on the west side because it was unblocked...likewise sometimes we jackpot in NW upslope on the east side. It’s not as simple as just looking at a straight wind direction. “The Froude Number represents the flow of air when it comes in contact with a barrier, in Vermont's case, the Green Mountains. It is an estimation of whether the flow can make it over the mountains or not and is basically a ratio of the wind perpendicular to the mountain chain versus the atmospheric stability. Under northwesterly flow, if the Froude Number is low (< 1), or subcritical and blocked, the air will not make it over the mountain and the precipitation will back up and fall primarily along the spine of the Green Mountains and the western slopes. If it is very low (< 0.5), the precipitation will back further west into parts of the eastern Champlain Valley and the western slopes of the Green Mountains. If the Froude Number is high (> 1), or supercritical and unblocked, the air will flow freely over the mountains and deposit the heaviest precipitation on the east side. A Froude Number near 1 is critical and the heaviest precipitation will likely fall along the barrier.”

Grew up there skiing on Sunday afternoons/evening under the lights. We had cheap passes from like 12pm-8pm on Sundays at Jiminy. We get quite spoiled up north when I think about the difference on days like this... skiing 8" of upslope blower up north or chattering down ice cube sized granular. As a kid I feel like I didn't know any better and I loved it... as an adult it's like "I could be doing something else right now..." ha.

That's how it is east of the crest axis... we get the same in Stowe Village. I bet Alex's area sees a lot more slate gray upslope days with clouds locked in. I feel like he mentions that quite a bit too. Just like the western slopes around here can be locked in low clouds all day on upslope flow while we are more squally to the east.

I'd believe it. We are over 8" now at Stowe above like 2,000ft. Last night grooming department reported a period of -RN at 1,500ft around midnight or just prior... then it went to paste and finally to fluff. Bet we still have 6" at 1,500ft just eyeballing it. As usual, "Snow showers likely" forecast brings in more inches of snow than the Winter Storm Warnings do, lol. It's finally tapering off it seems, the radar echo seemed to have slinked one ridge to the south near Dewey Mtn and then towards the three county line.

As I always preach... you just need to freshen up that top layer to make a snowpack look like it all fell yesterday again.

Yeah radar over here looks unblocked for the most part.... allowing for good propagation downwind. It seems that's your sweet spot too. Lets the snow showers/squalls get further ESE without losing their pay load too early.

Just keeps dumping. Some fantastic skiing today. Around a 7" total so far.

It is snowing so hard. 1”/hr at least. That skied more like half a foot now.

Flash freeze for sure. It was like 38F in the base area at 11pm it looks like, then the FROPA came through with several hours of +SN. Poor heated pavers, ha.

Snowy morning. Weirdest surface in the base area... tire tracks only 2” deep but there’s a layer of like 1-1.5” of complete sludge underneath. It must’ve came in warm and then chilled fast. You have to dig to find the actual pavement underneath. The plows are moving some chunky heavy snow despite the top 2” being fluff.

This is a crushing radar for the Spine. Quick several inches.

Had a couple snow showers today after the sunny start. A stronger burst just came through dropping a quick inch on the Lookout Snow Plot. It came through as white rain down in town at 750ft. Snow level seems to be 1000-1500ft this evening but will drop fast after the FROPA. Here's last run at 4pm... I love how light it is now late in the day. Two months ago I would've needed a headlamp practically at the time of these photos on our final lap. Now I can ski till 415pm and still have enough light to walk the dog when I get home.

If there’s one thing that decides overall vibe in weather... it’s expectations. You can have a great winter if your expectations are the floor lol.

Despite the warmth, wet-bulbs must be low because this band is monster flakes. Huge aggregates.

I was pretty impressed by that BTV stat... especially given how warm the airport can run sometimes. Not hitting 40F until 2/24 seems pretty decent... especially since one good southerly flow day can pump 40F up that valley with ease even in mid-winter.

Private weather station temperatures have been holding in the low to mid-30s. The earlier snowfall still was melting during the break... this current round started whitening things up again. It's a marginal situation at 750ft.

Getting a steady light snow albeit very wet. Not sticking to anything but old snow and the evergreens are showing some white.

It’s likely doing it’s over-done rime as QPF but it’s also showing some decent precip. This time of year we often lose the complete high ratio stuff with warmer 850mb temps in some of these events... but on the flip side they can produce more QPF with higher PWATS.

Mets really going out on a limb today. Worst of winter is likely over...and thinking it may snow again on Feb 23rd.

Bennington has always been a pit... remember it well driving from ALB to the ski areas. That monument but especially out by the airport.

Modeling showing signs of a decent upslope event tomorrow night, behind that clipper system. Going to be warm with the low going north of us but that cold front behind it looks to bring some decent moisture. 3km NAM brings almost a half inch of water to MVL. Some of this is the usual NAM over doing water on the Spine but it rarely makes it to MVL. 24 hour totals. GFS GGEM

I’m outside in a hoodie walking the dog. Feels pretty nice, not going to lie.