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NNE Cold Season Thread 2020-2021


wxeyeNH
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1 hour ago, J.Spin said:

Here’s the north to south listing of available snowfall totals from the Vermont ski areas for Winter Storm Malcolm thus far, using data from areas that have made an afternoon update.  When MRG came in with 10” as I was working my way down, I figured totals would be well into the teens by the time I got to the southern part of the state, but there were notable ups and downs, and only modest additional increases topping out at the 12” mark.

 

Jay Peak: 5”

Smuggler’s Notch: 6”

Stowe: 8”

Bolton Valley: 8”

Mad River Glen: 10”

Sugarbush: 6”

Pico: 8”

Killington: 8”

Okemo: 11”

Bromley: 8”

Magic Mountain: 10”

Stratton: 12”

Mount Snow: 12”

I don’t think the SB number was updated from this morning.  My son measured 5” this morning at 1500’ and said there was at least a foot above 2500’

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1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

That's great for the local mountains there... probably enough for you to skin up the neighborhood hills?  That's a "game changer" for injecting a shot of frozen water into the snowpack.

Seriously thinking about it tomorrow. Doublehead is literally right behind my house, and we have a 12" base in my backyard now (presumably more up top which is at 3k). I've got a pair of rock skis so I may take them out tomorrow and just see what I find. Its mid January and I'm anxious lol.

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In BW, not quite high enough for this event. We prob got about 3 inches total. Only 2 good hours of near blizzard conditions and then it turned into white rain and then plain rain.. Im speaking for the rt302 area. Alex said mid mountain and top did well. 

I have yet to witness upslope that produces more than a dusting - 2 inches

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21 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Phase 2 underway here.

4.9" of wet cement from earlier.  Looks like maybe 1" down and coming down nicely with good flakes. Finally below freezing at 31.8F. Was above freezing for the entire event starting last night through all of today.

327648979_WUNIDS_map(2).gif.66fa0e1b62ab487514d3017d6f1de058.gif

 

Raining here

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Just now, #NoPoles said:

In BW, not quite high enough for this event. We prob got about 3 inches total. Only 2 good hours of near blizzard conditions and then it turned into white rain and then plain rain.. Im speaking for the rt302 area. Alex said mid mountain and top did well. 

I have yet to witness upslope that produces more than a dusting - 2 inches

Wow, seriously? I did see that at one point Alex's PWS temp shot up to the mid-30s. 

Probably about 10" here.

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Things did get a little dicey here at the tail end of the event. I measured 8" at 3pm but it turned to sleet and even rain very shortly afterward, and we did creep up to 35F with mist/drizzle for a few hours. I skinned up to the summit of Wildcat after sunset this evening, and it was sheet drizzle straight to the summit at 4k. Hopefully we can get some scraps from the wraparound overnight to make it pretty again.

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Just now, PhineasC said:

Wow, seriously? I did see that at one point Alex's PWS temp shot up to the mid-30s. 

Probably about 10" here.

Yep, we did hit the mid 30s. Glad you got a nice dumping. 10inches is a good score! We had almost 2 hrs of heavy snow, but I think even then it was 33 at parking lot/302 level. Quickly went to white rain. The sun came out at one point. Then we rained. Back to snow now but still above freezing.

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26 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Phase 2 underway here.

4.9" of wet cement from earlier.  Looks like maybe 1" down and coming down nicely with good flakes. Finally below freezing at 31.8F. Was above freezing for the entire event starting last night through all of today.

327648979_WUNIDS_map(2).gif.66fa0e1b62ab487514d3017d6f1de058.gif

 

You have winter storm watch out right?

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Just now, #NoPoles said:

Yep, we did hit the mid 30s. Glad you got a nice dumping. 10inches is a good score! We had almost 2 hrs of heavy snow, but I think even then it was 33 at parking lot/302 level. Quickly went to white rain. The sun came out at one point. Then we rained. Back to snow now but still above freezing.

I guess you guys got downsloped. Randolph does really well on these east wind events. It funnels right in here and dumps. Wasn't so helpful on Christmas Day... LOL

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2 minutes ago, jculligan said:

Things did get a little dicey here at the tail end of the event. I measured 8" at 3pm but it turned to sleet and even rain very shortly afterward, and we did creep up to 35F with mist/drizzle for a few hours. I skinned up to the summit of Wildcat after sunset this evening, and it was sheet drizzle straight to the summit at 4k. Hopefully we can get some scraps from the wraparound overnight to make it pretty again.

Damn, I am in a good spot for sure.

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2 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Damn, I am in a good spot for sure.

I don't think our snow depth really took a hit because it was relatively brief, but it definitely dripped off the trees. But I feel good heading into the upcoming colder spell with a foot of snow on the ground. It's real winter now.

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4 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Its close here..most spots 31-32F.  Like you mentioned i think, mid JAN elevation events don't seem to be that common. Center of Manchester only had about .5-1" of slop couple hundred feet lower.

Yes 32.8 here at 400 feet, sure it’s snowing up the road at 1200.  Feels like late November or early December lol

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Just now, jculligan said:

I don't think our snow depth really took a hit because it was relatively brief, but it definitely dripped off the trees. But I feel good heading into the upcoming colder spell with a foot of snow on the ground. It's real winter now.

Yep, we definitely needed this one. Meat and potatoes. It's wet now but it'll freeze solid this week and be a great base.

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7 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

I guess you guys got downsloped. Randolph does really well on these east wind events. It funnels right in here and dumps. Wasn't so helpful on Christmas Day... LOL

Oh god, this christmas's grinch storm was just the worst...it will definitely live in infamy

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With Winter Storm Malcolm moving into the area early this morning, there was a major PNW vibe around in the valley – we had huge, moisture-laden flakes falling all morning at the house, and driving through just 2-3” of unplowed snow on the road felt like you were moving through concrete.  It reminded me of being back at Snoqualmie Pass/Alpental.

I gave Mother Nature some time to continue putting down the new snow, then headed up to the mountain for a session this afternoon.  I’d brought gear for both skinning and lift-served skiing, unsure about whether or not there would be COVID-19-related lift queues.  When I reached the Timberline Base and saw the Timberline Quad running for the first time this season with virtually nobody there, it was an easy decision to opt for lift-served.  There were actually no queues at any of the lifts this afternoon, and it was walk-up all the time with numerous empty chairs, so presumably the opening of more terrain took care of any issues that had been creating backups.

In terms of the snow, it was unquestionably dense down at 1,500’.  I was actually happy with my choice to go with lift-served turns because I appreciated having some packed snow in places and the ability to wander off to the sides into the powder as desired.  The powder would have been a bit easier on my fat skis, but on my midfat Teles it was definitely a workout staying for long periods in the deep, dense untracked snow.  I was happy for some quick reprieves on the groomed areas.  Groomed terrain was skiing very nicely – the packed snow was certainly dense, but not to the level of that slick, wet pack snow that can get rather grabby.  The snow got substantially drier with elevation – in the top 500’ of vertical, say from the Vista Summit on down to 2,600’ or 2,700’, the snow was in a totally different league relative to the base.  Jumping into untracked powder made for smooth, easy turns; the snow had just lost enough density that it just wasn’t pushing me around on my midfat Teles.  Down below those elevations, the powder began to get a bit more dense, but you could definitely give yourself and extra margin of comfort on a pair of alpine fat skis, or especially a snowboard.

As of this afternoon’s additional snow from the storm, we’d picked up 1.09” of liquid equivalent down at the house, so the mountains must have had at least that much, and whatever they did get, it represented a major resurfacing of the slopes.  Ropes were dropping all over the place, and within one trip over to the main mountain, I came back to find that they’d opened up Tattle Tale, apparently even the steep headwall section, which speaks to how meaty this snow was.  They even had Spillway open on all natural snow, and that’s a steep minefield of boulders and stumps.  I figured people were just poaching it until I saw the rope opened at the top.

In terms of the depth of new snow that fell from Winter Storm Malcolm, it was difficult to tell because there was already some decent loose snow below this new stuff, and there hasn’t been a major thaw in quite a while to consolidate the base.  When I got off the top of the Timberline Quad at the Timberline Summit, I stuck in my measurement pole and it went up to 18”.  This represented the entire snowpack at that elevation from what I could tell.  Based on occasional probing around and measuring during the afternoon, I came to the conclusion that there must have been at least 8” that had fallen up high, and the resort’s afternoon report says 8” at elevation, so that makes sense.

I’ve added a few shots from the afternoon at Bolton Valley below, and you can see from that first shot how the dense snow down at 1,500’ was giving the area a definite PNW feel:

16JAN21C.jpg

16JAN21F.jpg

16JAN21D.jpg

16JAN21E.jpg

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5 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Yeah agreed.  We had 5” at 1500ft and 8” at 3000ft... and it contains a lot of water.  I think we can add 6-12” next 24 hours on the upslope.

The snowpack at the Mt. Mansfield Stake appears to have taken a recent 8” jump to get to 22”, so we’re really knocking on the door to 24” now.  With the density of this snow that just fell, it would be very surprising if they didn’t hit 24” by tomorrow.

16JAN21G.jpg

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NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 936 PM EST Saturday...Have replaced Winter Storm Warnings with Winter Weather Advisories with this update as remaining snowfall rates will generally be light away from the higher terrain. We continue to watch as closed mid- upper level low translates newd from central NY across VT. As vertically- stacked system shifts newd, will see a gradual increase in low- level westerly flow, with snowfall becoming more orographic in character after midnight and into Sunday morning. Also noting from the BTV- 4kmWRF that Froude numbers increase above 1 after 08Z. That should signal a tapering off of any remaining accumulating snow around BTV after 08Z, and will see snowfall increasingly confined to the immediate western slopes/summits and some downwind areas of central/nrn VT as we head toward daybreak and beyond on Sunday. The Winter Weather Advisories run through 4PM Sunday, and will see some continued accumulating snow across the Adirondacks and spine of the central/nrn Green Mtns through late afternoon on Sunday. We`ve seen some rain/snow mix at times this evening at PBG/RUT, but should see 1C or so of PBL cooling to result in nearly all snow thru the remainder of the event. In terms of additional snowfall amounts, expecting 1-3" in the immediate Champlain and St. Lawrence Valleys, with generally 2-5" across the Adirondacks, and 3-5" across central/nrn VT. The orographics will help from Mt. Mansfield to Jay Peak with localized totals up to 12" are expected near summit elevations. Road temperatures may fall a degree or two overnight, so untreated roads may become icy for those that need to travel.


Almost like one of the btv lurkers heard our discussion a few days ago...it’s not quite a “pf and the picnic tables” but really appreciate the details.

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Event totals: 6.2” Snow/1.39” L.E.

 

The accumulating snow is definitely starting to get more loft to it after some very dense readings yesterday – it had come down to 11.5% H2O (~9:1) by the midnight last night, and as of this morning’s reading, the six-hour stack had come down to 8.3% H2O (~12:1).

 

Details from the 6:00 A.M. Waterbury observations:

New Snow: 1.8 inches

New Liquid: 0.15 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 12.0

Snow Density: 8.3% H2O

Temperature: 32.5 F

Sky: Snow (2-10 mm flakes)

Snow at the stake: 10.0 inches

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