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NNE Winter Thread


powderfreak

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7 minutes ago, klw said:

Okay: Driveway advice being sought.

Driveway at the new house is steep, paved, and about 80 yards long, on north side of hill, lots of trees.  Last Saturday's mix left icy spots and some glacial like packed snow in spots.  The last two nights I have not been able to get more than 3/4ths of the way up before sliding back down.  Tonight I will get home to 2 to 3 inches of pristine snow on top of the offending ice.

So: do I park at the bottom and clean off the snow in the hopes that the balance will melt or do I just drive on up and see if the snow gives me enough grip to make it up?

Clean it, buy sand, or around here the town lets you take buckets from their piles, and stay on top of it

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8 minutes ago, klw said:

Okay: Driveway advice being sought.

Driveway at the new house is steep, paved, and about 80 yards long, on north side of hill, lots of trees.  Last Saturday's mix left icy spots and some glacial like packed snow in spots.  The last two nights I have not been able to get more than 3/4ths of the way up before sliding back down.  Tonight I will get home to 2 to 3 inches of pristine snow on top of the offending ice.

So: do I park at the bottom and clean off the snow in the hopes that the balance will melt or do I just drive on up and see if the snow gives me enough grip to make it up?

Well Ginx has good advice but he's a southerner that lives down in tropical SNE.  I have the same problem except my driveway gets sun.  The snowstorm a couple of days ago was brutal for the ice.  That bit of warmup at the end with the rain just quickly refroze everything.  Everyone's driveway is now ice with a sneaky 3" coating that just slides off the under layer.  Clearing the snow and sanding is one way to go.  I'm going to keep the snow on the driveway and tomorrow hopefully the mid 30's will melt the base just enough to adhere to the ice.  I get sun and you don't so that might not work for you.  Saturday looks like perhaps enough wet snow to adhere to the ice if you do clean off this powder first.  Third option is to just sell the house and move south.  Deep winter up here for sure!

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7 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Well Ginx has good advice but he's a southerner that lives down in tropical SNE.  I have the same problem except my driveway gets sun.  The snowstorm a couple of days ago was brutal for the ice.  That bit of warmup at the end with the rain just quickly refroze everything.  Everyone's driveway is now ice with a sneaky 3" coating that just slides off the under layer.  Clearing the snow and sanding is one way to go.  I'm going to keep the snow on the driveway and tomorrow hopefully the mid 30's will melt the base just enough to adhere to the ice.  I get sun and you don't so that might not work for you.  Saturday looks like perhaps enough wet snow to adhere to the ice if you do clean off this powder first.  Third option is to just sell the house and move south.  Deep winter up here for sure!

Option 4 sell the front wheel car and buy second Subaru.

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6 hours ago, klw said:

Okay: Driveway advice being sought.

Driveway at the new house is steep, paved, and about 80 yards long, on north side of hill, lots of trees.  Last Saturday's mix left icy spots and some glacial like packed snow in spots.  The last two nights I have not been able to get more than 3/4ths of the way up before sliding back down.  Tonight I will get home to 2 to 3 inches of pristine snow on top of the offending ice.

So: do I park at the bottom and clean off the snow in the hopes that the balance will melt or do I just drive on up and see if the snow gives me enough grip to make it up?

 

What’s your vehicle situation in terms of AWD/4WD/snows/studs?  You may want to upgrade there if possible, because even with maintenance, it may still be a challenge getting up/down, and you may or may not always have time to do all that maintenance (speaking from direct experience here).

 

And yes, I know that snow tires are somehow ridiculously anachronistic to some provincial types, but we’re talking Vermont here, not Connecticut suburbia.

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28 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

Ahh, I see you guys are already touching on the vehicle topic – is the Subaru making it up OK?

Subaru laughs at the driveway and cruises up.  Prius is the one having a hard time.  My commute is 60 miles, however, so I really enjoy the MPG that the Prius brings to the table.

 

Here is the driveway in pictures from this summer:

 

463a.jpg

467a.jpg

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Just looked at the 12Z Euro.  Has about 15" of new snow for all of us over the next week.  Most of that with a fantasyland noreaster towards the end of next week.  So driveway ice/snow could be changing quite a bit.  Sand could get buried.

Sun breaking through now.  Storm total 3.25".  Very wintery appeal.  It certainly will be a white christmas.  Nice to have winter back where it belongs!

 

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24 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Just looked at the 12Z Euro.  Has about 15" of new snow for all of us over the next week.  Most of that with a fantasyland noreaster towards the end of next week.  So driveway ice/snow could be changing quite a bit.  Sand could get buried.

Sun breaking through now.  Storm total 3.25".  Very wintery appeal.  It certainly will be a white christmas.  Nice to have winter back where it belongs!

 

What did the Euro show for Saturday?

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1 hour ago, J.Spin said:

 What’s your vehicle situation in terms of AWD/4WD/snows/studs?  You may want to upgrade there if possible, because even with maintenance, it may still be a challenge getting up/down, and you may or may not always have time to do all that maintenance (speaking from direct experience here).

 

And yes, I know that snow tires are somehow ridiculously anachronistic to some provincial types, but we’re talking Vermont here, not Connecticut suburbia.

good snow tires should get the job done in all but the worst... through studs are probably not all that great for long distances over dry road.

however, the other option, of course, is to just park at the bottom and walk the last 200 ft.  could always put in some sorta carport or whatever if need be.

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49 minutes ago, J.Spin said:

Event totals: 1.5” Snow/0.13” L.E.

 

Details from the 2:00 P.M. Waterbury observations:

 

New Snow: 0.9 inches

New Liquid: 0.07 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 12.9

Snow Density: 7.8% H2O

Temperature: 38.3 F

Sky: Light Snow (1-3 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: 6.0 inches

Same here...bout 1.5" at home.

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2 hours ago, wxeyeNH said:

Well Ginx has good advice but he's a southerner that lives down in tropical SNE.  I have the same problem except my driveway gets sun.  The snowstorm a couple of days ago was brutal for the ice.  That bit of warmup at the end with the rain just quickly refroze everything.  Everyone's driveway is now ice with a sneaky 3" coating that just slides off the under layer.  Clearing the snow and sanding is one way to go.  I'm going to keep the snow on the driveway and tomorrow hopefully the mid 30's will melt the base just enough to adhere to the ice.  I get sun and you don't so that might not work for you.  Saturday looks like perhaps enough wet snow to adhere to the ice if you do clean off this powder first.  Third option is to just sell the house and move south.  Deep winter up here for sure!

Lol I learned my lessons from the 100" inch winters. if you live in VT 1 you should have  a truck, 2 you should know how to take care of your driveway.

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I have a dirt/rocky driveway so I never get very far down with the snowblower because of fear of breaking shear pins. So every season after the first few storms I get a layer of ice. I usually try to keep a little packed down fresh snow on top for traction. I like that method until March when I'm left with a solid 2" of ice to melt. 

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Had 3.8" at around noon today and only an additional half inch was reported by 3:30pm, so probably around 4.25" for storm total at 3,000ft. 

15698175_10102788082621940_2474378816915

 

Solid 3" at the base and snowpack at 16-17" at 1,500ft.  Looking at area reports that's gotta be one of the higher snowpacks in the state for that elevation.

FullSizeRender.jpg

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A good time to look at seasonal snowfall as we head into Christmas week.  Much better than last year.

From north to south...

Jay Peak... 122"

Smuggs... 99"

Stowe... 114"

Bolton... 103"

MRG... 84"

Sugarbush... 142"

Killington... 80.5"

If these differences continue throughout the winter, Sugarbush is on pace to get well over 100" more than its neighbors and also knock Jay Peak out of the top spot in the East.  Impressive.

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3 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

A good time to look at seasonal snowfall as we head into Christmas week.  Much better than last year.

From north to south...

Jay Peak... 122"

Smuggs... 99"

Stowe... 114"

Bolton... 103"

MRG... 84"

Sugarbush... 142"

Killington... 80.5"

If these differences continue throughout the winter, Sugarbush is on pace to get well over 100" more than its neighbors and also knock Jay Peak out of the top spot in the East.  Impressive.

that snowcam investment is quite the marketing tool.^_^

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Just now, Hitman said:

that snowcam investment is quite the marketing tool.^_^

I'm not going to lie, I would see some satisfaction of seeing someone upset Jay Peak however they have to do it, lol.

To that effect, I'm honestly surprised Sugarbush hasn't been shouting that from the roof-tops.  If I had that lead on the neighbors and the rest of the state, you can bet I'd be all over that.  There are a few big ticket items in ski area marketing in the East and its most snowfall and most open terrain being the highest ones.

I do think and know Sugarbush has gotten crushed and maybe more relative to normal than they usually do.  Just like we always knew Jay Peak got the most snowfall usually on a seasonal basis...but at the same time given the information available you know it might be a little high too.

I just think at some point you should see those snowfall differences build up into on-trail snow.  Like they've had 5 FEET more than Killington so far this winter and its only December 23rd.  That should translate into some much larger base depths, trail openings, overall conditions, etc.

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11 minutes ago, Hitman said:

 

this is probably a better way to do it.

lol wtf is with the dog?

I'm very jealous of the Bush technology they have with that cam at 4,000ft...because you could do it perfectly with some sort of elevating board that you can adjust upward as the snowpack rises.  I think they should embrace it...say, "hey it drifts sometimes or fills in a little bit, its 4000ft, visit often to watch it snow.  If we think its drifted in, we modify the snowfall numbers or measure at a slightly lower less windy elevation." 

Its a fascinating tool because I know a lot of people that find themselves looking at it just to see if its actually snowing or not.  Embrace it for what it is and run with it. 

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27 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Had 3.8" at around noon today and only an additional half inch was reported by 3:30pm, so probably around 4.25" for storm total at 3,000ft. 

15698175_10102788082621940_2474378816915

 

Solid 3" at the base and snowpack at 16-17" at 1,500ft.  Looking at area reports that's gotta be one of the higher snowpacks in the state for that elevation.

FullSizeRender.jpg

Yea, I think at 1500Ft, its probably tops. There is a spot down here at 1100ft that reported a 15" depth this morning- West Halifax on the East Slopes of the Greens. Not sure what the base depths are are at Statton or Bromley, but they are at or above 2K

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3 minutes ago, OceanStWx said:

Looks like MWN at 104.5" for the season so far.

Is that in a precipitation can with the wind shield things?  Given how those under-catch that's a lot of snow if so.

That seems very impressive for the wind-swept summit though I don't know that climo very well.  Probably translates to like 150" down at like 4,000ft below treeline or at the HoJo's Shelter on the Tuckerman trail.

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Just now, powderfreak said:

Is that in a precipitation can with the wind shield things?

That seems very impressive for the wind-swept summit though I don't know that climo very well.  Probably translates to like 150" down at like 4,000ft below treeline or at the HoJo's Shelter on the Tuckerman trail.

You can see the set up in the middle of the image. It is roped off from the public, then has a screen around the can. You can see the screen but not the can here.

I still think there is a fair bit of estimation that goes on. 

image001.jpg

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