powderfreak Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Those are great pics PF; man, what a day it was out there on Sunday. It wasn’t made great by being the day after a huge storm, although a fresh half foot certainly helped, but the 20 inches in 72 hours, on top of previous feet with no thaws will definitely do it. Skiing the low elevation, south facing terrain above Meadows in full equinox sun, and having it stay fluffy and bottomless in the afternoon tells you just what sort of conditions came together. I couldn’t say enough to extol the virtues of just how good that snow was – I spent the whole first paragraph of my trip report from Sunday talking about it. Here’s an excerpt, and folks can use the linked text to the report if they want to read more: [/size] Awesome write up JSpin...yeah, Sunday was top 3 of the season, possibly number 1. For my, the three best days of the year came within two weeks of each other. March 13th, March 21, and March 23 (Sunday). March 13th was after the big storm of 17-20" in 24hrs, then the 21st had that 14" of upslope champagne that fell out of nowhere overnight, and then Sunday was the 4-6" topping that just put conditions out of this world. Just a fun stretch we've had in March...no rain and 69" of cumulative snow means fun things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Cool snow depth comparison... image.jpg The interesting part about the snow pack now is just how mid winter it is. This isn't snow that's ready to melt quickly. Our SSH here estimates the mountains and foothills are about 20-25% ripe, compared to around 50% near the coast (within 20 miles). 33 and rain may not put too much of a dent in this stuff. The longer we keep it around (or add to it) the more likely it is we have flooding issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nittany88 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Now this is a REAL blizzard, none of that stuff people claim to be blizzards: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/videos/gallery/all/video_gallery/warning-almost-a-category-1-hurricane/sharevideo/3395581512001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Not the kind of map I'm looking to create anymore. This is a little more heavily weighted towards the Euro than the faster/drier GFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allenson Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Such a weird seasonal juxtaposition these days: September sun strength, height & duration with mid-winter temps and snowpack... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Nice shots, J.Spin! I was talking with some friends and thought I saw you, E and the boys in the Spruce base area around noon, heading into Spruce Camp probably for lunch. Its funny because I recognized the ski jackets we see in the photos, as well as in the Bolton Valley advertisements. I’ve finally got some time to catch up on responses from the past week or so – getting back to you on this one. Yes, that must have been us that you saw around midday on the 16th as we were taking a break for lunch. It’s a bit back and forth at times when we’re based out of Spruce, but the Over Easy makes it an entirely different world from what it used to be, and the Spruce Camp food is so good! Looks like you went for a hike, must've been a great day for it. I haven't been up top since the big storm, but Profanity looked like it had been loaded in and was about as wide as it gets. Yeah, that snow up in Profanity was fantastic – there was only one track in the chute on the skier’s left when we got there, so all that pristine powder loaded in there made it a bit spooky, and just to be safe, I ski cut it across the top before I let all the kids go down. The snow stability was fine though and the kids went nuts diving into that steep fluff. Your photo looks like something from out west. It’s really nice to be able to get the boys some of those experiences in alpine terrain without having to travel anywhere. There past couple of weekends have been great examples of just how awesome the skiing can be at Stowe – having lived for quite a while out in the U.S. Rockies, I can tell you that Stowe and Mansfield easily go toe-to-toe with most of the mid range resorts out there in terms of annual snowfall and terrain. I’ve written extensively about the snowfall comparison before, but the terrain is right there as well. You’re not really going to compare Stowe to the resorts in the Rockies with massive amounts of above tree line terrain, which of course are the ones that people hear the most about, but there are dozens and dozens of fantastic, lesser known resorts. Actually, Stowe beats a lot of them with respect to snowfall, vertical drop, and acreage. Unless you’re not a proficient tree skier, Stowe is massive – I’ve made a very detailed calculation on Google Earth, and in-bounds terrain is close to 3,000 acres with the Hazelton Zone. And there’s got to be another couple thousand acres in all the sidecountry that people ski. And the Hazelton zone has been skiing very nicely lately. I went in there first run after the big storm last week, and it really opens up once the base develops. As is the case in a lot of Green Mountain forests, once you put down a 3-6 foot base, everything seems to really open up, as opposed to the more densely packed spruce/fir forests in the Adirondacks and Whites. Even hardwood forests in the Adirondacks though seem much more densely packed than the hardwoods in Vermont. Overall, March is certainly going to go down as the best ski month (as it should, although some recent years its been hit or miss) in this area this season...especially seeing as the cold is going nowhere and there are a couple snow chances in the next week. The snowpack is at the stage where you really feel all of Stowe’s acres too, you just step off the trail and the line choices seem endless. We didn’t hike into the alpine on Sunday, but I did take advantage of the great visibility to get a shot of The Chin area from the south: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 What are you guys thinking about tomorrow? Looking at my p&c, looks like r#$%n to the summits during the day and then temps dropping below freezing overnight. as much as I'm ready for spring skiing, I'm more than a little sad to say goodbye to cold dry powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Man if today is how we end this fantastic month long run, there's no better way to do it. Working on the goggle tan in the sun and enjoying packed pow and chalky snow. Thousands of acres available and 25 degrees never felt so warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dryslot Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Not the kind of map I'm looking to create anymore. This is a little more heavily weighted towards the Euro than the faster/drier GFS. StormTotalSnowEMA.png That map has golf cancel all over it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherMA Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 37/14 and sun. Still -8 type of day on both low/high but feels amazing out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreaves Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 37/14 and sun. Still -8 type of day on both low/high but feels amazing out there. Hell, 31° feels amazing outside here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 What are you guys thinking about tomorrow? Looking at my p&c, looks like r#$%n to the summits during the day and then temps dropping below freezing overnight. as much as I'm ready for spring skiing, I'm more than a little sad to say goodbye to cold dry powder. Around here it sounds like a bit of snow/mix, and then some rain, but even for the valleys, the forecast shows more snow chances for the weekend and the middle of next week. It’s NNE, so it’s going to snow in April, especially in the mountains unless it’s a dry or anomalously warm pattern. As we head into April though, one often has to jump on the powder quickly if you want it dry, because it usually doesn’t stay that way as long as it does in the heart of winter. I have to think some of what the 12Z ECMWF showed would be snow in the mountains for the weekend. The BTV NWS discussion definitely speaks of some snow potential: .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... -- Changed Discussion -- AS OF 345 PM EDT THURSDAY...PLENTY OF UNCERTAINTY WITH REGARDS TO SYSTEM FOR SAT NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...BUT TRENDS HAVE BEEN FOR GREATER IMPACTS ACRS OUR CWA...WITH INCREASED MOISTURE/LIFT AND ASSOCIATED QPF. UPPER AIR PATTERN SHOWS A COMPLEX SCENARIO WITH DEEP CLOSING OFF MID/UPPER LVL CIRCULATION ACRS THE SE CONUS...WHILE FAST CONFLUENT FLW ALOFT ASSOCIATED WITH NORTHERN STREAM JET IS LOCATED ACRS SOUTHERN CANADA. HAVE FOLLOWED A 15Z SREF/12Z GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN...AND 12Z ECWMF SOLUTION FOR THIS PACKAGE AND DISCOUNTED THE PROGRESSIVE/LESS AMPLIFIED GFS SOLUTION. THIS SUPPORTS SFC LOW PRES TRACKING FROM EASTERN NC AT 18Z SAT TO SOUTHERN NJ COAST BY 00Z SUNDAY...AND SOUTHEAST OF SNE COAST BY 12Z SUNDAY...BEFORE GETTING PUSHED EASTERN OFF THE COAST AS NORTHERN STREAM ENERGY DROPS ACRS THE NORTHERN LAKES. THE TIMING OF THIS INTERACTION WL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN HOW FAR NORTH SFC LOW PRES TRACKS AND IMPACTS ACRS OUR CWA. GIVEN CRNT TRENDS SHOWING A SHARP THERMAL BOUNDARY AND GOOD DEEP LAYER MOISTURE AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH ULVL DIVERGENCE SIGNATURE WL MENTION LIKELY TO CAT POPS ACRS OUR CENTRAL/EASTERN AND SOUTHERN CWA. LATEST THERMAL PROFILES SHOW 540 LINE BISECTING OUR CENTRAL CWA...WITH SOME LLVL CAA DOWN THE CPV ON NORTHERLY WINDS. THINKING BEST CHC FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL WL BE ACRS THE MTNS OF CENTRAL/SOUTHERN VT...WITH LIGHTER ACCUMULATIONS ACRS THE DACKS AND NORTHERN GREENS. VERY EARLY INDICATIONS SHOW A PLOWABLE SNOWFALL WL BE POSSIBLE ACRS OUR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN CWA MTNS ON SAT NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. THIS WL BE SUBJECT TO CHANGED AS THE EXACT SFC LOW TRACK CHANGES AND THE ASSOCIATED THERMAL PROFILES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Beautiful late March day....what an epic late-season run of awesome skiing & riding. We'll deal with tomorrow's hiccup, which I think Mansfield east side will lock the cold air in nicely, so melting will be kept to a minimum. If anything this will just add some more QPF to the snowpack as I would assume with 20-30% water content, most of this will just be absorbed by the dry snow on top. Anyway, sweet NNE day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I expect to get a little more snow before the warm season begins, but it feels like we turned the corner out of winter today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klw Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 My point and click forecast for Sat night has 3-7 inches of snow on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Winter Weather Advisories are now up from the BTV NWS for snow and mixed precipitation tonight into tomorrow. The latest advisories and projected snow accumulations maps are below: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 March 2012 had a temperature departure of +10.4 at Morrisville-Stowe Airport with an average high of 50.5F and an average low of 27.5F. March 2014 is actually more impressive in the opposite direction, with a departure of -12.4 so far, and an average high of 30.1F and an average low of 0.3F. So this month's average high temperature has been in the same ballpark as the average low temperature in March 2012, lol. I'm actually impressed though that this month has actually been colder than March 2012 was warm. I didn't think Mother Nature would average that out so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 It's nice to see that we can still do big negative departures for a month/season. -EPO FTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 It's nice to see that we can still do big negative departures for a month/season. -EPO FTW. Yeah, I'm really quite pleased. Even earlier this winter when everyone was talking about the cold, we were only running -1 to -3 for departures in Dec/Jan/Feb...but those departures were greater in NH/ME. However, this March has been something ridiculous when you really look at the temperatures...to have a March where the average high temp is 30F and the average low is 0F, is pretty crazy. Like you, I"m glad we can put a full month of this together, much like March 2012 was an unmitigated torch. Impressive that we are beating those departures right now on the opposite end of the spectrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nittany88 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 March 2012 had a temperature departure of +10.4 at Morrisville-Stowe Airport with an average high of 50.5F and an average low of 27.5F. March 2014 is actually more impressive in the opposite direction, with a departure of -12.4 so far, and an average high of 30.1F and an average low of 0.3F. So this month's average high temperature has been in the same ballpark as the average low temperature in March 2012, lol. I'm actually impressed though that this month has actually been colder than March 2012 was warm. I didn't think Mother Nature would average that out so quickly. Not quite AS impressive on this side of the Greens. We're at -9.9F for the month (Don't get me wrong still impressive haha), but we'll lose more of that the next 3 days. March 2012 was +12.2F here, so we won't get near that here. And that came on the heels of +6.8F in FEB, +5.8F in JAN, +4.8 in DEC, and +5.1F in NOV. No contest at BTV, the warmth of 2011-2012 was far more impressive than the cold of this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 My point and click forecast for Sat night has 3-7 inches of snow on it. Same in warren at 3000' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Not quite AS impressive on this side of the Greens. We're at -9.9F for the month (Don't get me wrong still impressive haha), but we'll lose more of that the next 3 days. March 2012 was +12.2F here, so we won't get near that here. And that came on the heels of +6.8F in FEB, +5.8F in JAN, +4.8 in DEC, and +5.1F in NOV. No contest at BTV, the warmth of 2011-2012 was far more impressive than the cold of this year. All valid points...unfortunately I think BTV takes a big hit over the next couple days. The southerly flow tonight will keep temps high while east of the Greens should get colder. We should be able to hold onto the colder departures at MVL/MPV with some minor CAD. I had forgotten how warm that entire winter was at BTV (and everywhere), though. That's an unmitigated torch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allenson Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 My point and click forecast for Sat night has 3-7 inches of snow on it. Models coming in kinda juicy right now... WWAs up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 0.8" as of 5:15am at home. Snowing pretty nicely. Winter Storm Watch up for the weekend system now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Event totals: 1.2” Snow/0.07” L.E. There was 1.2” on the snowboard this morning at observations time with light snow falling, and relative to recent days, the temperature felt very comfortable hovering around the freezing mark. Details from the 6:00 A.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 1.2 inches New Liquid: 0.07 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 17.1 Snow Density: 5.8% H2O Temperature: 32.4 F Sky: Light Snow (1-2 mm flakes) Snow at the stake: 18.0 inches There’s still more mixed precipitation to come with this event, but when I woke up, I was already hearing about the next potential event this weekend – my wife was telling me that she’d heard the forecast calling for 5-10” Saturday night. It’s always nice to wake up to that conversation if you’re into snow etc. Anyway, the current Winter Weather Advisories are overlapping with Winter Storm Watches, but here’s the latest advisories map: The updated storm total snow forecast map is already starting to provide information on the next event: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 0.8" as of 5:15am at home. Snowing pretty nicely. Winter Storm Watch up for the weekend system now. Well, the mountains should have some additional accumulations to report this morning because we’ve still got a heavy, driving snow here in Burlington. I’ve got the J&E Productions Live Web Cam running for monitoring accumulation and precipitation type changes at the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Well, well, well. That's interesting. Perhaps winter '14 isn't satisfied with its grade to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dryslot Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 0.8" as of 5:15am at home. Snowing pretty nicely. Winter Storm Watch up for the weekend system now. Shocker........lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allenson Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 0.3" in a quick burst of snow this morning... I see things are coming in further north for the Saturday night deal. Had 4-8" in my P&C last night, now, not so much. Not sure what to root for here. Not really into a couple inches of rain right now but nor am I interested 10" of paste either. Sunny with a high in the mid-40s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Well, the mountains should have some additional accumulations to report this morning because we’ve still got a heavy, driving snow here in Burlington. I’ve got the J&E Productions Live Web Cam running for monitoring accumulation and precipitation type changes at the house. It is dumping up here...maybe we can pull a 3-spot or more out of this up high. Temps holding steady this morning... 25F at 3,600ft 23F at 2,600ft 27F at 1,500ft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.