1.4 inches of snow here in the valley

Radar image from BTV
Last night the snowfall was fairly scattered, but then it started to explode along the western slopes of the Greens. Click on the image to see the animation.

The upslope snow picked up last night and gave us a nice new coating of a bit over an inch down here, while up at Bolton they picked up a couple of inches.  I added the radar image from yesterday evening showing how the snowfall exploded along the western slopes of the Greens.  More details are in my morning post at Americanwx.com.

A little upslope tonight

Radar image from BTV
Some light upslope snow showers are passing through the area this evening

There’s a bit of snow falling and accumulating here, so presumably the mountains are getting some as well.  It’s all small flakes that I’ve seen falling in the past 15 minutes, but I guess some larger flakes fell earlier because there are some huge globs on the snowboard and a couple tenths of an inch of accumulation.  I’ve added the latest radar shot with this post.

Bolton Valley, VT 23MAR2011

Ski tracks on Spell Binder
Some of my tracks left in the delicate powder present on Spell Binder this morning

I headed up to the mountain for some turns this morning and got in my first powder of the week, with more powder likely to come as the upslope snow continues to fall.  I skinned up at Timberline and found 3 to 5 inches of powder at 1,500′, and about 6 inches at 2,500′.  The full details and pictures are in my Bolton Valley report from this morning.

5.3 inches at the house, 8 inches for the mountain

BTV Radar Image
The streamers of moisture heading into our area at around 10:45 P.M. last night

We picked up 5.3 inches of total snow with this event down in the valley thanks to the second burst of snowfall that came through last night, and up at Bolton Valley as well as Stowe, they picked up a total of 8 inches of snow.  I’ve added a picture of the radar image from around 10:45 P.M. last night that shows the snow still streaming into the area.  I’ve added the north to south list of storm accumulations for the Vermont ski areas below, and additional details can be found in my morning update in the Northern New England thread at Americanwx.com.

Jay Peak: 6″
Burke: 5”
Smuggler’s Notch: 5”
Stowe: 8”
Bolton Valley: 8”
Mad River Glen: 5”
Sugarbush: 5”
Pico: 4”
Killington: 4”
Okemo: 5”
Bromley: 2”
Stratton: 4”
Mount Snow: 3”

Four inches and counting…

BTV Radar Image
The second round of precipitation approaching the area this evening

As of 8:00 P.M. we’ve had about 4 inches of snow here at the house, and it looks like there’s still a bit of snow to go.  We got a surprisingly good shot of snow this evening after the main round earlier today; I’ve added a radar shot of the evening snowfall as it was coming into the area.  More information can be found in my evening update at Americanwx.com.

First snowstorm of the spring is on the way

Storm total snowfall graphics for VT/NY
The storm total snow forecast from the Burlington National Weather Service, click for the full-size image

The forecast calls for the first spring snowstorm to come into our area today.  It sounds like it could be close to a foot for some of the local mountains, but some of the latest thoughts in the Northern New England thread at Americanwx.com are that the northern parts of the area might be out of the more substantial moisture.  We’ll just have to see how it plays out, but it seems like at least some snow is on the way.  I’ve added in the accumulations map from the National Weather service in Burlington this morning, and additional details can be found in my post in the Northern New England thread at Americanwx.com.

Monroe’s Sugarin’, Barton, VT 19MAR2011

Steam rising from the sugarhouse
Steam rising from the Monroe's Sugarin' sugarhouse as boiling commenced

The visit to Steve’s sugarhouse was great today, with the usual assortment of food, snowmachines, skiing, sledding, sugar on snow, and many of the other things that go with spring in Vermont.  Temperatures were actually just below freezing, but with the sunshine and no wind, it was comfortable outside.   

Skiing in Barton Vermont
We found some nice turns in snow that had warmed from the sun.

Additional pictures and more details about the day are available in my full report.The snowpack was plentiful, and we even got to do some skiing during the afternoon.

Vermont Maple Open House Weekend

Don’t forget, it’s the official Vermont Maple Open House Weekend, so try to support your local sugarhouse at one of the open house events.  We’re planning to head to my cousin Steve’s operation in Barton for their open house.  When he called me earlier in the week he said to make sure everyone brought snowshoes because the snowpack is pretty hefty as usual.  I think we’re also going to bring Tele gear and do a tour as long as the snow softens up appropriately for turns.  With last year’s low snowfall, touring around had a bit of a different feel because there was only a bit of snow left and it was like a spring hike.  His snowpack is often much more substantial than ours though, so if things are typical up there the skiing could be nice.  Checking my records, it looks like our 2008 visit was at the tail end of March and yielded some very nice turns.