powderfreak

What's a non-violent tornado? A fakenado?

This is definitely looking pretty interesting. Looking forward to tomorrow evening and a good old fashioned storm thread.

Amen for that, ha. Some pretty substantial differences still. At least it's not boring. Looks like a good ORH ASOS wind direction and track for some gusts coming out of the lowlands to the S/SE.

Ahh there it is. I didn't realize it has 850mb as that strong. I was looking at the GFS and it looked like 50-60kts at H850 in that same area.

Mixing down from like 850-700mb? How does a model get to 90mph gusts anywhere in New England, ha.

What the hell is going on down at Killington, yikes. Hopefully it's just a coping mechanism or joking way to brush off frustrations? It sounds different than up here when we mostly just get a chuckle about cars going where they shouldn't... like the Quebec or Mass plated SUV driving through the Stowe base area's pedestrian cobblestone little village, like Dad had to get out and move potted plants to gain access because he thought he could park closer to the hotel room (maybe it was @STILL N OF PIKE actually?). Or when a zip line attendant radios to me that he thinks a personal vehicle just passed their platform on Perry Merrill... "Are you sure it wasn't a work vehicle?" "Uhh, it's a black Infinity SUV with Quebec tags and he's about to get stuck under the Gondola, do we have any of those in our work fleet?" "Message received, ha." That's the stuff that's harmless and funny in all resort towns.

Couldn't be further from a description of me, ha. It's funny how little VT stereotypes I'd actually fit... I'm a high & tight haircut (comes anywhere near my ears it's cut again), drive a Honda Pilot SUV you'd see in the suburbs, not a fan of jam band music, and I don't think I've ever gone in public wearing anything close sandals except maybe flip flops to a swimming hole . I do like my IPA's though!

Yeah I could see that, there's always seemed to be more local vs. non-local stuff in SVT when I grew up skiing there. They are much closer to the significant day trip traffic, maybe they feel they need to fight more for their identity? Who knows. I just don't see it up here so that's why I'm always so shocked. But up here we are in touristy areas but also have Burlington, Montpelier, etc and it is a different vibe. I live in a series of townhomes and we get a ton of families from out-of-state renting people's units, no one cares and we've had some good ones to hang out with this summer grilling and chillin. They love the bear here that's like a stray dog, ha. As I've said before, my buddy lives in VT but has NY company plates on his car, and he mountain bikes at Killington weekly and hasn't heard a peep about out of state plates since April. I'm sure the experience varies, its extremely unfortunate if you had friends who treated you like that. I've heard the Killington access road has been packed this summer, the patios, restaurants, etc... the vibe must not be that bad? Also, best of luck to your husband on his nursing classes. My mom and two sisters are in the nursing field. I have a ton of respect for that and wish him well!

Yeah I think we are past that point UNLESS the Government(s) go full "Stay at Home" order. That's when all that stuff closed, from ski mountains to Pinkham Notch to swimming holes, etc. Sort of like a "we told you to stay the f*ck home but if you can't do that, we'll just close the stuff you are traveling to do." Unless you think we could get back to Stay at Home status, that stuff is likely done. That was probably the most "dangerous" time from a freedoms standpoint. Instead of locking you in your house, Dept of Public Safety sort of agencies started closing up places that would entice you to leave your house.

It's always present, I mean the term Masshole has been around to describe Mass tourists in VT/NH/ME for decades. Everywhere that people visit (heck it doesn't have to be a tourist area, a lot of people just hate New Yawkers on the spot, ha) has these things... Jackson Hole hates everyone. Colorado hates Texans even though they own probably half the vacation homes there, Lake Tahoe hates people from San Francisco. Hate is likely too strong a word, its just the classic local vs. non-local that's been going on since the dawn of time. Beach towns and surf communities in California are notorious for this towards outsiders. But it's also always been a joke sort of thing. Like a way to describe the guy in Quebec plates driving down the sidewalk that he thought was an entrance to the hotel in Vermont. Or when I take my VT plate down to the Cape and get stuck in the sand, the locals get a chuckle.

I think most of us from Vermont would respectfully disagree, just like I think you would disagree people blanketing all with different license plates as irresponsible. Honestly, blanketing ALL Vermonters as people who hate non-Vermonters doesn't further the conversation. I know this has been a time that has really hurt for you and your husband around your Killington area, but blanketing all Vermonters as these people is no different than when a Killington local blankets ALL out-of-staters as sh*tty careless people. There are obviously going to be people on both sides of it... there are more than plenty of very welcoming Vermonters out there. There are also more than plenty of assh*le tourists who leave trash at picnic spots and fit every tourist stereotype you can get. Likewise you'll also find jaded locals lurking. But continuing to group everyone as either one or the other groups does nothing to help the situation. Also in the time of the internet and on news stories and facebook posts, there is usually a vocal minority that makes one think all of humanity is racist, terrible people.

They will likely also not only "appear" to be doing the safest thing, it will likely be the safest thing. Now a person can agree or disagree if it is "necessary" but just the way you phrased that made it sound like there may be a perception issue in how safe they are actually being. Sort of like hey, the safest way to drive and not get in an accident, is to not drive. It's true, ha. If MLB teams can't even make it a week into a season (the Marlins have "postponed" 8 games so far) without having COVID issues, it's going to be a long winter is my expectation. Each outbreak will have to be dealt with, no one is just going to bury their heads in the sand and keep going if a ski town or ski area employees are having COVID spread through.

It's humid. Higher than desired. By a long shot. What a summer.

Water be flowing?

I am interested in seeing what happens with this. Hard to say... it could be normal or could be less. If the weather cooperates then it usually doesn't matter too much during the bulk of the season. One could imagine a scenario where less snow is made, with the expected reasoning being to save money. I think it is like most endeavors going on right now... try it but don't push all the chips in until you know what works. I honestly do not know and am just spitballing, but from a COVID standpoint they could also be ways to keep employees safe. It is an outdoors job in theory, but they spend decent time indoors together either via bus cat transport to the upper mountain at night. Maybe they go via tandem snowmobile instead? Maybe move in smaller teams that work together all the time, not a roving list of people at different shifts. If there are scaled down operations, mountains usually focus on one or two routes for snowmaking at a given time, then move on to the next spot on the hit list... you still won't see a good snowmaking window wasted by anyone.

I've always used alpine 130 flex boots for downhill resort skiing and have used those for early/late season uphill.... but am definitely thinking about adding a softer Scarpa style AT boot. I do think I'll be skinning a bunch more during the season too, whether dawn patrols or sunset skins, etc. Just like there are no air conditioners left, the uphill community has been exploding in the past 5 years and this year probably makes a huge jump up. AT gear is going to be in short supply.

Ha yeah, like any college aged Met student who is super passionate... sometimes the inner gets the best of them. Every upslope snowstorm will be multiple feet type of passion. Wall clouds can be wedges, etc. Just funny you posted that and I’m like hey I know that name.

Sean gets very excited, ha, but he knows his stuff too from Lyndon State Meteorology. He’s no hack. Wonder what he’s doing down there (or just chasing?) he lived near here and worked as a lift operator at Stowe last winter, good kid.

I don’t think that would happen again unless for some reason it gets so off the rails we go into “Stay at Home” orders again. That was what brought about those closures, to literally try to pinch off any attractive reason to get in your car and drive somewhere. I think that ship has left the port though and not coming back. But temporary closures of operations is certainly in play if there are local outbreaks or staff outbreaks, IMO. Having uphill gear will come in handy at some point and allow for more options, as maybe now you *really* want to avoid ski areas during the holiday periods even if they are fully open. Most locals avoid that time or plan differently, but maybe now is when you take a couple extra trips to the Cold Hollows, Eden/Belvedere, Gilpin Mtn, etc.

These two points cracked me and had me laughing. J, your family is not like most families. I've seen them skiing pow in photos for what seems like over a decade. I wonder how many shops have had people tell them renting from Nov-Apr isn’t the full season, ha (most seasonal rentals are picked up in Dec and returned in like mid-March before little Johnny starts little league practice on April 1st). And yeah forget AT or Tele, most places won’t have that for adults even, outside very specialized shops. Whenever someone asks about seasonal rentals though I’ll have to keep the J.Spin families in mind, ha...I usually answer the question in the frame of mind that most parents just want a pair of skis that allows their kid to slide downhill maybe 1-2 dozen times a winter. If that’s accomplished, big win.

This season will be frustrating I think. The only way to go into it is to think any skiing is good skiing and this winter is a bonus. Season passes may be the way to go, I think there will be some severe restrictions on day tickets sold at times to reduce crowds. No one knows what’s going to happen though. There’s like Plan A through Plan F. Heck they don’t even know what kids are doing for schools in one month, much less do ski areas know what 4 months away might look like. If local communities or ski area staff get an outbreak it’ll be done for a bit. I bet a dozen ski area employees texting positive could close a mountain pretty fast. Like the Marlin’s in MLB, ha.

There’s no way normal swaps happen where it’s a packed high school on like an autumn Saturday. Kids seasonal rentals are usually the way to go. Can be done pretty cheap and stores will even swap out boots if your kids feet grow during the winter.

That’s summer QPF for ya. Glad that dry area got a solid soaker.

Those are some pretty solid rainfall totals up I-84 into NE CT. Looked like Tolland to North Woodstock got rocked. Tolland stations with 2.92” and 2.26” south of 84. Woodstock on RT198 with 2.15” Coventry with 1.95” Union 1.40” Ashford 1.40”

People get excited for surge in New England? That probably effects and is seen by less people on here than upslope snow, lol.