NNE Cold Season Thread 2025-2026

[mreaves]

We’ve jumped up to 46°

[J.Spin]

Yesterday I’d hoped to get up to Bolton for some afternoon turns and take advantage of some of the warmer temperatures, but I couldn’t get up to the mountain until after dark. That did allow me to get my first lift-served ski session of the season under the lights. It turns out that while temperatures crept above freezing in the valleys, the mountains stayed below freezing, so the snow never really had a chance to soften up. I was only able to sample terrain with manmade snow, since that’s most of what’s available under the lights, and it was about what one would expect on busy terrain. I’d say it was fairly middling in terms of typical manmade conditions that had seen plenty of skier traffic – not horribly icy, but certainly not universally soft by any means. It was decent snow for carving turns, and temperatures in the upper 20s F made it comfortable to be out. All the main Village parking lots were rather full when I arrived, and when I was leaving the mountain around 6 PM or so, cars were just streaming up the access road. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thursdays are one of their busier nights, but I’d definitely say that the night skiing scene at Bolton is alive and well. The fact that midweek night skiing tickets are only $29 is probably a factor in getting folks up to the mountain for turns as well – that’s just a fraction of the price for a typical daytime lift ticket.

[Boston Bulldog]

Brief burst of snow in Central NH. Flipped back to plain rain in New London. 32.9

[mreaves]

Was up in Essex playing golf at a friend’s simulator and we got a squall warning. Left around 4:30 and there was a few dipping spots blowing around and we joked about the “deadly squall”. Dropped my friend of at his house and hit 89 south. Found the squall between Richmond and Bolton Flats. Almost white out conditions at times but by the time I got to JSpin’s area it had almost stopped. Everything was clear until about Exit 8. Heavy snow going up the hill towards Exit 7. Could see maybe a tenth of a mile, slowed down to 40 and crawled up the hill. Between Exit 7 and all the way down the Exit 6 access road there white out or near whit out conditions. Some of the toughest snow driving conditions I’ve had in a while. More snow with this than the junk that fell last night. Had another round an hour or so ago. 

[J.Spin]

The current Winter Weather Advisories don’t quite extend into the Northern Greens, but I saw that the BTV NWS has a headline and Event Total Snow Accumulation map posted, and this next potential event does appear to be the most substantial one in the storm queue for the next few days. Temperatures look a bit warm to maximize snow in the valleys, but the higher elevations are poised for all snow with 4-8” or so of accumulation in the point forecasts, and the current map seems generally in line with that. Many of the models have liquid equivalent getting up toward that 0.50-0.75” tier, so it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on later Thursday into Friday for some turns and a potential resurfacing of low or even moderate-angle terrain.

The BTV NWS forecast discussion does say to watch out for potential changes in the valley accumulations, so that would also be something to keep an eye on with respect to travel:

Areas from the Champlain Valley eastward are far trickier as the changeover to snow is later and will occur near sunrise and/or into the daylight hours on Thursday. We`ll also start to see drier air intrude during the day Thursday, which could serve to lower overall precipitation amounts. Newport, for example, the 25th percentile is about 1.5 inch, the 75th is nearly 5 inches, and the 90th goes all the way to 7+. Note that our official forecast tends to lie on the lower side for areas from the Champlain Valley eastward through VT, often down near the 25th percentile. Confidence in snow amounts is lower here than further west, and there`s the potential for them to go up should things trend colder and/or wetter. Please stay tuned as we continue to refine the forecast going forward.

[bwt3650]

Snow level is about 2300’ currently.


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[J.Spin]

6 hours ago, bwt3650 said:

Snow level is about 2300’ currently.

Thanks for that update – as noted in the BTV NWS forecast discussion below, it looks like it’s snow right from the start of this system at 3,000’ and above. I’m sure the 2,000’ – 3,000’ elevation band should do fine as well though based on the way the snow levels were already down to 2,300’ as of this afternoon. There hasn’t been much of a change with respect to expected accumulations in the valleys, but the BTV NWS point forecasts have given a bit of a bump in accumulations for the mountains (~6-12” in the Mansfield point forecast), and I see that there are a few shots of that 8-12” shading making its way into the Event Total Snowfall Accumulation Map now.

Area Forecast Discussion

National Weather Service Burlington VT

653 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026

Lets start with what we know, its currently 26F at Whiteface, 28F Mt Mansfield, 30F at Little Whiteface, SLK 39F and 45F here at BTV, indicating elevations above 3000 feet should see an all snow event, producing a sharp elevation dependent snowfall from valley floors to summits, especially in VT.

…a sharp elevation dependent snowfall is expected with a dusting to 3 inches Champlain Valley 8 to 10 inches atop Mt Mansfield to Jay Peak and similar amounts over the northern Dacks.

[bwt3650]

2” at 1900’ and light snow..under performer.


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[powderfreak]

Had 2” when it ended at 1,500ft and 5” at 3,000ft.

3K depth went 63” to 68”.

Skiing felt even deeper above 3000ft.  Top of Gondola might’ve had 6” but we don’t measure up there.

[mreaves]

About 1.5" here.  Maybe a slight overperformer.