powderfreak

Yeah it would’ve been a top tier winter for CVT/SVT. Killington has had a very solid snow season, I bet they are near tops relative to normal of NE ski resorts. They were pacing with Jay for most of the winter.

Yeah one gets that impression reading your posts... sort of like knowing the possibilities and data is dampening the experience of your first winter. Like if you had no idea on the climate, and just happened to move from the Baltimore suburbs or where ever, up to a hillside in the north.... then got hit with multiple 12+ high QPF snow events, measurable snowfall on like 3 out of every 4-5 days, upslope events and a sustained 24”+ pack for like two months... it’s hard to imagine having this feeling of being unsatisfied. I think I felt a lot more like you when I first moved up here. I’d be focused on the Mansfield depth running below normal and have this disappointed feeling...losing my mind when SNE gets hit a few times in a row while high/dry up here. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism (lol) but I feel like now I judge winter based on the experiences, and compare it to other places I’ve lived. Like I think my highest single dump at one time was 10” back on Nov 2nd this season at home but I have enjoyed this winter because of how many snowy evenings we’ve had, it hasn’t been brutally cold, it didn’t rain for 6 weeks, and have had an 18” pack sustained through the heart of winter.

lol three of them is awesome. I honestly thought this whole winter you’d be posting every day about how insane winter is up north, even if only 50% snowfall. It’s interesting seeing your perspective this year, seems a little down/meh on it. Like you’re left feeling unsatisfied.

You’ve gotten what 2-3 storms over 12”?

Yeah it would turn an average winter into a great winter for sure. It would be a very memorable winter if we threw in one more during that peak stretch. Thats usually what separates the great memorable winters from the good ones.

Yeah it’s weird, the mountain has been skiing like a much larger snow depth. It really hasn’t felt like a sub-par winter to me... the lower elevations are definitely seemingly closer to normal (if not near normal). BTV airport is right around normal, JSpin has to be near normal and I feel like it’s been pretty close to normal here. Central/Southern VT solidly above normal snow. VT has seemed pretty good this year looking at the stats. The 3,000ft and above level has been solidly below normal snow but with good snow down lower the skiing has been excellent. Many have remarked about how the backcountry has been in play for so long, even low elevation stuff. Most locals seem to think this has been a good winter for skiing after December. You never get 6 weeks without a rain event and just pow on pow.

Looks like there could be some decent squalls tomorrow with the FROPA. A good deal of them have a nice max right near J.Spin's house, but none are better than the Canadian version of the HRRR.... EURO... 3KM NAM has it more down near the Killington region.

Stowe used to have it off the Gondola when I first moved up here. We'd ride the Gondola up and then ski adjacent trails by headlamp. Over time though, it just wasn't worth it, low skier traffic. It just gets too cold and windy at night on Mansfield for people to want to partake in a meaningful way, apparently. The light poles are still there (telephone poles) and we used to test them before night events at the Cliff House. So they could be turned on in the event of an evac. Can never be too prepared when people are dressed in high-end suits and dresses, riding the Gondola at night up Vermont's highest peak to a party at the top.

We are at the warmest temps of the day now with strong roaring WNW winds. 40F currently at MVL with gusts near 40mph now that the wind direction has changed. Almost to the point where I'm hoping we don't lose power. These are some very strong winds moving down the east slope. Wouldn't be surprised if there were some localized 50mph or more gusts just a little uphill of here on the east side of the spine. Luckily it's winter, if there were leaves on the trees this would be a big problem, ha.

I just asked the question in the NNE thread... something seems off. A high of 58F at 1,200ft? The dew points look reasonable but those temps... light snow under 2 mile vis at temps around 40F all morning?

What have you seen for temps? The MPV/Montpelier ASOS has to be wrong today, no? It's showing a temperature of 56F at 7pm and had a high of 58F (at 1,200ft)? KMPV 272351Z AUTO 30011G20KT 10SM SCT031 OVC039 13/01 A2997 RMK AO2 SLP155 60002 T01330006 10144 20044 53018 All day this was way higher than BTV's readings and this morning those haze obs should be snow obs... sustained under 2 mile vis snow and temps around 40F seems off for that elevation.

Even this morning, a great example of why BTV torches... they were above freezing and just ripping south winds of 40-50mph gusts (not ideal for snow preservation), while around here at the Morrisville-Stowe Airport the ASOS was 15F. 7am Observations BTV... 34F, melting, with sustained winds of 22mph, gusting 44mph out of the south (the Champlain Valley funnel). MVL... 15F with calm winds and a cold snowpack.

Richmond is often the line... Exit 11. JSpins zone will have two feet while you are looking at a crusty 6” by the time you hit the low lands because that’s where the east flow downslope off the Spine really becomes pronounced. I mean, BTV literally has sinking air and compressional warming coming from both east and west directions (Greens and Adirondacks)... and then on top of that they are exposed to often ripping southerly flow, absolutely zero radiational cooling (because the wind is always moving in that wide valley due to funneling), and their only “cold” flow option is a north wind. It is very hard to stay cold there. It has to be CAA from the north. Eventually a system will pass with a southwind and then its warm and windy... goodbye snow. When it’s 2am and it’s 16F and calm at MVL/MPV...but 36F at BTV and south at 20kts... that snow is melting and evaporating while the other two are just another winter night.

Oh no they torch. It’s only been getting hotter too for whatever reason. Like how the other day was the first 40+ temp this season and the average first 40+ day is January 7th... that’s only a week into the New Year before they hit 40F on average. This year they made it 7 weeks.

Yeah the snow cam at 3000ft has flakes flying the past couple hours and judging by the temps, I’d bet the snow level is like 2500ft. It seems like the mid-levels cooled enough for elevation dependent snow showers at the moment.

Yeah that’s why it’s hard to quantify a given wind direction with upslope/downslope couplets... there was a strong QPF gradient on the meek models between north of the Presidentials and south of them. The inversion height plays a big role in upslope/downslope... if it’s up at like 800mb and the warm layer is at 750mb blasting SW flow, he probably is in the QPF max as the Whites act like a ramp for that flow and deposit the best QPF just downwind of the barrier. You’re right, there’s been a serious lack of SW flow events with the strongest lift at like 700mb, with a widespread 0.50-1.0 QPF. Today’s seemed like much lower level stuff. Mansfield summit usually doesn’t sniff freezing in many SWFE but the summit spiked to 34F at one point this evening. Often it can rot at like 23F at the summit with freezing rain while it’s above freezing at 800mb.

Yeah I agree in that general sense... I’ve noticed the temperatures are very similar. Precipitation patterns can be different but seem to arrive at a similar destination even if they took different routes to get there if that makes sense. I think the snowfall here at 1500ft on a seasonal scale is very close to the observer just up the hill from you. I always sort of thought the snow average was like 300” up at 3,000ft and 200” at 1500ft but after extending my knowledge with each passing year, my gut says it’s probably more like 180” and 280” as the past 5 years have dragged down my average thoughts a bit. Only 2016-17 was truly big but the other 4 years out of the last 5 have been lower.

Yeah you and Brian hands down take the SFC CAD awards time and time again.

Yeah we are over to just rain showers at 36F at 1500ft. Looks like MVL is showing unknown precip at 37F in the valley but it’s rain.

Oh we lost the Gondola first because those cabins are like kites... the FourRunner hung on for another couple hours but kept getting auto-slows by the lift for excessive winds. Then that was put on wind hold. Not long after that we lost Sensation Quad due to wind. Wind was absolutely nuts above 2,500ft. Sustained 50mph and gusting 90mph at the height of it.... finally started dropping now that the low level jet moved through.

This looks chilly.

Flow looks to shift by 4pm for Phin, I bet some more robust precip moves in soon.

Weather is awesome, love watching how it interacts with the mountains. Always been fascinated with it since a kid, ha.

That's the benefit of the mountains, even when meso-scale stuff goes the wrong way... it's still fascinating. I love that meteorological stuff. Can see some brighter skies at times on your cam aloft it looks like. I love when we are getting downsloped a bit and then the flow changes a bit and you see the clouds darken and precip roll back in.

Yeah we have now been heavy wet aggregates for the last 5 minutes or so, no liquid anymore. Some of the largest flakes you’ll ever see lol. Like 1-2” in diameter pancakes.