I would call the Adk above average, to very good.
Gore is at 80% of total average snowfall at this point.
The lack of a real synoptic storm is notable, and a bummer IMO.
Northeastern U.S. Weather
- Thread starter jamesdeluxe
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Gore is at 80% of total average snowfall at this point.
The lack of a real synoptic storm is notable, and a bummer IMO.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I do not think snowfall is the right metric to measure the NE season's success. It's all about 0C/32F and no rain. How many days/weeks?
We don't measure that in snow reporting.
Honestly, I went to Dartmouth because I thought it was the best college in snow country. But the snow sucked when I was there in the 1990s - one good year out of four.
We don't measure that in snow reporting.
Honestly, I went to Dartmouth because I thought it was the best college in snow country. But the snow sucked when I was there in the 1990s - one good year out of four.
berkshireskier
Active member
Yes, James, it has been cold in January and February for almost all of the Northeast, so very good snowmaking weather for most resorts and good for preserving whatever snow has fallen. Unfortunately, I think it has been too cold and windy some days to have an enjoyable time skiing.
I make a point to track both for the purpose of maintaining this web page. The key metric is percent of terrain open, and Northeast terrain does close after rain/freeze events. There is also an OpenSnow page for New England which most definitely discusses whether precipitation events are rain or snow. I look at those for every weekend. For 9 weeks Northern Vermont has had over a foot of snow every week, the last widespread rain event before the one happening now was Dec. 29-31, and the four areas I post (Jay, Stowe, Sugarbush and Killington) have all been at least 85% open continuously since early January. The Mansfield Stake has a 102 inch base.
That I do not track unless it's bad enough to close lifts/terrain.
JSpin's blog is another useful resource, but it's not up to date at the moment.
That's a bit of a surprise considering
Gore is roughly at Killington's latitude and Whiteface's longitude.
IMO odds are decent that Gore will exceed their seasonal avg. Gore was way well behind the other two at the beginning of January.
Also Whiteface and Gore don't use the same methodology for measuring snow. Whiteface includes the summit total in the seasonal average. Gore 'generally' reports from the base, except that this year, they have, at times used the summit number.
Gore is not consistent about it. Now it seems they use the summit number if the base was zero.
Also Whiteface and Gore don't use the same methodology for measuring snow. Whiteface includes the summit total in the seasonal average. Gore 'generally' reports from the base, except that this year, they have, at times used the summit number.
Gore is not consistent about it. Now it seems they use the summit number if the base was zero.
Don't agree with this 100%, snowfall matters, but there is a lot of truth to this.
I really watch Gore. It's not a great proxy for NY, but a decent one. In 14/15, we recorded 115 inches, a bit below average but the season included 6 weeks without rain, and it was generally agreed to be an excellent season. This year's cold was more sustained, 8 weeks long (and much colder) and we are ahead of 14/15 in snowfall to date, by about 10%. Some of this year's cold pushed the storms south too. That didn't happen in 14/15.
EMSC
Well-known member
I'm betting wrong context. I think Harvey is saying 80% of annual average snowfall, not 80% of normal season to date?
That dawned on me just now too. Makes more sense.
Yes sorry for the confusion.
Most places are in the 50-75% range open this weekend after being 90+% for two months.
This Mont Tremblant report on Alpinfans is from a week ago (March 27). It's always interesting to read comments from Europe about North American ski areas. Visits to the Northeast from over there are rare as people naturally gravitate toward the West. Apparently, this guy was on a business trip and that's why he was in Quebec.
He mentions that cover in the Tremblant woods is getting sparse; however, I'm impressed by how winter-like it appears this late in the month in the Laurentians, right down to the base elevation -- especially compared to the molehill St. Bruno (just to the east of Montreal) that he visited on its final day of operation.
He mentions that cover in the Tremblant woods is getting sparse; however, I'm impressed by how winter-like it appears this late in the month in the Laurentians, right down to the base elevation -- especially compared to the molehill St. Bruno (just to the east of Montreal) that he visited on its final day of operation.
Fun read. Laughed at "A view of the Main Base Village. It was only built in the 90s and therefore has absolutely no history, but it's still somehow beautiful to look at."
Have read a few trip reports by Australians who end up in the northeast for other reasons during ski season. They are more at home than people who ski regularly in the European Alps since Australian mountains aren't that high and have weather patterns similar to the northeast in terms of freeze/thaw and rain during the ski season.
I just got back from Mt Tremblant. I got to experience all the seasons in 3 days. Arrived on Tuesday and it was warm (45-50F). A few showers with some distant lightning. They had to close the lifts in the afternoon for 1.5 hrs due to lightning in the area. After the lift reopened, got on the Gondola, rain at the bottom and mid way up, changed to snow. At the top it was now a whiteout.
Woke up Wednesday and they reported 7 cm new (3 in). The mountain was transformed back to winter. Snowed lightly all day Wednesday with temps in the 20s. Thursday woke up to bright sun and a little more fresh snow up top. Conditions are excellent for mid April. On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, no one except me was skiing the ungroomed runs. Therefore there wasn't any competition for the medium density 5 inch of new snow on top of the hardpack.
Woke up Wednesday and they reported 7 cm new (3 in). The mountain was transformed back to winter. Snowed lightly all day Wednesday with temps in the 20s. Thursday woke up to bright sun and a little more fresh snow up top. Conditions are excellent for mid April. On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, no one except me was skiing the ungroomed runs. Therefore there wasn't any competition for the medium density 5 inch of new snow on top of the hardpack.
Looking great for the northeast in mid-April! Remind me how long your drive is?
I live in Toronto. Typically drive time to Tremblant is 6 hrs. Therefore its not around the corner but a nice getaway for 2-3 days.