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NNE Late Winter - Maple Sugaring and Soft Snow


mreaves

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The question is will this winter just sputter out without another decent snowstorm (something more than nickle and dime)?

Although I would like another decent snowfall, it's getting perilously close to the date when I am ready for snow to start melting off the golf courses.  Until then, the snowmobile trails are in good shape so I am happy with the winter.

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The question is will this winter just sputter out without another decent snowstorm (something more than nickle and dime)?

In this part of NNE, March rarely does much nickel and diming. Either it's a decent storm (though it might be rain, of course) or it's a miss/graze. In 16 years, I've had double-digit snowfall for March 11 times, and in 7 of those years had a warning criteria snowstorm. Five of those years had at least two. (Of course, those five sub-10" Marches averaged 4.7", and I definitely see the possibility of one of those.)

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In this part of NNE, March rarely does much nickel and diming. Either it's a decent storm (though it might be rain, of course) or it's a miss/graze. In 16 years, I've had double-digit snowfall for March 11 times, and in 7 of those years had a warning criteria snowstorm. Five of those years had at least two. (Of course, those five sub-10" Marches averaged 4.7", and I definitely see the possibility of one of those.)

 

Yeah the models have not looked very promising in recent runs.

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Two months worth of snow finally slid off the metal roof over our back deck today.

Pretty sure it registered on local seismographs.

Our solar panels let a giant slab go.. The house vibrated and rumbled...it covered the path I have shoveled to my wood pile...instantaneous hardening, had to chop out a new path using my ice chopping spade

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Looking at my NH cam from here in Florida looked like some real nice settling of the pack today.  Don't believe I ever had 24" on the ground at one time this winter. Guess it got up to around 40F up there, would be my first 40F of 2015 I believe.

 

Always interesting to visit new places and seeing local weather in action.  I am staying 1000 feet from the beach and all day with a south wind the fog banks just kept coming in off the 55F gulf water.  2 or 3 miles inland skies were clear.  So similar to our coast with a moist summer on shore flow.  Air temps only in the mid 60's right at waters edge but 80F 20 miles inland.  The cold front is expected to pass around mid day with a quick 25F drop in 30 minutes they say.  We shall see.  Then crappy and cold for a couple of days with a NE flow with the high to the north. Pansies everywhere,  Magnolia trees just opening and grass is mostly brown but starting to green. Close to a freeze tomorrow night.  They say the gulf water temperature rises about 8F this month. Will not be rising in the next couple of days for sure.

 

Hope Boston can get its 1.9" of snow tomorrow  to break their record.

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In this part of NNE, March rarely does much nickel and diming. Either it's a decent storm (though it might be rain, of course) or it's a miss/graze. In 16 years, I've had double-digit snowfall for March 11 times, and in 7 of those years had a warning criteria snowstorm. Five of those years had at least two. (Of course, those five sub-10" Marches averaged 4.7", and I definitely see the possibility of one of those.)

This is true...March usually goes long stretches of nothing or big storms. We start to lose the regular refreshes that we see all winter. For whatever reason, the like 3-6" type events don't occur as frequently as they do in DEC/JAN. At the ski area it's usually big synoptic snows or nothing this time of year.

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Lol, That's all we have had is nickel and dimes, If we could get it to go underneath us we could see a tad more out of it it seems

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Haha yeah. This is one of the more frustrating good winters for sure...especially this second half since January 24th. The first half was actually really good and exciting up here even if the snowfall wasn't ridiculous. Lots of storms living on the edge of the rain/snow line for the first half of winter.

The skiing has been phenomenal though so that's kept me from losing it a few times with all the near misses haha.

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Haha yeah. This is one of the more frustrating good winters for sure...especially this second half since January 24th. The first half was actually really good and exciting up here even if the snowfall wasn't ridiculous. Lots of storms living on the edge of the rain/snow line for the first half of winter.

The skiing has been phenomenal though so that's kept me from losing it a few times with all the near misses haha.

 

That stretch from 1/27 to 2/2 yielded 49" here, Since then, 23.7" has fallen over 10 events, Definitely nickels, Same here with the riding, I have been on the trails every weekend and plan to be for at least the next two, I am closing in on 1,000 miles this year

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That stretch from 1/27 to 2/2 yielded 49" here, Since then, 23.7" has fallen over 10 events, Definitely nickels, Same here with the riding, I have been on the trails every weekend and plan to be for at least the next two, I am closing in on 1,000 miles this year

Just went out grooming and the trails here are about as good as they can get. About 2ft, give or take a few inches, in the woods. Our trails range from about 800' - 1500' in elevation. Started off with temps a bit warm but things started freezing quickly. I think we got a good couple of weeks left barring any major warm-up or rain storm.
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Just went out grooming and the trails here are about as good as they can get. About 2ft, give or take a few inches, in the woods. Our trails range from about 800' - 1500' in elevation. Started off with temps a bit warm but things started freezing quickly. I think we got a good couple of weeks left barring any major warm-up or rain storm.

You can see the effects of the higher sun angle working in the eastern side and high ground on the trails as some of these areas are starting to get exposed as groomers have to drag snow back over these areas, The other issue is that the conditions have been so good that clubs are running out of grooming funds so some trails even though we have snow are rough in sections

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You can see the effects of the higher sun angle working in the eastern side and high ground on the trails as some of these areas are starting to get exposed as groomers have to drag snow back over these areas, The other issue is that the conditions have been so good that clubs are running out of grooming funds so some trails even though we have snow are rough in sections

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How is grooming funded in ME?  It's run through the State right?  Here in VT we are a private, non-profit.  Our trail pass costs between $115 - $140 depending on when you buy and if you are a resident or non-resident.  A portion goes to the county and local club, in our club's case we get $12 and the our county gets $3.  $100 goes to VAST which pays clubs to groom, makes trail construction grants, provides grants for equipment and promotes the sport.  The amount a club gets as a grooming payment is based on the number of miles of trail they maintain, the type of trail and the average number of weeks the club grooms.  The subsidy payments are made in two installments and if we have a good season, that requires more grooming, there is a grooming contingency fund that will make a third payment.  In the case of my local club, we are pretty conservative fiscally, have a decent membership base and do a couple of fundraisers each year so we can afford to groom our system 3 times per week.  We are also looking at getting a new Tucker Cat for next year.  With the money that we get from our old one and an equipment grant from VAST, we hope to only have to pay about $15,000 out of pocket.  The system that we have in Vermont is not perfect but it seems to work for us and we are not beholden to state government and their budgetary whims.

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How is grooming funded in ME?  It's run through the State right?  Here in VT we are a private, non-profit.  Our trail pass costs between $115 - $140 depending on when you buy and if you are a resident or non-resident.  A portion goes to the county and local club, in our club's case we get $12 and the our county gets $3.  $100 goes to VAST which pays clubs to groom, makes trail construction grants, provides grants for equipment and promotes the sport.  The amount a club gets as a grooming payment is based on the number of miles of trail they maintain, the type of trail and the average number of weeks the club grooms.  The subsidy payments are made in two installments and if we have a good season, that requires more grooming, there is a grooming contingency fund that will make a third payment.  In the case of my local club, we are pretty conservative fiscally, have a decent membership base and do a couple of fundraisers each year so we can afford to groom our system 3 times per week.  We are also looking at getting a new Tucker Cat for next year.  With the money that we get from our old one and an equipment grant from VAST, we hope to only have to pay about $15,000 out of pocket.  The system that we have in Vermont is not perfect but it seems to work for us and we are not beholden to state government and their budgetary whims.

 

Yes, It runs thru the state, The provides state funds to the clubs to maintain the trail system, And i believe it goes by how many miles ea club grooms, In our instance here we get a portion of the Reg money from the city and also the city kicks in some money as well as it helps out the ones that snow shoe walk there pets and the cross country skiers that use the trail system as well, Our guys are out at least 5 days a week grooming, Some of these clubs don't have the membership to maintain there sections of trail or just go out before the weekend to groom, We are the 3rd largest club in the state with over 200 members, So we have a lot of money in our bank account as well as we went out and bought a bombi year before last, And a tucker last year as well as we have 3 blazers, And 2 skandics, Few pics from last weekend my brother in law and I, Trails were mint

 

Sunday%20Ride_zpslzkkayc1.jpg

 

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Yes, It runs thru the state, The provides state funds to the clubs to maintain the trail system, And i believe it goes by how many miles ea club grooms, In our instance here we get a portion of the Reg money from the city and also the city kicks in some money as well as it helps out the ones that snow shoe walk there pets and the cross country skiers that use the trail system as well, Our guys are out at least 5 days a week grooming, Some of these clubs don't have the membership to maintain there sections of trail or just go out before the weekend to groom, We are the 3rd largest club in the state with over 200 members, So we have a lot of money in our bank account as well as we went out and bought a bombi year before last, And a tucker last year as well as we have 3 blazers, And 2 skandics, Few pics from last weekend my brother in law and I, Trails were mint

 

Sunday%20Ride_zpslzkkayc1.jpg

 

Sunday%20Ride%202_zpsxwza8uon.jpg

 

Sunday%20Ride%204_zpsunbd21am.jpg

I hope to get up to ride in Maine next year.  I've only ridden in VT but would love to go somewhere else.

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I hope to get up to ride in Maine next year.  I've only ridden in VT but would love to go somewhere else.

 

I wanted to ask you as well and forgot, Does VT rebate you back the fuel tax for off road use?, They do here, If you ever make it up this way let me know, Maine is a large state and the trail system is a massive one, There are some great sites to visit by snowmobile the old B-52 crash site and the trains are a couple, Riding 2-250 mi/day up here in the northern part of the state can be done in less then 8 hrs, We have a lot of power lines and old rail beds so its hammer down for miles and miles.

 

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That stretch from 1/27 to 2/2 yielded 49" here, Since then, 23.7" has fallen over 10 events, Definitely nickels, Same here with the riding, I have been on the trails every weekend and plan to be for at least the next two, I am closing in on 1,000 miles this year

 

I've had 18.7" from those ten (though one was a complete whiff here) - some average.  Got 36.6" from the Jan-Feb trifecta.  That plus the 29" recorded 11/26 thru 12/13 basically represent the winter.  All the rest is "what might have been."

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I've had 18.7" from those ten (though one was a complete whiff here) - some average.  Got 36.6" from the Jan-Feb trifecta.  That plus the 29" recorded 11/26 thru 12/13 basically represent the winter.  All the rest is "what might have been."

 

Yeah, Exactly, It looked for a time we would be on a record pace but the rug got pulled out on several of these from under us and some were close in as well when they ended up south, Our loss has been others gain, And been done without a -NAO other then some transient blocking for most of the winter

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I wanted to ask you as well and forgot, Does VT rebate you back the fuel tax for off road use?, They do here, If you ever make it up this way let me know, Maine is a large state and the trail system is a massive one, There are some great sites to visit by snowmobile the old B-52 crash site and the trains are a couple, Riding 2-250 mi/day up here in the northern part of the state can be done in less then 8 hrs, We have a lot of power lines and old rail beds so its hammer down for miles and miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We get a small amount from the fuel tax, less than $100,000 per year and $20 from each snowmobile registration, which is earmarked to law enforcement. 

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