The Skiing Weatherman Conditions Report: March 26-March 30
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Now that astronomical spring is here, one thing is certain for skiers and riders in the Northeast...lift lines are shorter!!! This is the time of the season when only the hard-core seem to head for the slopes, despite an ongoing effort through the years on the part of the resorts and the industry to educate the casual winter sports enthusiasts about the glories of a spring day on the slopes. Consider...seldom is it downright cold (this morning, 3/24, would be an exception...it was well below zero across northern New York and northern New England this morning), the light on the trails is the best of the season, the snow is almost certainly going to be soft enough to carve, lunch and après’ ski on the deck of the lodge are often an “event”, and when the day is over, you can drive home in daylight! In spite of all these positives, too many people get distracted by too many other outdoor activities, which is why you don’t have to worry about lift lines.
Midweek Forecast
As for the upcoming weather in the mountains, a nasty shot of late season arctic air swept into the Northeast Sunday night, and despite plenty of sunshine, the first couple of days of this week are turning out to be about 15 to 20 degrees above normal. That cold air will help set the stage for a very strong storm to spin up well south of New England on Tuesday, with the low center heading for Nova Scotia as a raging gale center by Wednesday night. As has been the case several times during this season, the track of the storm will be just a little too far offshore for a major dump of snow in the mountains of the Northeast. Some of the northern stream jet energy will interact with the cold air in place to produce light snow amounts in eastern New York and northern New England, so if you hit the slopes on Wednesday or Thursday of this week, you will find mid-winter packed powder surfaces on which to play. It will be turning milder by the end of the week, and surfaces will morph to more of a loose granular consistency. A good sign for April is the fact that trails all across the region have plenty of base snow as the month of March winds down.
Longer Term
Longer term, it looks as though we are going to head into a rather changeable pattern, with shots of milder than normal air moving in for several days, only to be flushed out to sea and replaced by a chilly air mass. Part of the reason that I am confident that cold shots will remain part of the landscape is that Canada is buried in snow, as shown by this latest look at North American snow cover, courtesy of NOAA...
That deep snow cover will act as a very effective cooling influence on temperatures north of the border for quite some time to come. Here is a forecast of the standard deviations of temperatures anticipated for the next ten days across Canada, our primary source region for cold air, courtesy of Environment Canada...
As you can see, there are negative values all across Canada, and well north into the sub-arctic regions. This bodes well for a skiing and riding season that should extend well into April, and perhaps into May across the far north. Any time the wind turns north of west, the chill will move across the border and help to preserve our snow cover. Along the way, I would expect additional natural snow to contribute to the longevity of the season, as well, due to the expected presence of an upper level trough much of the time over eastern North America.
So, if ever there is a season to give spring skiing a try, this might be it. Most resorts are still in full operation, or close to it, and there are no signs that trail counts are going to take a precipitous drop any time soon. Make your plans for a day or two in the mountains now...if you have never experienced the joys of spring skiing, you can thank me later.
Upcoming Events
Here are some special events on the slopes that might interest you...
- Wachusett Mt., MA-3rd Annual Up, Down, and Around Challenge 3/29, Pond Skimming Party 3/30
- Mt. Snow, VT-Sink or Swim Pond Skimming 3/29
Related Slideshow: Best Ski + Snowboard Colleges in the East
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