Put this Dish Back in the Couloir! Too Hot!
March 20th, 2010OMG! Are we going to get to ski those?!

The answer is “yes.”

Full Trip Report is in the making for the workweek!
OMG! Are we going to get to ski those?!

The answer is “yes.”

Full Trip Report is in the making for the workweek!

With my legs still burning from skiing Smuggs the day before, I continued my mad dash to use the rest of my prepaid vouchers today at Mad River Glen. The faithful were out in force today to enjoy the last of this long week full of perfect spring skiing days. Despite the sun disappearing shortly after lunch time and being replaced by clouds and a mild breeze, the snow was stellar and well corned in places though just a tad mushy occasionally as well. Lines were long for the Single but tolerable, especially considering the shaky status of my legs by mid-day.


















JUST RIGHT! The high elevation east coast snow pack continues to cook to perfection as if it were a delicious curry being prepared in a mountain hut. The recent weather has provided a surprise early taste of spring, and if you aren’t skiing this weekend you are doing yourself a disservice. We’ll get a full trip report later (after the weekend is over–duh!), but suffice it say for now that 800 feet of high alpine powder and then 2200+ feet of absolutely perfect peel-away corn soon followed:

Special thanks to Zach “Rollnthunder”–the notch master. He led the way and I followed. Thanks dude! You ROCK!


“Discretion is the better part of valor.” A proverb I sagely doled out last week at Stowe in the climbing gully to a snowboarder that had never hiked the ridge before. And it was advice I was heeding myself Friday morning. Original plans called for a summit of Mount Washington and descent via a western facing gully that I have yet to ski. Exploring a new area solo when I did not have beta on snow conditions and feared possible wind and clouds blowing in later that day did not add up well in the risk assessment arena. Perhaps I was overly cautious in my decision making but I by passed the Route 3 exit and continued north en route to Smuggs.
A decision to go lift serviced on Friday could not possibly have gone wrong whereas a mishap was certainly a possibility with the alternative (though that is part of the sense of adventure!). I arrived at Smuggs shortly after 10:00 A.M. to find the snow still in the process of softening due to a hard freeze the night before. I took a warm up run on Sterling hitting the lower part of Exhibition under the lift where bumps were still rather firm. I tried to follow the sun and made my way over to Madonna 1 and skied down to the bumps under the Madonna 2 lift which were still firm and a little icy. I opted to take a short break and let the sun do its thing.
That flooding rain last weekend was heavy snow in the white Mountains of New Hampshire. Check the deep new snow in this SkiNH video shot Tuesday March 16, 2010 at Waterville Valley New Hampshire.
I know all of you are asking the same question right now: Is winter over? While it sure is going to seem that way over the next few days, I think the answer is no.
After a period of extremely nice weather over the next few days where sunshine and light winds will combine to create really fantastic spring like days. Look- I love winter as much as anybody, but I can’t deny that a 72 degree day with no wind, no clouds and no humidity isn’t sweet. It is. So appreciate it. Enjoy it. Find some corn. The clear nights should allow for significant cooling so re-freezing should be common. Hit the south facing slopes first and then swing around to the north facing slopes. When it gets too wet, descend, pop the top on the beverage of choice and put on the NCAA tourney. Not a bad day if you ask me.
By Sunday evening however changes will certainly be afoot as a large storm system enters the middle section of the country and some cold air builds into canada.
Looking at the beginning of next week right now it seems that the most likely scenario is as follows:
Spike in temps Saturday, warm Sunday, crashing temps with passing of front between 18z Sun and 18z Monday (Sunday afternoon, Monday afternoon), followed by upper elevation snows (graupel) Monday into Tuesday. After Tuesday it should stay more seasonable. Now some models really want to interact the legit winter air in Canada with this storm system on D-5 (Monday). Were that to happen we could get a very nice elevation dependent storm. It’s certainly not unprecedented for a sharp march warm-up to be followed by crashing temps and substantial elevation snows. We’ll have to see how this plays out but the potential is there for a return to …well…lets call it late October- to late November conditions by the beginning of next week.
Drying continues across New England - the Nashua, Concord, Sudbury, Ipswich, Taunton and Charles Rivers are all still showing significant flooding, and are very slow to drop.
Woof. A week or two of silence from the FIS western contingent. Fear not, we’ve still been sleuthing around, snarking pow.
Click here for more early morning gusto.
The heavens are lightning up Green for Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2010.
It was brought to our attention we have high solar activity this week. So we checked out SpaceWeather.com.. look what we found. This letter was sent..
Dear Dr.Phillips and all at SpaceWeather.com,
May we show an aurora image from you on our NECN TV News here in New England?
We will tell everyone to go to SpaceWeather.com for more.
Also, how would you feel about us posting a photo on our NewEnglandWeather.com blog, with link and credit to you?
This is the response (ya!).
Dear Tim,
Permission granted, with pleasure. regards, Tony
Here is a brief description, and image, lifted from Dr. Tony Phillips, SpaceWeather.com.
“This green corona lit up the night sky sky over the weekend,” reports photographer Fredrik Broms of Kvaløya, Norway. “It was absolutely breathtaking–and the best may be yet to come!”
He’s right. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading toward Earth and it could spark strong geomagnetic activity when it arrives on March 17th or 18th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
Mostly clear skies should make for fine viewing the next couple nights, though some clouds are crossing northern New England, where we set more record high temperatures again today. More of the same into the weekend! Our first 70° since December 3, 2009 will be Thursday or Friday.
.
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU, ME
0426 PM EDT WED MAR 17 2010
…RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT BANGOR ME…
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 62 DEGREES WAS SET AT BANGOR ME TODAY.
THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 62 SET IN 1936.
Anyone Remember The March 1936 Flood of record for New England?
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU, ME
0426 PM EDT WED MAR 17 2010
…RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT CARIBOU ME…
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 54 DEGREES WAS SET AT CARIBOU ME TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 45 SET IN 2007.
Portland ME also set record of 64°, beating 62° March 17, 1990.