powderfreak

Nice little finale moving through... due south winds at surface and westerly aloft has it a little blocked in the CPV.

The gait of the footprints looks like a cat... bobcat maybe?

We tend to do ok in SW flow too, usually because they seem to come with some decent wind velocities... seems to push moisture over the Spine into interior VT up in the north. Can also develop a standing wave off the Adirondacks... air goes over them, drops into the Champlain valley and then rises again over the Greens. A buddy said barely a flurry today at the BTV Waterfront and they are 10 mile vis, while it’s been under a mile vis at MVL/MPV at times the past couple hours. The other great orographic spot is the southern Adirondacks, just north of the Mohawk Valley and I-90. They get some good precip out of these.

It is upslope though in a way. This one definitely has some terrain influences.

Those graphics give me all the feels for some reason, ha. What a nostalgic hit that is. Steady light snow and about an inch here. Flake size is small, I bet we are going to be near 10:1 ratios which seems right given only 0.15” QPF on most models. 1-2” type deal here.

Mountain weather is crazy like that... little nuances. The wind could shift slightly or the veering in the atmosphere changes ever so slightly and all the sudden it's snowing or not snowing if it was. I love the little micro-scale stuff, I even find it oddly cool if we get downsloped in one part of town but not another... or vice versa. That stuff can be so localized.

Looks like about an inch here at 1500ft. Steady light snow. I did notice on your cam what looked like a bit of a downslope break in the low clouds on the southerly flow. Been looking like it’s snowing in the view all afternoon on left and right sides. I bet you’ll snow once the flow changes a bit.

Ha, that's why I'm very rarely disappointed up here. Growing up in ALB sets the bar at 60" a winter being more than acceptable. My guess on that radar image is that the stuff is actually landing downstream of the echoes... we see that here a lot. It looks like it's over DDH but I bet its actually hitting the surface by your area on the SW winds. Radar sampling those echoes in the cloud or something.

HRRR really nice looking for Gene over to Dryslot. Also down by Backedge.

Really nice snow at times. Great snow growth upsloping on SW flow.

1F currently. Nothing unusual but will be below zero tonight.

Binghamton, NY has had more snow than here... 90+ inches? Even with half of it coming in one storm, it's been a healthy winter relative to normal for that axis from PA through southern tier of NY, into NJ/NYC and adjacent CT. Stoked for the forum, has felt like most (or all) have had snowpack on the ground... hard to complain up here with solid snowpack for lengthy periods of time and lack of rainers. Even though the mountain has been solidly below normal, the cold stretches and refreshes are masking the stats. No complaints. Lower elevations have been much closer to normal around these parts, compared to upper mountain slopes.

Today was the first day I noticed the solar gain. Even at temps solidly below freezing (max of 26F, dew of 5F), snowpacked pavement was getting torched and melting. Fist time of the season seeing melting on pavement in sunshine while the snowpack itself stays cold/dry.

We 100% snow covered in New England, straight to the beaches? Good stuff if so.

The Northern crew has long hated blocking... but then Will usually chimes in with a never ending list of big snowstorms during blocking or -NAO winters.

But this whole debate is why we almost always photograph it for evidence. We had 4" overnight at High Road Snow Plot. Some people are telling me they think it's 7" and it is deeper in some areas... less in others. But it's a consistent point on the mountain each time. 8" in 36 hours.

At Stowe it was always the same... and operations is in charge of the snow reporting. For a while I was a marketing employee with an office in Mtn Operations, ha. I truly don't think anyone at this point blatantly tries to mislead anyone. But measuring snow isn't an exact science either, especially when you can find varying amounts from 2" to 10" at any given time. I mean just take yesterday at Jay Peak. My buddy found 5" where he was, J.Spin found a foot of new snow. Both were actually true.

Grooming reporting about 5" overnight at the Cliff House. Around 3" landed at Mtn Ops. Total fluff, like J.Spin's 50:1 ratio.

I think the flow and snow growth is maximized in that area, and extends down to over you. That wind flow and low level moisture is wringing out the moisture on a very specific axis. You being immediately downwind of Bolton is leading to a very strong band. Despite being east side and in the downslope, RT 108 at least sees some steady light snow coming off of Madonna, Whiteface (VT), Spruce and Mansfield. This flow definitely packs snow into the immediate Spine axis (all elevations) and northwest facing slopes... maximized in those pass elevations up through the mid-slopes. Above that it's too fluffy/windy to let it stack up, IMO. You have to be getting ripped there near the county line and I89 intersection.

Yeah we have some snow falling, but nothing significant. Mood snows I'd call it. 1/4" of new snow in past 45-60 minutes or so judging by the tire tracks in the Sushi Yoshi parking lot as we passed by on the evening dog walk. I'd guess it pulses up to half inch an hour rates at times but then will drop to a heavy flurry, and repeat the process. Though I always appreciate the evening dog walk on the Rec Path while it's snowing. That soft squeak of boots walking the groomed surface (I love they groom the Rec Path, just step outside and wander a groomed trail), while snow falls in the headlamp and street lights. But it would probably take at least 3 hours to accumulate an inch. Still, a nice wintry scene this evening. Been rotting in the 17-18" range for snow depth for weeks it seems...it just has more density to it now after that sleet event.

It sounds like the Jay area and this last snowfall had some crazy gradients. Coworker who also does snow reporting duties found about 5” at Jay, but he was around 2,000ft down low as a gate keeper at a USASA event. Said it was great skiing but he was confident in about 5” as a recent total. Maybe 3” on top of groomed surface. Said it snowed at times and had some sun at times, not much new near the parking lots today. Then another friend went to the backcountry near Jay and reported a solid foot of fluff, similar to @J.Spin. He said it was crazy. Seemed like the snow got stuck in the road passes with calm winds and on the west slope... but not as much on the Jay Peak side near the base area at 1800ft. Curious what our local resident saw up there too.

Yeah @J.Spin we only had an inch or a bit less from last night in town. It had completely disappeared from my elevated snowboard during the day as I didn’t bother cleaning it. Evaporated throughout the day. Need to get back to mini-Japan... the snowbanks with high tourist traffic this holiday week have taken on a bit more brown and used look.

Sounds like the ring-leader lives in Tolland... 21 year old driver. But also some very young ones too. “State police said a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl were also in the car. They were issued juvenile summonses and released to their parents. State police determined, after questioning, that the group was on its way to burglarize and steal vehicles in Tolland County, according to a report.“

Rough rap sheet to start out with at 16. If they are really that young, that sounds like boredom gone very wrong.

I like to think we don’t over-report or under-report... we report what it is, lol. I really think the key to a ski area is a fixed point so you are always measuring the same place/way. Snowfall varies so much sometimes on the mountain but over a decade now people know what the number means (if that makes sense). I personally think all the ski areas in this area do a very good job with it.... we get plenty of practice, ha. With that said, most have adopted the practice of “when in doubt, report low” so you don’t have social media chirping about misleading snowfall. Personally, I prefer an underreport. Surprise and delight leads to a better guest experience. I have low-balled it plenty of times over the years when in doubt. Expecting 3” and finding 6” makes for happy customers.