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.

Stowe, VT 20MAR2011

Dylan skiing on West Slope at Stowe
Dylan carving up the corn snow on West Slope

Today featured spring skiing on the slopes of Spruce Peak, thanks to sunshine and corn snow on south-facing slopes.  Details and additional pictures are in my Stowe, VT 20MAR2011 report.

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.

Some surprise snow this morning

We picked up 0.3 inches of snow this morning that I hadn’t really been expecting. That puts us at over 30 inches for the month of March, with the next couple of snow chances coming up this week. Additional weather details can be found in my morning update in the Northern New England thread at Americanwx.com.

Bolton Valley Nordic/Backcountry news

I recieved an update from Joyce Holsten this morning that the current sale of the large chunk of Bolton’s Nordic/backcountry terrain is not going through, although the parcel is still up for sale.

A little snow this morning

We did pick up a couple of tenths of an inch of snow this morning, but that was about it for this elevation. Some folks got a bit more in the higher elevations, and I saw reports of a few inches off the east in New Hampshire. Weather details are in my update in the Northern New England thread at Americanwx.com.

Next chances for snow coming in: Thursday through Sunday

It looks like the next snow event in our area is on tap for tomorrow, with low pressure tracking into Southern New England. Checking in on the discussion from the National Weather Service office in Burlington, the snow level is expected to rise to the 1,500’ to 2,000’ range, with mixed snow and rain below that. The point forecast for our elevation in the Winooski Valley at ~500’ suggests 1 to 3 inches of snow in the Wednesday timeframe, with a bit more possible on Wednesday and Thursday nights. In his broadcast this morning, Roger Hill was suggesting the potential for a couple of inches of snow tomorrow morning affecting the commute. Point forecasts for the higher elevations to our north have 2 to 4 inches in the Wednesday timeframe, and farther to the south, 3 to 5 inches is coming up where the NWS says a good combination of the surface track placement and 500 to 700 mb lift get together. After that, the next storm is expected to come into the area Thursday, and provide precipitation chances through Sunday. It’s another warm system, but there will be chances for snow, especially in the higher elevations.

Stowe, VT 13MAR2011

Ty dropping into the powder in the Hazelton area
Ty dropping into the powder in the Hazelton area

We were up at Stowe this afternoon, and while turns at Bolton yesterday were decent, turns today were even better becasue of all the additonal snow. It snowed all day from base to summit and a good 6 to 7 inches of powder was available off the gondola. More details and photos are in my Stowe report from today.