powderfreak

Clown map with a 20-spot in northern Berks lol.

Finally something interesting synoptically, even if it has no impacts up this way. Be fun to watch this evolve. Those 300mb winds backed out of the east that Ginxy just posted looks textbook.

Sneaky is a good way to call it... most skiers still comment on the 6-week period of no rain with steady gains in snowpack during the heart of winter. I think lower elevations especially looked "stacked" with good pillows forming on everything. Everyone knew it was a bit below average but the gains were steady and keeping up with climo, for many weeks. It wasn't gaining, but it wasn't losing and it always felt like one solid event away from getting to normal. And you knew that it just would take a favorable pattern (like we've seen many times) to jack the snowpack up above normal. So through March 1st at least, this winter still held quite a bit of promise. It could turn on a dime. The thing is it turned the wrong way. This is mid-May type upper elevation snowpack experienced today.

The ol' cosmetic inch is coming at some point. Day 4 of June-like weather. Snowpack is the lowest since 1954 at the Mansfield stake. Still, it is incredibly fun to ski and get creative on the way down. Everyone out there was having a fantastic time, the novelty of this has led to a great vibe on the hill. Even some woods routes in play still... but needs a steep NE facing slope. What the groomers have done is incredible. Putting the hill back together each night. These tractors spend the night snow farming so we can keep riding lifts. $1.5+ million in assets with talented operators to keep the operation afloat.

Lowest recorded snowpack at the Picnic Tables for April 11 since observations began in 1954. 19" today and old record was 20" in 1957. The long term average would be over 4 feet more snow on the mountain! Today was the 3rd straight day of setting both the daily record max and the record high minimum. Even the night's up there have been 10 degrees above the normal high temp. What an absolute torch. Third week of June climo for 4 four days now. Last time the summit sniffed freezing was 6 days ago, despite an average low of 21F.

Yikes. Door through here with ESE winds now, but only dropped temp from 73F to 66F, ha. Went from third week of June weather to only first week of June.

73F so far today. 60F at the picnic tables. Less than ideal for snow preservation.

Oh it was Dante’s Inferno last year. ASOS’ setting their all-time highs for any month of the year...in May? These early, high-end warm patterns have been breaking records lately. Before the vegetation is growing and greenery (evapotranspiration), the recent heaters have been performing very effectively.

This warmth has the animals stirring. A friend who lives up Mountain Road from me caught a big bear at their front door. Stowe had the most bear reports last summer in the state apparently. They are coming back for more. Early summer heat woke them up early.

I'm usually pretty even keeled but this is pretty high end warmth for this time of year. Punctuating a snow season that shut off hard after March 1st and turned mild, staying mild. Three straight days of record temperatures in some cases. Yesterday spots like Montpelier and Massena sites shattered their records by 4-6 degrees. The summits have had no shortage of record highs between the March and April torches. It didn't help that it never really snowed aside from April 1 event. But for whatever reason this is about as pleasant as you could make a record melt out... so much better to melt out with sunny warm beach days on the snow rather than a week of torrential rain or something. I guess Mother Nature is throwing us a bone by at least making it enjoyable. Near record low snow depth since 1954. This is an unbiased observation site with a long period of record. Always noteworthy to be on the edges of the graph, whether low or high. The depth could be 140+ right now on the high end.

Yeah it would imply he's older than that as it's hard to say he's been paying attention to snow melt out as a child. Was there a NWS site there or was it the same guy that has taken all obs in Randolph?

If it's going to melt out, this is the way to do it. A nice stretch of June weather in the first half of April. Much rather be able to enjoy the melt instead of losing it from like a week of rain. I've skied in a t-shirt more days in the last 3 weeks than I think I have in like the previous 5 seasons combined, ha. Nosedive was the trail of the day up here. By far the best wall-to-wall coverage for the full length of the 2,100 vertical feet on the mountain.

Just incredible. Third week of June continues. At least this high but may be warmer between hourly obs: BTV/MVL/HIE/BML all 76F Another record high for the picnic tables on Mansfield. Yesterday set the record max and record high min.

Nope, but we’d go to the Lookout Double first if the Quad top can’t hang on. In the past we just closed but they seem to want to hit the 18th. I mean I don’t have a problem with the triple either, 1,100 vertical feet almost identical to the Jet triple that Jay retreats to at some point. Its just insane how warm this stretch is. Transported right into summer. Last year it was in May when we transported immediately to mid-summer and 90-95F. We keep getting these record breaking early heater patterns, ha.

Another mid-June day... 72F. All outdoor patios packed, Rec Path looks like Interstate 89 between MPV and BTV. Ski area parking lot full of grills, sandals and dogs running around. Take a couple laps, grill some meat, repeat as needed.

Daily Operations Meeting today had like a war room battle field type vibe. We will not lose the summit! Never surrender. Drawing up plans to move snow back to the wind-swept top of the Quad using anchor cats and the winches, while other snowcats feed the winches to yank it back up to the unload. The top of the lift sits on a knob and just never builds depths due to wind stripping, that's actually the weakest spot on the hill right now. But this is when we start to get creative and it's some of the most fun parts of operations... when everyone starts talking like kids in a sandbox. Just adults talking about playing in the snow with a fleet of quarter million dollar machines.

This couldn’t be more true. The best 3-4 hitter clutch combo for the Sox.

After the Sox got swept by the O's and went 0-3 to start the season... who thought they'd be in 1st place 4 games later? Aaron Judge out of lineup for second game in a row for the Yankees due to "general wear and tear in the first week of the season" said no player ever. Sports are funny. Only 155 games left.

Ah interesting. I mean the schools sound like some around here, but most of what you stated doesn't seem all that much different to be honest. If you don't go to church or have kids in school... your life is probably pretty similar. I followed most folks' advice from way back and don't watch MSM... just put a mask on inside, and go about life. It definitely seems like something where the more one dwells on COVID and thinks about it, the more space it takes up in one's life. I guess there are stressors on both sides of the aisle... from folks worried about COVID, to the folks worried about the worrying over COVID. Can't control how others think and feel, but I do agree with you that going from NNE chill to suburbia high-strung energy must be a shock. No more kumbaya listening to live music on a June-like Friday evening.

BTV, BML, MVL all with 76F today. HIE, MPV with 74F. Thats some mid-June climo.

That snowmelt water turning outies to innies.

What’s different in Maryland? Like you can’t eat out at restaurants? Gyms closed? What can’t you do that you’d otherwise do living day to day life between NH and MD? I have two employees from Cumberland, MD who say COVID never existed down there, ha, but that sounds like it’s closer to the mountains. They came from working at Wisp.

Absolute insanity relative to climo. 5:40pm... 75F at the ASOS (average high is 48F). Local PWS at Golf Course confirms max of 75.4F. Outdoor live music going on at Stowe Cider down the driveway, everyone in shorts and t-shirts. Mountain bike lots packed, kids playing in the fields. You honestly could believe it’s a summer day right now if you didn’t know any better. Saw some people dipping into the River too off the Rec Path.

Is it cases or deaths that the vaccine is supposed to quell? Or both?

I still don’t know what I would’ve done differently in my life for the past 5-6 months that was highly influenced by COVID. It seems schools must be the biggest thing but doesn’t affect me right now. I mean if you don’t turn on the news (some seem to hate the media but at the same time can’t turn it off for some reason), wearing a mask getting groceries or going indoors is literally the only reason I’d know something was different.