Sunday, November 30^th, 2008

 

Summary:  1.4” new snow in Waterbury (495’) as of 7:30 P.M. 

 

We were up at Bolton Valley this afternoon for some skiing, and when we were leaving from the main parking area (~2,100’) at around 4:00 P.M., it hadn’t started snowing, but it sure felt close.  I didn’t see when the first flakes started falling here in Waterbury (495’), but at 4:50 P.M. I was heading off to the supermarket and it was already snowing in the light to moderate range.  The temperature was a degree or two above freezing at that point, and there wasn’t any notable snow accumulation, so I’m guessing the snow started sometime between 4:30 and 4:45 P.M.  When I went into the supermarket, I suspected that things were going to look quite different when I came out, and that was definitely the case.  It was about 6:30 P.M. when I finally left, and there was probably a half inch or so of new, somewhat wet snow.  Everything was plastered with snow, I had to take some time to clean off all my car windows, and the parking lot was already getting a bit greasy.

 

As of 7:30 P.M., we’ve received 1.4 inches of snow here in Waterbury, and we’ve got moderate to heavy snowfall with flakes in the 0.1 to 0.5 cm diameter range.  The snow doesn’t appear to be too wet now, it’s probably in the ~10% H₂O range, but I’ll have that number later.  Here are the 7:30 P.M. temperature and humidity data:

 

Temperature:  32.3 F

Humidity:  93%

Dew Point:  29.7 F

 

In terms of the snowpack, we were down to ~1 inch here in Waterbury before this event.  We also headed up into the higher elevations (Bolton Valley) today, so I can provide an update on the mountain snowpack there as well.  I hadn’t planned on skiing today, but after hearing Robert Phister's report from Smuggler's Notch, it sounded like conditions were quite good, with some new snow over the bomber base that was set up with the warmer storm last week.  Up on the mountain in the 2,100’ to 2,400’ range where we were skiing, conditions were actually pretty good.  There is a very substantial base of perhaps a foot or so of consolidated snow, and we found a couple inches of fresh powder on top of that.  The underlying layer isn’t even all that hard; it’s more of a crunchy/bonded sugar type of base, so the turns were fun.

 

I’ll have a Waterbury weather update with more snowfall and weather data later this evening.

 

J.Spin

 

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Sunday, November 30^th, 2008:  10:00 P.M. update from Waterbury,VT

 

New Snow: 2.7 inches

Liquid Equivalent:  0.32 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 8.4

Snow Density:  11.9%

Temperature:  32.2 F

Humidity:  97%

Dew Point:  31.1 F

Barometer:  29.77 in. Hg

Wind:  Calm

Sky:  Moderate/Heavy Snow

Storm snow total:  2.7 inches

Storm liquid equivalent total:  0.32 inches

Current snow at the stake:  4 inches

Season snowfall total:  21.6 inches

 

At approximately 9:25 P.M., I looked outside and the snowfall had really slowed to almost nothing.  The flakes that were falling were quite granular, and there was even some sleet coming down.  I figured that was going to be it in terms of snowfall tonight, but as I was out clearing the snowboard at 10:00 P.M. it was already snowing again in the moderate to heavy range.  Within a few minutes there was a substantial coating on the snowboard again; there’s another 0.3 inches of snow on the board at this point (~10:30 P.M.) and we continue with moderate snowfall.

 

J.Spin

Monday, December 1^st, 2008:  6:00 A.M. update from Waterbury,VT

 

New Snow: 0.6 inches

Liquid Equivalent:  0.32 inches

Snow/Water Ratio: 1.9

Snow Density:  53.3%

Temperature:  34.7 F

Humidity:  98%

Dew Point:  34.0 F

Barometer:  29.50 in. Hg

Wind:  Calm

Sky:  Rain

Storm snow total:  3.3 inches

Storm liquid equivalent total:  0.64 inches

Current snow at the stake:  4 inches

Season snowfall total:  22.2 inches

 

At about 11:00 P.M. last night our snowfall started to become granular, and I didn’t check on the precipitation again before going to bed, but it was probably transitioning to sleet.  This morning the precipitation was rain, and the accumulation on the snowboard was saturated with water.  Whereas yesterday morning the yard snowpack was down to ~1 inch, this morning there are 4 inches there and it’s very dense stuff, so thus far this event has represented a substantial increase in the snowpack, at least down at our elevation.  I didn’t pay attention to the snow on the ground for the entire trip to Burlington this morning, but in the Williston/Burlington area there is a somewhat variable coating of slushy snow up to about an inch.  Here on the UVM campus (380’) the ground is mostly white.

 

Now that it is December 1^st, our November Waterbury snowfall is complete and this event makes November 2008 the snowiest at our location since I started recording in 2006, even edging out November 2007 (18.8 inches) and obviously ahead of November 2006 where we amazingly received no snowfall.

 

J.Spin

Tuesday, December 2^nd, 2008

 

The bit of snow that was on the ground in Burlington yesterday when I arrived in the morning was quickly gone, as the NWS indicates they reached a high of 49 F.

 

I emptied my rain gauge here in Waterbury yesterday evening after collecting the contents of the Sunday/Monday system, and we received a total of 0.69 inches of liquid from the event.  I collected 0.64 inches of liquid equivalent (3.3 inches of snow/sleet) of the snowboard through 6:00 A.M. Monday morning, and then a little more precipitation fell after I left for Burlington.  With yesterday’s warm weather, my thermometer recorded a high of 46.9 F, so we lost a couple inches of snowpack here and there are two inches of snow at our stake.

 

At the Mt. Mansfield stake (~3,700’), 0.65 inches of liquid equivalent was recorded from the same system, and the high temperature measured there was only 31 F, so I suspect most of it was frozen in some manner.  The current snowpack reading at the Mt. Mansfield stake is 18 inches, which ties the highest reading of the season recorded back on November 22.  The previous 18 inch depth was reached from a lot of upslope snow however, so no doubt the current 18 inches are a lot more substantial in terms of liquid equivalent.

 

It’s been mostly clear here in Waterbury this morning, but we’ve been having some flurries, and from the radar it looks like a little more snow is headed this way.

 

I was in Burlington from late morning through the rest of the day, so I didn't see any snowfall here in Waterbury aside from this morning's flurries.  I didn't see any accumulation on my snowboard or in my rain gauge this evening either, so I don't think we picked up much, but it also seems like we were well up into the 30s F for temperature today so I suspect we would have been in the same state as Middlebury with regard to accumulations.  I was just out checking the snow at our stake, and that is down to an inch after today's weather, although there was some flurry action while I was out there.

-J