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Find your exact elevation here


ineedsnow

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Sweet! Hope you get that...getting paid to ski, monitor weather across the mountains, and measure snow daily is a fun job. I'm not sure yet but we may be looking for a part time snow reporter too.

And yes after talking with Sultan yesterday who said the same thing, elevation probably matters a lot more near the coastal plain or marine influence areas where you can get borderline events all season long. I think down there within a certain distance of the coast you probably get a lot more events right near the freezing mark than interior spots, so at that point every 100ft helps.

powderfreak do you know any new england resorts that actually offer living accomodations/discounts?

sorry for OT

i would like to live at an elevation which i can be "proud" of lol

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best weenie snow elevation dependent event i can think of was the downslope noreaster 92' . diamond hill rhode island at the top was over two feet settled.

That storm had a unique combination of strong easterly to eastnortheasterly winds and very marginal temps. Though once the storm did crank a little more, even the CP did get significant snowfall...but the area of the CP that did was in a relatively small region from just west of the BOS up to northeast MA. They were able to get enough dynamical cooling to overcome the marginal temps...and they don't downslope in that region from an easterly wind.

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That storm had a unique combination of strong easterly to eastnortheasterly winds and very marginal temps. Though once the storm did crank a little more, even the CP did get significant snowfall...but the area of the CP that did was in a relatively small region from just west of the BOS up to northeast MA. They were able to get enough dynamical cooling to overcome the marginal temps...and they don't downslope in that region from an easterly wind.

will do you have any totals or links to snowfall reports for that area from this storm.

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As I'm a bit of a tree geek myself, I found this to be interesting conversation.

As a pioneer species, white (paper) birch typically is one of the first trees to grow in a new forest. They're fast growing and require ample sunlight. Since most of the woodlands around SNE are now becoming older, I don't think white birch is as abundant as it used to be. SNE is also near the southern most point of their range.

A lot of the white birches in the woods around here are older and not too healthy. As the woodlands are generally thick with sugar maple, white ash, red maple, beech, and red oak, there are very few younger white birch trees. There are a lot more young yellow and sweet birch trees, but not white birch for whatever reason.

What's weird about the tree species around here is that there seems to be a rather dramatic demarcation line between the typical SNE coastal forests and the NNE acadian forests that you normally find around here. You go from a forest dominated by various oak species (white, black, scarlet, and red), hickory, and red maple to one dominated by sugar maples, aspen, beech, birches (white, yellow, and sweet) and white ash within a matter of about 5 miles. It seems like the transition starts around 500-600' and is complete by 1200-1300'. While there are exceptions and overlap (especially with regard to white ash and red oak), the transition is rather sudden. Above about 1600' you start getting some northern boreal species like black and red spruce thrown into the mix and the red oaks begin to thin out.

There is a renegade population of tulip poplars in the Stockbridge, Great Barrington area. I have no idea how they got there since they pretty much stop in SW CT. Perhaps they were introduced and then naturalized, but these trees look like they grew naturally. There are also some isolated populations of white oak around here too, but we're much closer to their natural range than tulip poplar.

As a total tree geek, beginning with the Jan 1953 ice storm in NNJ (started my wx interest at the same time), I'm always willing to chime in. That pic looks like a typical even-aged hardwood forest in the 60-90 yr age bracket, the time when shade-intolerant and short-lived species like paper birch and aspens begin to drop out. (Gray birch and Eastern redcedar would be a couple decades gone.)

Slight nitpick. While black spruce is a true boreal species, red spruce is recognized by most foresters in NNE/Maritimes as THE key species of the Acadian Forest - most abundant and, in total, most valuable. It has a much smaller range than our other native spruces (black, white), not occurring naturally north of the St. Lawrence nor on Newfoundland. Its westerly extent is limited, too, not extending much past New York state, except maybe on some S.App mountaintops.

It would not surprise me if those tulip poplars were a natural relict stand. I found a similar stand, of red oak, on Charette Hill in Ft. Kent. Naturally occurring oak is exceedingly rare that far north, and this 3-acre area was about 1/3 oak of all sizes mixed with sugar and red maple, aspen, and hophornbeam. The very dry summer of 1978 gave me a clue as to why the oak was there; by late August all the other species around it were turning brown, but the more drought-tolerant oak wasn't visibly affected. This SW-facing area had drought often enough to enable the oak to maintain and reproduce itself. White oak grows naturally in the Kennebec Valley about as far north as WVL. I f you see any farther north, it's either planted, or actually burr oak, which is sufficiently cold tolerant (though not especially shade tolerant) to be found in the Prairie Provinces in hardiness zone 2.

I'm always fascinated by the tree species up in NH too. I love that spruce look....gives it a colder feel and also those beech and aspen too. We actually used to have a cedar grove in this area...some areas of cedar still around. Otherwise, some of the trees here I think date back to 1900 or perhaps earlier? Huge maples, and trees where I'm unsure of the species.

What kind of cedar? Given your location I'd guess Eastern redcedar, the aromatic wood used to mothproof closets. It's a pioneer species and very intolerant of shade, plus short-lived, though its decay-resistant corpses can often be found on the forest floor in much older stands. Maine has almost none of this species occurring naturally; its major "cedar" is Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), known as aborvitae in the nursery trade. We also have a bit of Atlantic white cedar, which is more common in near-sealevel bogs in SNE/MA.

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powderfreak do you know any new england resorts that actually offer living accomodations/discounts?

sorry for OT

i would like to live at an elevation which i can be "proud" of lol

I don't know of any resort housing but it's pretty easy to find an apartment or place in most ski towns.

And I don't get too caught up in living at elevation up here...it's plenty snowy even in the valley at 700-900ft and you get some real cold nights but pleasant days. Plus if you work and play on the mountain you'll spend a lot of the waking hours up there.

For me, yea it would be fun to live at like 1500ft but the office is up there and in the winter I spend like 60 hours a week up at significant elevation. I've gotten to really enjoy the different climate zones between home and work, and seeing how it all compares. It's really fun to wake up each morning and not know what you'll find up the road at work. I know if I get 6" at my house overnight, that there could be a foot on the mountain if it's upslope snow. If it's synoptic snow, the difference maybe only an inch because the precip is more evenly spread out, as the lift is occurring way up high outside the mountains influence.

Personally I just love seeing the differences between the 4-6 miles on RT 108 from village center to mountain base area...I think you'd be hard pressed to find a stretch of road in New England that varies so much in terms of snowfall and precip averages.

You go from like 125" to 180" in 700-800 vertical feet and 5 miles...Will's one inch per 100ft rule in SNE doesn't apply here...its more proximity to the Mansfield's ridge that matters.

That's also why JSpin averages so much snow (more than me) at only 500ft...you draw a line between the summits of the spine and that line goes over his house in the Winnoski Valley. Being close to that axis is more important here than elevation...but I'm not talking snow preservation or snow depths but just the raw number of flakes that fall from the sky and add up over the course of a winter.

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Tons of birch trees in my backyard. We had a big, fat dead one topple over last winter. Thankfully it fell away from my house. I actally will need to cut some down this fall/next sring. It pains me to do so since they are so pretty.

Are they white birch/paper birch?

White birch and paper birch are two names for the same tree, Betula papyrifera. Gray birch (Betula populifolia, named for its triangular leaves, same shape as Populus deltoides) has a less-white look, but the key diagnostic is the "Fu Manchu" moustache at each branch, which is lacking on paper birch. One other facet is the extremely fine twigs on gray birch, probably the thinnest of any Eastern tree, with only hophornbeam for competition. Another reason why GB gets hammered in ice storms, though its non-vertical growth habit also makes it vulnerable.

I seriously doubt anyone lives year-round above 2,000' in Maine, unless somebody tries to in the topmost condos at Sugarloaf (and commutes by snowmobile.) The highest elevation town center is Rangeley, and it's mainly within 200' elevation of Rangeley Lake's 1,518'. I did see some apparent permanent dwellings at about 1,920' along the paved portion of the Loon Lake Road (DeLorme calls it Kennebago Road) northeast of town. 6-8 miles SE is Beaver Mt Pond at 1,729', with a few permanent dwellings, all within 100' elevation of the water level.

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I don't know of any resort housing but it's pretty easy to find an apartment or place in most ski towns.

And I don't get too caught up in living at elevation up here...it's plenty snowy even in the valley at 700-900ft and you get some real cold nights but pleasant days. Plus if you work and play on the mountain you'll spend a lot of the waking hours up there.

For me, yea it would be fun to live at like 1500ft but the office is up there and in the winter I spend like 60 hours a week up at significant elevation. I've gotten to really enjoy the different climate zones between home and work, and seeing how it all compares. It's really fun to wake up each morning and not know what you'll find up the road at work. I know if I get 6" at my house overnight, that there could be a foot on the mountain if it's upslope snow. If it's synoptic snow, the difference maybe only an inch because the precip is more evenly spread out, as the lift is occurring way up high outside the mountains influence.

Personally I just love seeing the differences between the 4-6 miles on RT 108 from village center to mountain base area...I think you'd be hard pressed to find a stretch of road in New England that varies so much in terms of snowfall and precip averages.

You go from like 125" to 180" in 700-800 vertical feet and 5 miles...Will's one inch per 100ft rule in SNE doesn't apply here...its more proximity to the Mansfield's ridge that matters.

That's also why JSpin averages so much snow (more than me) at only 500ft...you draw a line between the summits of the spine and that line goes over his house in the Winnoski Valley. Being close to that axis is more important here than elevation...but I'm not talking snow preservation or snow depths but just the raw number of flakes that fall from the sky and add up over the course of a winter.

Would you consider getting a place with Pickles?
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It wouldn't be as bad as where you are now vs Marshfield. Logan airport did get over 9" so your area may have gotten 10-11" which is a lot better than almost nothing.

Well I was in Brockton which made it worse. I actually got less there, than Logan. I probably would have had maybe 10" or so where I am now. I was thinking if ever the internet existed back then...it would have been a tough time...lol.

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Well I was in Brockton which made it worse. I actually got less there, than Logan. I probably would have had maybe 10" or so where I am now. I was thinking if ever the internet existed back then...it would have been a tough time...lol.

Blizzard warnings down to PYM. That storm was a terrible tease for SE MA. Probably like 0.5C away at the 900mb level from being the same type of snow Ray got...or probably even more since the higher qpf was down in SE MA.

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That type of storm will happen again..maybe this winter. Can't wait

The storm was incredible...don't get me wrong. The wind was amazing. But seeing you and Will get 2-3'...would have been tough.

Picture a 13yrd old weenie who had nothing better than to look forward to the 20" that was predicted, along with a blizzard warning. The thoughts running through my mind when the media and my own parents said this would probably be my biggest storm yet, were euphoric. Watching the snow change to practically drizzle as a dry slot approached, was gut wrenching. One of my biggest pits I've ever flt in my stomach.

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The storm was incredible...don't get me wrong. The wind was amazing. But seeing you and Will get 2-3'...would have been tough.

Picture a 13yrd old weenie who had nothing better than to look forward to the 20" that was predicted, along with a blizzard warning. The thoughts running through my mind when the media and my own parents said this would probably be my biggest storm yet, were euphoric. Watching the snow change to practically drizzle as a dry slot approached, was gut wrenching. One of my biggest pits I've ever flt in my stomach.

I remember being pissed that ORH got 36 inches..

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