Vermont Snow Updates 2008-09

[J.Spin]

Summary: 4.7” snow/0.31” L.E. event totals as of 6:00 A.M. EST

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.7 inches
Liquid Equivalent: 0.02 inches
Snow/Water Ratio: 35.0
Snow Density: 2.9% H2O
Temperature: 16.0 F
Humidity: 83%
Dew Point: 9.9 F
Barometer: 29.80 in. Hg
Wind: Calm
Sky: Flurries/Partly Cloudy
Storm snow total: 4.7 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.31 inches
Current snow at the stake: 19 inches
Season snowfall total: 112.2 inches

The snowfall from yesterday evening and the overnight totaled 0.7 inches as of 6:00 A.M. this morning, at which point just flurries were falling at the house. I could see stars in the sky however, so it was presumably partly cloudy. In Burlington we’ve had flurries and light snow since I’ve been here this morning, and it appears as though there has been a light accumulation here as well.

Based on the BTV NWS discussion, it sounds like these upslope snow showers associated with the trough will continue through today/tonight:

“TONIGHT...PERIOD OF VERY LIGHT UPSLOPE SNOW WL DIMINISH BY 02Z AS DEPTH OF LLVL MOISTURE DECREASES AND SFC HIGH PRES RIDGE BUILDS INTO OUR FA.”

I’ll cut off adding accumulations to the current event with the entrance of the surface ridge Tuesday night into Wednesday, and then pick up with a new event on Wednesday should we get anything from the next vortex that drops into our area. Then it looks like a weak mid/upper level ridge will come through on Thursday with more chances for snow in the Thursday/Friday timeframe.

These periods are some of the toughest to break up into individual “events” because there aren’t necessarily well-defined systems, and with the contribution of moisture from the Great Lakes there just seems to be on and off light snow/flurries for a number of days. At least there’s a little something to measure on the snowboard each round, and the continued snow and below-freezing temperatures really keep the local slopes in prime form.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

1/18/2009-1/21/2009 Event Summary: 4.9” snow/0.31” L.E.

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.2 inches
Liquid Equivalent: N.D.
Snow/Water Ratio: N.D.
Snow Density: N.D.
Temperature: -5.3 F
Humidity: 68%
Dew Point: -16.8 F
Barometer: 29.91 in. Hg
Wind: Calm
Sky: Clear
Storm snow total: 4.9 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.31 inches
Current snow at the stake: 18 inches
Season snowfall total: 112.4 inches

I found a tenth of an inch of snow on the snowboard when I got home yesterday evening, and I cleared it but didn’t take the time to collect other observations. There was some flurry/light snow action around last night as well, and this morning I found another tenth of an inch of snow on the board. With those two accumulations, things had cleared out as the NWS suggested, so I’ll make that the end of the weekend event and should there be any accumulation at our elevation, I’ll start a new event for this next upper level trough that the BTV NWS is discussing this morning:

“A WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS EASTERN CANADA TODAY. THIS FEATURE WILL SPREAD CLOUDS AND SOME LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS INTO THE NORTH COUNTRY.”

Following that it looks like our next event will be on Friday/Saturday:

“IT WONT BE UNTIL SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVES EAST ON FRIDAY AND SURFACE LOW APPROACHES THAT CHANCES WILL INCREASE FOR SOME LIGHT SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON. ...WEAK SFC LOW PASSES OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA FRIDAY NGT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. EXPECTING LGT SNOW TO CONTINUE OVERNGT...BUT BEGIN TO DIMINISH FROM S TO N AS SFC LOW SHIFTS EAST DURING THE MORNING SATURDAY...SETTING UP NORTHERLY WRAP-AROUND FLOW. THIS WILL KEEP NORTHERN ZONES W/ -SW FOR REST OF DAYLIGHT HRS.”

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Summary: 1.1” snow total in Waterbury (495’) as of 6:00 A.M. EST

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 1.1 inches
Liquid Equivalent: 0.01 inches
Snow/Water Ratio: 110.0
Snow Density: 0.9% H2O
Temperature: 17.6 F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 12.2 F
Barometer: 29.83 in. Hg
Wind: Calm
Sky: Flurries
Storm snow total: 1.1 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.01 inches
Current snow at the stake: 18 inches
Season snowfall total: 113.5 inches

I was up at around 1:00 A.M. this morning and noted that we were receiving light snow/flurries falling lazily down, with a touch of accumulation on the snowboard. This morning the flakes had piled up to 1.1 inches as of 6:00 A.M., and for what ratios are worth with these small events, this is actually the highest I’ve seen this season. Flurries and light snow continued to fall as I headed east a few miles into the center of town, where accumulation appeared to be roughly the same as what we’d picked up. I saw two plows out working the roads during my short drive, although I suspect they might have been treating the roads more than plowing. We've even got some light snow in Burlington this morning, although as I look toward the mountains, I can't see them but the snowfall looks more substantial than it does here.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Powderfreak gave us a heads up as it looks like we've got some continued snowfall activity in the area.

It does look like something is going on out there, as the early morning Bolton Valley report I received in my email indicated 2 inches up top, and as of 11:50 A.M. they’re up to 4 inches of accumulation. In the latest BTV NWS discussion, it looks like they are watching things as well:

.NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/...
-- Changed Discussion --AS OF 1106 AM EST THURSDAY...SNOW SHOWERS HAVE BEEN PERSISTENT ACROSS NORTHERN NEW YORK AND NORTHERN VERMONT THIS MORNING AND WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS AFTERNOON...AS WARM AIR ADVECTION ALOFT CONTINUES ACROSS THE REGION. HAVE RAISED THE POPS TO LIKELY FOR THE REMAINDER OF TODAY ACROSS THESE AREAS...AND WILL MENTION SOME ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN THE ZONE FORECASTS.
-- End Changed Discussion --

Here’s what I’ve seen for midday accumulations reports from the local ski areas that made them:

Stowe: 5 inches (11:15 A.M.)
Bolton: 4 inches (11:50 A.M.)

In the Stowe report at 11:15 A.M. they indicated that it was snowing steadily there, and based on the radar (below), I suspect I’ll find some additional fluff on the snowboard back in Waterbury this evening.

J.Spin

 

[dparz]

Visiting from NC for the week - been here since Saturday

Stowe just went off today (thurs) - snow started overnight and continued at a good clip the whole day - at least 10" - in the woods there is untracked at silly depths...

Rimrock glades great - ski straight across Cliff Trail into untracked down into the usual rock river left of Nosedive - seemed like no bottom -

Liftline with great powder - tough to get to the usual bullet proof...

Few dingers but what the heck the skis are rentals...

Best conditions I have seen in january at Stowe....

 

[J.Spin]

Summary: 1.4” snow total in Waterbury (495’) as of 7:00 P.M. EST

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009: 7:00 P.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.3 inches
Liquid Equivalent: 0.01 inches
Snow/Water Ratio: 30.0
Snow Density: 3.3% H2O
Temperature: 28.6 F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 21.0 F
Barometer: 29.94 in. Hg
Wind: ~5 MPH
Sky: Light Snow
Storm snow total: 1.4 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.02 inches
Current snow at the stake: 18 inches
Season snowfall total: 113.8 inches

Based on what I’d seen on the radar and the accumulations that some of the local ski areas have been reporting, I was surprised at how little snow had fallen in the mountain valleys when I drove through them this evening, but apparently not much of the precipitation was making it to the lower elevations. I think that most of the snow that has accumulated down here at this point has fallen in the evening hours. The snow I found on the snowboard this evening certainly wasn’t as fluffy as what was on it this morning – a portion of the flakes were more granular in nature with this round of snowfall.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Powderfreak suggested that the northern Vermont mountains would get a decent shot of snow from this event, and that was the case, with surprisingly little falling in the lower elevations, even the usual upslope valley locations. My morning update from Waterbury follows below with some local resort accumulations for this event at the bottom:

Waterbury event totals: 1.5” snow/0.02” L.E.

Friday, January 23rd, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.1 inches
Liquid Equivalent: N.D.
Snow/Water Ratio: N.D.
Snow Density: N.D.
Temperature: 23.5 F
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 17.0 F
Barometer: 30.09 in. Hg
Wind: Calm
Sky: Cloudy
Storm snow total: 1.5 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.02 inches
Current snow at the stake: 18 inches
Season snowfall total: 113.9 inches

There was just a touch of additional snow overnight in our area, bringing our event total to 1.5 inches in the valley. The Vermont mountains to the north, including Burke which is off the main spine of the Green Mountains, seemed to receive a decent shot of snow with this event. I’ve listed some event totals (reported 48-hr snow totals) generally from north to south below:

Jay Peak: 12”
Burke: 6”
Smuggler’s: 4”
Stowe: 11”
Bolton: 8”
Mad River: 0”
Sugarbush: 1”
Killington: 1”

This was certainly an event focused north of the I-89/Rt 2 corridor as yesterday’s radar suggested, with just a couple of resorts south of that line reporting new accumulations in the past 48 hours, and nobody in Vermont south of Killington reporting any new snow during that period. Our next event looks to take place today/tonight/tomorrow, with the NWS calling for perhaps a couple of inches in the Northern Vermont valleys and up to 4 inches for the higher elevations in the area.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

I haven’t had a chance to get this out until now, but here are some Bolton Valley conditions updates from earlier this week. On Saturday I was out in the local backcountry up above the house, but I did get up to Bolton’s slopes on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday E and I took the boys up to the mountain for a few runs in the afternoon, and we stayed entirely in the Timberline area. Snow was being made at the bottom of Twice as Nice by a tower gun or two, but that was all the snowmaking we saw. Twice as Nice had adequate coverage for skiing at that point, but you definitely wanted to be careful. The snow was generally soft packed powder on Twice as Nice, but anywhere where snow hadn’t been made (most of the trail), there were areas where ground was very close and rocks were showing. Although Twice as Nice generally seems to do fine with just natural snow, it really appeared to be hit perfectly by the winds in the holiday period to strip its snow. Showtime under the lift was in great shape because they made a ton of snow on it. The other run we hit on Sunday was the lower part of Tattle Tale accessed by Woods Hole, and there was plenty of natural snow for turns, even though some brush was still poking through in some spots.

I hadn’t planned to ski on Monday, but one of my colleagues called me in the morning to tell me that he was heading up, and that his kids wanted to ski with Ty and Dylan. So, I brought the boys up in the afternoon and it was very much worth it because conditions were really nice in the 20s F with light to occasionally moderate snow falling. I’d say conditions were even a step up from Sunday because there had been a bit of additional snow. Essentially anywhere you headed off trail was bottomless powder at that point, so unlimited powder skiing is basically there for the taking.

Overall conditions have been excellent short of having a big powder day every day; a couple inches of snow each day and temperatures that never go above freezing just seem to keep the snow surfaces improving faster than traffic can deteriorate them. With the additional light snow at the beginning of the week and yesterday’s moderate event dropping 8 inches, I suspect conditions will be great this weekend so it should be fun checking everything out tomorrow. Bolton is reporting that they finished their snowmaking and grooming work on Twice as Nice, so they’re skiing 100% of their terrain. I’d still like to see another big dump of snow with a couple inches of liquid equivalent in it for some of the woods/glades in the lower elevation areas like Timberline, but everything is skiable so that’s a pretty good place to be. Also, since there’s been some decent snow during the week, some obstacles will obviously have already disappeared.

I didn’t get many conditions-specific photos from the weekend, but a few general shots from Monday are down below. It was the first day I took both boys solo and rode a quad chair. I was wondering how the loading was going to work holding one boy in each arm as I boarded the lift, and it was a little challenging but ultimately worked out fine. We skied somewhat mellower terrain on Monday with my colleague Stephen’s children, so Ty used his Telemark skis. He’s continued to improve and was really cranking out a lot of paramark turns. We worked on narrowing up his stance so he’ll be able to use that when he wants. It looks like having a narrower stance option will allow him to work on dropping his knee to a greater extent on some turns, as his typical stance seems a bit too wide to accommodate that type of turn. Dylan surprised us by going strong all afternoon and never needing a break despite seven runs. His stamina is certainly improving. Stephen treated everyone to waffles from the Waffle Cabin, and they were a big hit with the boys of course, and most importantly, waffles are only $2 each through the end of the month.

J.Spin

 

[icelanticskier]

jeesh j, we gotta get you on some new skis. are those really rossi hellgates yer sportin there? i'm thinkin atomic rt 86 for you. you friggin vermonters are all the same, duct tape, knee pads (probably old protec ones), more duct tape, double pole plants, ok just a generalization on that one. hell gates?
rog

 

[J.Spin]

Summary: 0.9” snow total in Waterbury (495’) as of 6:00 A.M. EST

Saturday, January 24th, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.9 inches
Liquid Equivalent: 0.04 inches
Snow/Water Ratio: 22.5
Snow Density: 4.4% H2O
Temperature: 19.9 F
Humidity: 63%
Dew Point: 6.6 F
Barometer: 29.88 in. Hg
Wind: ~5 MPH
Sky: Light Snow
Storm snow total: 0.9 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.04 inches
Current snow at the stake: 18 inches
Season snowfall total: 114.8 inches

The snowfall that was occurring when I took my observations has already tapered off down here, and as the low pressure moves through the NWS says we’ll have gradual clearing through the morning. The NWS does make mention of the potential for a bit of upslope snow on NNW winds behind the front that is coming through, but they’re not expecting much accumulation. Up above us in the 3,000’ elevation range, Bolton certainly seemed to pick up more snow from this low pressure system, reporting 3 new inches of snow overnight in their conditions summary compared to the 0.9 inches I recorded down here in the valley (495’).

Here are the 24-hour totals I’ve seen reported by some of the local resorts this morning, listed north to south. As with yesterday’s reports, the snowfall seemed to quickly drop off south of the I-89/Rt 2 corridor:

Jay: 4”
Burke: 1”
Smugg’s: 2”
Stowe: 4”
Bolton: 4”
Mad River: 0”
Sugarbush: 0”
Killington: 0”

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Here’s an update from yesterday at Bolton Valley. The mountain was reporting 18 inches of new snow for the week, which isn’t a ton of snow compared to weeks where a big storm and upslope event comes through along with the usual smaller snowfalls, but it’s pretty good considering that our pattern has been fairly dry. Their weekly snow total was certainly helped out by the 8 inches the picked up from the Thursday event. Yesterday morning I found 0.9 inches of new snow on the snowboard at the house (495’) and the mountain was reporting 3 inches overnight as well, so it looked like that would be nice for freshening up the slopes for the day. I also noted that the air temperature at the house was 19.9 F when I took my 6:00 A.M, snow observations, and by the time we were heading up to the mountain around 9:00 A.M. or so, it was down to 10 F. Up at the mountain at the Timberline base (~1,500’) the temperature was 8 F. We knew that the snow surfaces were going to be excellent based on the recent snows and continued below freezing temperatures, but the cold air coming in had the potential to put a damper on the day. The temperatures were actually supposed to continue to fall throughout the day, and if there was much wind with the single digit temperatures, we didn’t think we stick around long for skiing.

We kicked things off with a couple runs from the Timberline mid station, staying low in elevation to keep out of any wind or colder temperatures. As it turned out, there wasn’t too much in the way of wind at those elevations (~1,500’-2,250’) although we were hearing horror stories about the wind and cold from people that had come over from the higher elevations of the main mountain. After a couple of runs Dylan was ready for a break, and all of us were a bit cold (I know that E and I had cold toes) so we headed into the lodge for an early lunch. After lunch we went out for a couple more runs, and with the sun coming around to hit the slopes harder, it was noticeably warmer although I suspect the air temperature in the shade didn’t rise. We even hit the Timberline summit area on one of our runs, and there was a bit more wind up there, but nothing more than about 15 MPH. Ty and I split up from E and Dylan on that run, and by the time we got down to the base area it was feeling much warmer and I was ready for more runs. My toes weren’t even getting cold at all, so the sun seemed to be helping. Everyone else wanted to take a break though, so we hit the lodge again. We noticed that Ty’s cheeks looked like there were bordering on getting some frost nip, so we stuck inside for a while to see how they were doing. Once they were looking good, Ty and I headed back out.

We accomplished a lot in that next run and it was our highlight of the day. We found a route to a new line we wanted to check out in the Wood’s Hole area, dropped into the Wood’s Hole glades that I’ve been wanting to hit for a couple of seasons, and even managed to ski the bottom part of Spell Binder where we’d seen a lot of good snow. It felt like three runs in one, which was pretty amazing for a mid station run. Ty even discovered some cool snow rollers along the side of Spell Binder, which I’m guessing arose when Temperatures got up close to freezing toward the end of the week. We were feeling warm and raring to go for another run after that great experience, but the afternoon was getting on and I think the general consensus was that we should get going. Both the boys had good outings, with Dylan making lots of turns in the good snow and venturing comfortably into the powder, and Ty really stepping up his Telemark skiing by holding some lower stances and working on his powder technique.

In general, conditions are outrageous in the untracked trees and glades, even on the lower elevations of the resort; I probed in the Wood’s Hole glades with my measurement pole and found 15-20 inches of powder throughout the undisturbed areas. That’s far deeper than anyone will sink on skis, but the bottom line is that it’s bottomless out there with plenty of base except for a few areas that were hit with wind. The powder stack is topped off with some excellent champagne, and the whole concoction skis effortlessly. Poor Twice as Nice is still not back to its usual form from when it got hit by the wind, and you still have to look out for rocks and such in some areas. They apparently didn’t make snow on the whole trail, but it was sufficient for opening. I believe the mountain is 100% open except for the race that they are having today on Showtime.

It was 6 F when we left the mountain at around 3:00 P.M., so the temperature really hadn’t dropped much since the beginning of the day. Perhaps the sun helped to keep the temperature up. I wasn’t planning on skiing with Dylan today due to the temperatures, but Ty and E are off skiing at Stowe for the afternoon. It initially sounded like today was going to be the colder of the weekend, with highs not getting above 0 F, but when E checked on the Stowe temperatures she found that they were reporting 12 F at the base. That shouldn’t be too bad if there isn’t any wind.

A few pictures from yesterday are attached below:

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Summary: 0.5” snow total in Waterbury (495’) as of 9:30 P.M. EST

Sunday, January 25th, 2009: 6:00 P.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.4 inches
Liquid Equivalent: 0.02 inches
Snow/Water Ratio: 20.0
Snow Density: 5.0% H2O
Temperature: 12.7 F
Humidity: 69%
Dew Point: 1.5 F
Barometer: 30.27 in. Hg
Wind: 0-5 MPH
Sky: Light Snow
Storm snow total: 0.4 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.02 inches
Current snow at the stake: 17 inches
Season snowfall total: 115.2 inches

Today was a rather surprising weather day on a couple of fronts: temperature and precipitation. Initially we were expecting a rather cold day, with highs perhaps not getting above zero in the mountains, and maybe single digits in the valleys. E and Ty were somewhat lamenting the fact that they had to go off to Stowe for his school ski program, but they decided they’d go, and if it was too cold they’d just hang out and have some hot chocolate. I was working in the house most of the morning, and I began to get suspicious about the cold when I looked at my outdoor thermometer and it read 22 F! I was initially wondering if it was malfunctioning. Dylan and I were heading off to the hardware and grocery stores at around 2:30 P.M. this afternoon, and I noticed that snow clouds were just starting to appear over the mountains above us. However, as I drove a few miles east toward the center of Waterbury and away from the spine of the Greens, the sky brightened up and the sun was out, so I figured the snow clouds were probable a localized/temporary thing. We got our stuff in the hardware store, took care of some bottle returns, and it was probably about 3:00 P.M. or so when we finally went into the grocery store. I hadn’t even thought about the weather again at that point, as nothing was happening. So I was pretty surprised when I came out of the grocery store around 4:00 P.M. and it was dumping moderate to heavy snow. It seemed like it had come out of nowhere. It didn’t last too long at that rate however, and back at the house we’d only picked up 0.4 inches by 6:00 P.M., but E said it that it had snowed the whole afternoon on the mountain at Stowe. She suspected accumulations there by the time she left were probably a couple of inches, and while the resort hasn’t updated it’s snow report since 11:15 A.M. this morning, the report from the stake as of 5:33 P.M. indicated a couple of new inches:

533 PM EST SUN JAN 25 2009
STATION PRECIP TEMPERATURE PRESENT SNOW
24 HRS MAX MIN CUR WEATHER NEW TOTAL SWE
MOUNT MANSFIELD 0.18 0 -16 0 2.0 58

We’ve had on and off light snow here in the valley this evening, but there’s only an additional tenth of an inch of accumulation on the snowboard so far.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Scott already provided a Stowe update along with some of his weather thoughts for this week, but E and Ty were also up at Stowe today so I’ll pass on some additional information. I believe they spent all their time over at Spruce, but it was certainly warmer than they’d expected. When they arrived at around noon the temperature was 14 F, and light snow was falling. E said the snow increased in intensity and fell all afternoon, and at times it came down fairly heavily. She said it definitely freshened up the surfaces while they skied. There was some wind around as well, although it didn’t sound like it was too bad where they were skiing on Spruce. When they were leaving the mountain at around 4:30 P.M. the temperature was 10 F, and E said the new accumulation appeared to be a couple inches or so.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Waterbury event totals: 0.5” snow/0.02” L.E.

Monday, January 26th, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.1 inches
Liquid Equivalent: N.D.
Snow/Water Ratio: N.D.
Snow Density: N.D.
Temperature: -7.8 F
Humidity: 69%
Dew Point: -19.0 F
Barometer: 30.47 in. Hg
Wind: Calm
Sky: Clear
Storm snow total: 0.5 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: 0.02 inches
Current snow at the stake: 17 inches
Season snowfall total: 115.3 inches

No additional snow fell at the house beyond the tenth of an inch from last night, but I figured I’d send out the conditions info along with my other observations and some accumulations from the higher elevations listed north to south:

Jay Peak: 0”
Smuggler’s: 2”
Stowe: 3”
Bolton: 2”
Mad River: 1”
Sugarbush: 0”
Killington: 0”

Also, since the sky is so crystal clear out there I guess this is the end of this event. There is supposedly a weak upper air disturbance moving through the area this afternoon, although the NWS is suggesting just flurries so I don’t suspect there will be any accumulation for me to record with that one. It sounds like the next accumulating snowfall event will be the more substantial midweek system. The BTV NWS synopsis from this morning is below:

AN UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF FLURRIES TO THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION TONIGHT AND WILL BE CENTERED OVER THE NORTH COUNTRY ON TUESDAY. A LOW PRESSURE AREA DEVELOPING OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ON TUESDAY WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND BE OFF THE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND COAST BY MIDDAY ON WEDNESDAY. THIS LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL BRING SOME SIGNIFICANT SNOW TO THE NORTH COUNTRY ON WEDNESDAY.

J.Spin

 

[J.Spin]

Summary: 0.3” snow total in Waterbury (495’) as of 6:00 A.M. EST

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009: 6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury, VT

New Snow: 0.3 inches
Liquid Equivalent: <0.01 inches
Snow/Water Ratio: >30.0
Snow Density: <3.3% H2O
Temperature: 11.1 F
Humidity: 75%
Dew Point: 2.1 F
Barometer: 30.47 in. Hg
Wind: Calm
Sky: Light Snow/Flurries
Storm snow total: 0.3 inches
Storm liquid equivalent total: <0.01 inches
Current snow at the stake: 17 inches
Season snowfall total: 115.6 inches

I didn’t think there would be any accumulating snow to report until tomorrow’s event, but at around 12:45 A.M. this morning, I took a look out back and saw steady light snow falling that was comprised of reasonably large flakes (diameters in the 1 cm range). It looked like it had only recently started to fall, but with the notable flakes it had quickly accumulated into the measurable range. I checked back at around 1:00 A.M. and found that the snow had slowed down to flurries, so I took a quick measurement off the board and found three tenths of an inch of accumulation. That was still all there was this morning, and the precipitation was just flurries as I was taking my observations, but just as I was heading back inside the snowfall jumped up a notch to the light snow range. The light snow continued all the way into the center of Waterbury and the roads had picked up a light coating. I checked the BTV NWS discussion from last night and it looks like the snow may have come from a weak shortwave/upper level disturbance passing through. I had time to try to get a liquid measurement off the snow, so I stacked six cores that ultimately revealed ~0.003” of liquid in the 0.3 inches. However, for practicality I’ll just report that there was less than a hundredth of an inch of liquid.

It looks up above us on the mountain they picked up a couple of inches as well; I enjoyed the first paragraph from this morning’s Bolton update:

"A surprise two for Tuesday" I've waited all year to say that. Maybe it's a cheesy overused cliché, or maybe it's my unfulfilled dream of being a radio DJ where I could play two songs in a row from the same artist every Tuesday. Maybe it's both. Either way, driving in there was no snow falling. Then I hit the access road and started to see flurries. The snow increased as I reached the base of the mountain and the groomers are reporting 2" of snow on the mountain as of 6am. Funny how the weather works up here.

I believe it’s Justin that does the morning updates for Bolton Valley, certainly a man after my own heart. Here are the accumulations I’ve seen for the local ski areas that have reported in this morning, listed north to south

Jay Peak: 3”
Smugg’s: 0”
Stowe: Dusting
Bolton: 2”
Mad River: 0”
Sugarbush: 0”
Killington: 0”

It looks like overnight accumulations were very much hit or miss if neither Smugg’s nor Stowe reported much accumulation in the area between Bolton and Jay.

J.Spin

 

[yak]

Gotta love your dedication - 1:00 am and you're out checking the board!

 

[J.Spin]

Gotta love your dedication - 1:00 am and you're out checking the board!

It was sort of lucky in this case, as I was up preparing a lecture for today and happened to look outside as I was getting ready to go to bed - and there were some nice fat flakes falling. Most of the time I would have been in slumber land by that point, but it's always fun to see a little unexpected snowfall!

-J

 

[J.Spin]

jeesh j, we gotta get you on some new skis. are those really rossi hellgates yer sportin there? i'm thinkin atomic rt 86 for you. you friggin vermonters are all the same, duct tape, knee pads (probably old protec ones), more duct tape, double pole plants, ok just a generalization on that one. hell gates?
rog

LOL, I got those Hell Gates at the Killington ski swap a couple years back since they were a great deal and I wasn't sure how much Telemarking I'd be doing as I phased it onto my skiing. But it's so damn fun that I think I Tele now as much if not more than I alpine ski. At some point during the middle to late part of last season I was getting to the stage where I could feel that I wanted something a bit fatter for the typical conditions I ski, and probably shorter as well. But, I've just sort of been lazy about looking for more Telemark skis for myself, and there's certainly a part of me (probably the Vermonter part) that has a hard time justifying another pair of Telemark skis when I've got a working pair. But, I'm getting to the point where the Telemark skiing is a big enough part of my life that more than one pair (or at least a "more modern" pair) seems practical, and this is probably the kick in the pants I need. You know, the first time I ever hopped on a pair of Telemark skis, it was a pair of Atomic TM-22s, and I've only ridden a few different pairs but they are still my favorites of any Tele skis I've ridden. I've had many pairs of Atomic alpine skis and really liked them, and I do love that beta structure feel. The RT 86 sounds good, although with the dimensions (127/86/113) and from the reviews it sounds like it’s more of an all-around ski vs. a powder-specific ski? What bindings should I get? Also, what’s this trend I hear about skis getting longer again? E was just speaking with a friend who’s a dps rep, and he was saying that’s the way things are going. Perhaps that’s more specific to the stuff he sells.

-J

 

[icelanticskier]

i felt the need for some new skis this year, ok, so i get new skis/fritchis every year and boots every other as i use the stuff alot and at the price i get the stuff, i sell it for as much as i bought it. my icelantics after 1 season were shot-nuthin left, so i sold em with the binders and got the rt 86 in a 176cm which actually measures to a 179cm and the length is perfect for it's dimentions @128-86-114.
i love sidecut, lots of it and i've never skied a ski as lively, poppy and gives it back to you like an atomic. most skis, k2, movement, volkl, especially the new mantra, g3 all feel dead and not playful to me even when they are new. not only are the rt 86 light, they ski every type of snow amazingly well and since i never own more than one ski/binder setup at a time, this ski does it all. if i were to put a freeheel binder on it, i'd go with something simple like a rotti cobra r8.
lookin forward to rippin some fresh at sunapee tomorrow as they are calling for 1-2 overnight, 6-10 during the ski day tomorrow then 3-5 more tomorrow night. i may move onto cannon for thursday or somethin a bit more exotic with lifts.
enjoy the pow.
rog

 

[J.Spin]

Snow began to fall right around 6:00 A.M. this morning at the house in Waterbury, and by the time I left at around 6:30 A.M. or so, it was up to borderline moderate intensity. The roads had already picked up a decent coating of snow, but fortunately it wasn’t quite enough to affect the driving substantially. As I traveled westward, I expected the road conditions to deteriorate with continued snowfall, but when I approached the Jonesville area, probably about 8 miles west of the house, the snow began to lighten up. By the time I was in Richmond, the snow had essentially stopped altogether, so I wasn’t sure if it was a lull in the storm or if the mountains had kick started the event and I was traveling out of their influence. By the time I got to Burlington around 7:00 A.M., there was very fine snow falling with just a dusting on the vehicles. Temperatures were in the mid teens F through the mountains, and it was 20 F when I arrived here at the UVM campus. As of 7:30 A.M. here at UVM we’ve still got very light snow, although the intensity may be up a touch from when I arrived. This morning, I heard Mark Breen indicate that he expects accumulations up to 22 inches, and the Fairbanks Museum Eye on the Sky guys are usually very level-headed about their accumulations, so it looks like the mountains will do well with this event.

J.Spin