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VERMONT RESORTS REACH RECORD SNOWFALL

VERMONT RESORTS REACH RECORD SNOWFALL
State Sees the Snowiest February in History

The abundant snowfall that has blanketed Vermont's ski areas all season has continued at a record-breaking pace with snowfall totals that have already shattered the 50-year-old mark for the snowiest February in Vermont's history. And, the copious snow storms this season have already brought this winter's accumulation into the top 10 all-time snowiest ski and ride seasons on record. February’s accumulation hit 34.9 inches at 12:00 a.m. this morning, retiring the 34.3 inch 1958 record. Burlington was up to 37 inches at 9:00 a.m. with more en route.

"The theme for this season's ski and ride season has definitely been an abundance of snow with the best possible timing," said Parker Riehle, president of Ski Vermont. "Just about every weekend and holiday vacation period this season has greeted skiers and riders with enormous amounts of freshly fallen snow, adding to the already considerable snow pack."

Today, Vermont boasts up to 13 inches of fresh powder atop the resorts' monolithic bases. And the snowfall is set to continue into the weekend, bringing March in like a lion with what is often the cream of the crop of Vermont skiing – longer days, warmer weather and typically the snowiest month of the season.

ANOTHER BUSY WEEKEND IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

2/28-3/1 F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Competition in Manchester. Free. 9 am - 4 pm at the Verizon Arena. 47+ High Schools compete in the 2008 F.I.R.S.T. Overdrive Challenge. 603-485-7881 x3011

3/1 Remick Museum Maple Sugaring Workshop in Tamworth. Boiling Down, Filtering & Canning, 10 am -4 pm. 603-323-7591 www.remickmuseum.org

3/1 Winter Carnival Chilly Chili Cook-Off in North Conway- At Flatbread's at the Eastern Slope Inn. 11 am - 2 pm Chili from local restaurants, organizations, locals and visitors vie for the people's choice title. 603-356-4470 or 603-356-5701.

3/2 Winter Survival Program in Amherst.1 pm - 3 pm. $5. Peabody Mills Environmental Center explores winter animal behavior, sensible human behavior for cold weather, builds a snow shelter (weather permitting). 603-673-1141

3/3: 5th Annual Wildcat 100K Challenge Day -Fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation: 603-466-3326, www.skiwildcat.com.

3/2-9 Portsmouth Restaurant Week. Lunch: $16.95 Dinner: $26.95 all week at participating restaurants. 603-591-0607 or www.portsmouthrestaurantweek.com

BRIEF BURST OF SNOW EXTENDING FARTHER SOUTH THAN EXPECTED

In today's discussion (below) I mentioned that I'd tugged the higher amounts southward in New Hampshire and Western MA.  One thing I didn't adjust southward, however, was the snow before rain change, and that needed to be done.  This burst of heavy snow from Springfield to Worcester to Boston is an initial burst that will give way to a change to rain, but has been causing accidents in Central and Western Massachusetts.  Conditions are milder in Eastern MA and this means more wet roads than white, but conditions will be slow to improve in Central and Western areas, where temperatures hovering near 32 will mean some freezing rain until warmer air is forced in on a southeast wind.  -Matt

TUESDAY STORM UNFOLDING...TIGHT RAIN/SNOW LINE MEANS HIGH STAKES FORECAST FOR SOME OF CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND...MIDDAY MODIFICATIONS MADE TO TUG SNOW LINE JUST SLIGHTLY FARTHER SOUTH

All systems are a go for this storm, with a solid dumping of snow expected in Northern New England and a defining characteristic of the storm likely to be the very sharp change in snowfall amounts over a short distance of northern extent, with a matter of 30-50 miles making the difference between little snow and mostly rain, to over a foot of snow.  As discussed here yesterday, that can mean huge changes for some folks in the amount of expected snow with only a slight change in the placement of the rain/snow line.  Today I've had to tug the corridor of increasing amounts southward slightly - affecting communities like Concord and Manchester, as well as Northwestern Massachusetts.  All other areas remain close to forecasted amounts from yesterday.

A nearby cold front sagged slowly southward last night, and has virtually stalled over New England with no forceful impetus for southern motion aloft.  That is, with the jet stream winds flowing high in sky, but near to New England, the storm track remains close to us and the divider between southern warmth and northern cold follows suit.  The result has been only a slow drain of colder air across the Canadian border and into the North Country overnight Monday night, and the evidence has been communities like Burlington, Vermont, which have been snowing most of the day but as of this early afternoon post, still have only wet roads and a temperature near freezing.  Meanwhile, most of the Southern half of New England has found temperatures rising to near or perhaps even over 40 degrees ahead of the precipitation, and this will mean a start as raindrops, with a mix of snow and rain possible in Southern New Hampshire.  In fact, the farther inland, and farther north and west, one is, the more cold air that will be in place, and a better chance of snow exists.  The snow and rain have already been moving east, and will continue to blossom, increasing in both coverage and intensity through the afternoon.  Of course, you can follow the snow and rain for yourself with the radar links on the right side of this page.  The Berkshires have been snowing steadily as of this writing, and are one of the areas mentioned above where I've upped the forecasted snow totals thanks to a stronger showing by the cold air that's in place.  This means around half a foot is a good possibility from Northern Berkshire to Western Franklin Counties, stretching northeast across Keene and Concord, NH, then inland from the coast of Maine about 20-30 miles.  I lay this approximate 6" line out because it also really represents an important boundary between colder air and milder air, influenced by the ocean's effect on a southeast wind flow, with a northeast wind developing north of that boundary.  Where the cold air holds, amounts will be the highest thanks to a fluffier snow.  Farther south, the influx of ocean and southern warmth will ensure sloppier snow, and just plain rain far enough south.  The coast of Maine is also likely to see less snow - at least the immediate coast - thanks to a developing onshore flow that will change precipitation to rain after only an inch or two of snow.  Yesterday I mentioned here that the tricky, high-stakes forecast has been laid across Southern Vermont, Central and parts of Southern New Hampshire, and Central/Southern Maine.  It's in these spots that the stalling cold front, losing characteristics as a front, will leave behind cold air to the north and never bring that cold farther south, meaning a quick south to north change of mostly rain to mostly snow.  This obviously has huge implications on the snowfall forecast.  Yesterday, I explained that I'd reached my forecasted numbers by outlining the areas I knew would be mostly snow and calculating the snow forecast based upon snowflake type and liquid equivalent (how much precipitation is expected).  With a favorable type of snow crystal and snowflake for accumulation, a somewhat fluffy snow is expected in the far north, with a pastier consistency farther south, but the farther south one goes, the more precipitation is forecasted.  This ends up yielding a foot or more for the all snow locales.  My next step was to determine what areas would be mostly rain with little accumulation of perhaps up to an inch or two, but mostly raindrops.  Yesterday, as an early estimate, I approximated a fairly even handed increase in amounts from all rain to all snow areas.  Today, that approximation still looks accurate, though remember that I've pulled the snow axis just a bit farther south.  The result is in the maps posted here.  I would continue to urge folks near the tight difference in forecasted snow to remember the volatile nature of this storm, and the big changes in outcome that slight changes in rain/snow line will have, for better or for worse.

Though the precipitation won't shut down in most of Maine until predawn Wednesday, many of us will find the heaviest batch over with by late Tuesday night.  This doesn't mean the event is over, however, as the upper level energy driving the storm will still be crossing directly overhead on Wednesday, and the surface cold front that lost so much definition will become redefined once more as cold air streams in behind the storm, but will have to wait for the upper level disturbance before it gets enough of a push to move through the remainder of New England.  It looks like this push finally comes during the day Wednesday, with temperatures falling across most of Eastern New England as winds kick up from the west and gust over 40 mph by day's end.  With the passage of the energetic disturbance aloft, bursts of snow are likely to continue for most of New England on Wednesday, with the western slopes of the Green Mountains and Whites likely to pick up additional accumulation, and perhaps significant additional accumulation in terrain-favored locales like Jay Peak or Killington.  Elsewhere, additional accumulation on Wednesday may total a couple of inches in the mountains of Northern New England, but is likely to be limited elsewhere.

Cold air streams in for Thursday, but it's also dry air and this brings the sunshine out while temperatures rise only into the lower and middle twenties south, and not out of the teens north and west.  Expect a very cold night Thursday night as winds abate almost entirely beneath mostly clear skies, then clouds will increase Friday ahead of our next disturbance.  This end-of-week storm will be cranking up across the Great Lakes, and will usher warmth and moisture northward ahead of it, rather quickly.  This sudden surge of new air is likely to collide with the Northeastern U.S. cold air dome and touch off bands of snow that may be intense, though at this early juncture that appears more likely for Upstate New York, while New England remains just far enough east to be removed from that precipitation shield until perhaps Friday evening or night, by which point it will likely have lost most of its momentum.  This may not be the end of the story, however, as new energy rotating around the base of the Eastern U.S. trough will strengthen as it nears the coastline, developing a strengthening wave of low pressure along the trailing cold front associated with the first storm, and as this new storm center ripples north along the front and near the Eastern Seaboard, New England will watch it carefully for the potential for enhanced rain or, for most spots, snow on Saturday.

Another shot of cool but dry air would follow for Sunday, but the same pattern of northern and southern stream energetic disturbances interacting with one another would repeat again next week, in an active stretch that continues for the foreseeable future.

That's all for today!
Matt

TUESDAY ACCUMULATION MAP UPDATE AS OF MIDDAY

Here's the midday map.  I brought the tight difference in amounts farther south, affecting Western MA and Central NH.  Will update the discussion as soon as possible.

THE MOUNT WASHINGTON VALLEY HOSTS METEOROLOGISTS FROM ACROSS NEW ENGLAND - IN THIS POST: IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH CHRIS ELLMS, GM OF BRETTON WOODS, AND KEITH HUNTOON, DIRECTOR OF SNOWMAKING - ALL YOU COULD POSSIBLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT SKI RESORT OPERATIONS

Over the past couple of weeks, the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce has been running a wonderful program for meteorologists around New England to become better acquainted with the ski resorts in and around the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire.  My weekend was spent at Bretton Woods and the Mount Washington Resort, a beautiful resort that offers not only downhill and cross-country skiing, but also some wonderful family and indoor activities, including dog sledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides, and a spa!  Of course, those of you up for a partying time would want to be sure to check out The Cave - a bar set in the basement of the Mount Washington Hotel that finds its roots in the time of prohibition, when folks had to be very careful about where they found their refreshment!  The hotel itself is spectacular - an historic and massive wooden structure with a number of wonderful restaurants and plenty of sitting area near the fireplaces and throughout the lobby area.

We headed slopeside at sunrise - a gorgeous and colorful dawn that would be the beginning of a fantastic day with spectacular views of the summit of Mount Washington.  While I was at Bretton, my evening colleague at NECN, Tim Kelley, was over at Wildcat Mountain and one of the local Portland, Maine, meteorologists was at Cranmore, so it was a busy weekend of meteorologists in the White Mountains!

We began the day speaking with Keith Huntoon, Director of Snowmaking Operations at Bretton Woods, as he was out in full gear on the slopes, blasting the snow guns.  This conversation was a terrific overview of snowmaking at Bretton, and a primer for what was to come.

Later, we'd speak with Keith "behind the scenes" in the compressor room, removed from the lifts and slopes by a few hundred yards in a large garage, where snow groomer repairs and maintenance take place as well.  The interviews with Keith can be found here, and I guarantee you that you won't find out more about snowmaking from anyone else - Keith is the expert, and with 27 years of experience, you can imagine there aren't many folks in New England - or the country for that matter - who have more know-how than Keith.

Perhaps the most revealing part of the weekend was the terrific conversation with Chris Ellms, General Manager of Bretton Woods Resort.  Chris can probably best be summed up by the way I met him - he drove up in a grooming machine, opened the door with a big smile on his face and welcomed me into the machine.  This really sets the tone for Chris - a man who not only oversees the operation, but is a major player in the day-to-day functions of the resort, as well, out on the slopes, in the office and just about anywhere he can assist his staff in making sure the day goes smoothly.  Chris was remarkably generous with his time, and wonderfully open about every aspect of operations at Bretton Woods.

If you are someone who's always wondered about the details of ski resorts - from the best time to groom, to the costs of operation, to the staff needed to run the operation - this interview is one that will fascinate you.  I thought about cutting snippets of the interview, but realized that true skiing and winter weather enthusiasts would probably be far happier seeing the interview in its entirety, so I've broken it into a 10 part interview that you can see here.  If you don't have time to view all of them at once, feel free to check back and view them one or two at a time - I'll leave them on the site for a long time to come.

In the first part of the interview, we hop aboard one of Bretton's grooming machines, with the ski resort's General Manager, Chris Ellms, at the controls. Chris may oversee all operations at the resort, but that doesn't keep him from getting his hands dirty with everyone else.

Chris has been in the business for a number of years. In Part 2 of the 10 part interview, Chris outlines how snowmaking has changed over the years.

In part 3 of the 10 part interview, Chris describes the snowmaking process and equipment in use at Bretton Woods.

Chris shares the resources Bretton uses for daily operations, and gives a feel for the staff needed to run Bretton and the Mount Washington Resort.

Weather certainly has a major impact on ski resorts like Bretton. Chris weighs in on broadcast weather, along with the all-important microclimates of New England that favor Bretton Woods.

What are some of the specifics of Bretton Woods? And how is Bretton Woods a good community member? Chris answers those questions in part 6 of this 10 part interview.

Chris offers his take on the key to success for the future of the New England ski industry, and for large and small ski areas, alike.

The final three parts of the interview revolve around the $225,000 piece of equipment Chris is operating. Here, he introduces us to the controls that make the groomer sing!

In Part 9, Chris gets into the methods of grooming the trails. Personally, I found this fascinating, as I've always wondered just what's going on after the mountain lifts shut down at 4 PM and I see the groomers at work.

In the final part of the interview, Chris lets us know some of the finer points of grooming. Many thanks to Chris for taking so much time to speak with me, and share so many thoughts on skiing with New Englanders!

Many thanks to everyone at Bretton Woods and the Mount Washington Resort for making the experience so wonderful, and to the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce for putting together the great idea to get meteorologists on the slopes!

TENNEY MOUNTAIN HAS A BUSY SPRING PLANNED

February 24, 2008

 

Tenney Mountain has full line-up of events this Spring

 

(Plymouth, NH) As Spring approaches, the buzz at Tenney Mountain is loud about upcoming events and competitions. March will be filled with après ski entertainment, Hammerhead sled racing, a freeride rail jam, and the long-running Cardboard Box Derby. The schedule is as follows:

Friday February 29^th—Ski & Ride The River 92.5 Day--Boston's independent music station, 92.5 The River will be offering discounted tickets to its listeners this day. Their official coupon is required to receive the discount. Apres Ski Party in The Backcountry Pub from 3-5pm with music and giveaways. Open to the public.

Saturday March 1^st—Ride & Ski New England Weekend Tour Party--Ride and Ski New England card holders receive a 2 for 1 ticket, and we’ll have giveaways and live music with Pat Foley upstairs in the Backcountry Pub in the afternoon. Open to the public.

 

Saturday March 1^st—Live Free and Ride Snowboard Jam—the first event in our newly designed terrain park with new features from local fabrication company, Smoke & Mirrors, including rainbow rail, a-frame rail, boxes, and a step-up barrel bonk. Registration in the base lodge from 10-11am and there is no entry fee with a valid lift ticket (required). The event starts at 12noon. Sponsored by White Mountain Exploration, Eastern Mountain Sports, Monster Energy drinks, Oakley, and White Mountain Snow & Skate.

 

Sunday March 2^nd—Hammerhead Rally X Race Series—A race on the high tech sleds offered up at Tenney this year. The course runs down through rollers and berms and fastest times win. Limit 20 competitors. Registration in the Base Lodge from 9am-12pm, competitor meeting at 12:45pm at the top of the course, and race starts at 1pm. Helmets are required and participants must be atleast 12 years old and 54” tall.

 

Saturday March 8^th—Apres ski with local musician Bob King—from 3-6pm in the Backcountry Pub

 

Sunday March 9^th—Hammerhead  Rally X Race Series--Limit 20 competitors. Registration in the Base Lodge from 9am-12pm, competitor meeting at 12:45pm at the top of the course, and race starts at 1pm. Helmets are required and participants must be atleast 12 years old and 54” tall.

 

Saturday March 15^th—The Cardboard Box Derby-- Back for another season, this long-running classic will fill the hill with the craziest recycling you've ever seen! Crafts made of only cardboard, tape, paint, glue, and markers will compete for fastest times, best crash, and most creative craft. Registration in the base lodge from 9am-12pm and event starts at 1pm. Maximum of 4 riders per craft. A 50/50 raffle will benefit The Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth.

 

Sunday March 16^th—Hammerhead Rally X Championships—The final Hammerhead event of the season. Limit 100 competitors. Event starts at

10am in 10E Base Camp. Sleds are provided and helmets are required. Registration in the base lodge from 8-9:30am. Prizes include a round-trip plane ticket, Hammerhead Sled, and much more. $20 entry fee, $10 entry fee with valid lift ticket.

 

Saturday March 22^nd—Apres Ski entertainment with Justin Jaymes—from 3-6pm in The Backcountry Pub.

 

For more information, go online to the special events page on www.tenneymtn.com

 

White Mountain Exploration at Tenney Mountain is located just 6 miles off I-93 at 151 Tenney Mountain Road in Plymouth, NH.

QUIET AND MILD MONDAY FOR NORTH COUNTRY TO PREP FOR ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT SNOWSTORM...BUT THIS ONE WILL BE DEFINED BY ITS SHARP CUTOFF IN SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS

Another significant storm is heading for New England and will add another substantial layer to our glacier-like snowpack in the North Country, while dropping mostly rain on Southern New England and the coast of Maine.  The defining characteristic of Tuesday/Tuesday Night's storm is likely to be the very sharp change in snowfall amounts over a short distance of northern extent, with a matter of 30-50 miles making the difference between little snow and mostly rain, to over a foot of snow.

There really is no deep cold in New England for our Monday, with highs rising into the 40s for most of Central and Southern New England, and 30s across the North Country.  Located to our north is a cold front, sneaking south across Quebec and the key factor to a forecast of snow for Northern New England by the time the next storm arrives on Tuesday.  Ahead of that cool front, however, a light southwest wind continues the flow of mild air into all six-states, with all communities rising above the melting point with the help of sunshine.  This sun has been dulled at times in far Southern New England, owing to clouds blowing off of an ocean storm that wound up over the waters south of New England but missed us with its precipitation shield, and clouds have also littered the sky at times in Northern New England with an energetic disturbance zipping along at the jet stream level.

Temperatures will cool with the loss of daytime heating Monday night, though the nearby cold front certainly won't come charging through, largely because there's no forceful impetus for southern motion aloft.  That is, with the jet stream winds flowing high in sky, but near to New England, the storm track remains close to us and the divider between southern warmth and northern cold follows suit.  The result will be only a slow drain of colder air across the Canadian border and into the North Country overnight Monday night, with temperatures falling into the teens for Northern New England and the deeper valleys of Central New England, and twenties elsewhere in the region.  Clouds will gradually increase - at least bit by bit - across New England Monday night, though some sunshine still is possible in Central and Southern New England Tuesday morning.  Working off a relatively mild platform in the twenties early in the day, and with a developing southeast wind flow and perhaps some limited sunshine, most of the Southern half of New England will find temperatures rising to near or perhaps even over 40 degrees by the time precipitation arrives Tuesday afternoon.  Farther inland, and farther north and west, colder air will be in place, and a better chance of snow exists.  The timing of the storm brings light snow into Northern New England along the slowing cold front Tuesday morning, but does not advance snow and rain into communities farther south until Tuesday midday or so, with the heaviest precipitation not expected to fall until between dinner time and midnight Tuesday night for most, and midnight to pre-dawn Wednesday in most of Maine.  From the Capital District of New York to the Berkshires and elevated terrain of Western Massachusetts, somewhere around 3"-5" of snow seems likely before warmth overwhelms the cold and affords a change to rain.  Even some parts of Northern Massachusetts, Southeastern New Hampshire and the coastal plain of Maine may see a burst of snow - with perhaps an inch or two in some spots - but a southeast surface wind flow should quickly allow snow to change to rain.  The tricky, high-stakes forecast is laid across Southern Vermont, Central and parts of Southern New Hampshire, and Central/Southern Maine.  It's in these spots that the stalling cold front, losing characteristics as a front, will leave behind cold air to the north and never bring that cold farther south, meaning a quick south to north change of mostly rain to mostly snow.  This obviously has huge implications on the snowfall forecast.  I'll be very honest about how I reached my forecasted numbers for some of these locales - I outlined the areas I knew would be mostly snow and calculated the snow forecast based upon snowflake type and liquid equivalent (how much precipitation is expected).  With a favorable type of snow crystal and snowflake for accumulation, a somewhat fluffy snow is expected in the far north, with a pastier consistency farther south, but the farther south one goes, the more precipitation is forecasted.  This ends up yielding a foot or more for the all snow locales.  My next step was to determine what areas would be mostly rain with little accumulation of perhaps up to an inch or two, but mostly raindrops.  While I am a huge fan of calculating numbers for all spots, and 99 out of 100 times that's what I'll do, this time around the change in snowfall amounts is so dramatic over such a short distance, that I felt it was wisest to literally split the very short distance - with a rather linear increase in amounts between the little snow and lots of snow areas.  The result is the map below.  Caution, of course, should be used with this map, as I can almost guarantee that - unless I've exactly nailed the location of the dying cold front (possible, but odds are not on any meteorologist's side for nailing this thing all the way along the length of the front from New York to Maine) - someone will be disappointed in the forecast, either because more goes down the drain than was expected, or more falls as snow.  This caution does NOT apply to folks squarely in the mostly rain or mostly snow areas, but rather those who are near the boundary.

Though the precipitation won't shut down in most of Maine until predawn Wednesday, many of us will find the heaviest batch over with by late Tuesday night.  This doesn't mean the event is over, however, as the upper level energy driving the storm will still be crossing directly overhead on Wednesday, and the surface cold front that lost so much definition will become redefined once more as cold air streams in behind the storm, but will have to wait for the upper level disturbance before it gets enough of a push to move through the remainder of New England.  It looks like this push finally comes during the day Wednesday, with temperatures falling across most of Eastern New England as winds kick up from the west and gust over 40 mph by day's end.  With the passage of the energetic disturbance aloft, bursts of snow are likely to continue for most of New England on Wednesday, with the western slopes of the Green Mountains likely to pick up at least some additional accumulation, and perhaps significant additional accumulation in terrain-favored locales like Jay Peak or Killington.  Elsewhere, additional accumulation on Wednesday may total a couple of inches in the mountains of Northern New England, but is likely to be limited elsewhere.

Cold air streams in for Thursday, but it's also dry air and this brings the sunshine out while temperatures rise only into the lower and middle twenties south, and not out of the teens north and west.  Expect a very cold night Thursday night as winds abate almost entirely beneath mostly clear skies, then clouds will increase Friday ahead of our next disturbance.  This end-of-week storm will be cranking up across the Great Lakes, and will usher warmth and moisture northward ahead of it, rather quickly.  This sudden surge of new air is likely to collide with the Northeastern U.S. cold air dome and touch off bands of snow that may be intense, though at this early juncture that appears more likely for Upstate New York, while New England remains just far enough east to be removed from that precipitation shield until perhaps Friday evening or night, by which point it will likely have lost most of its momentum.  This may not be the end of the story, however, as new energy rotating around the base of the Eastern U.S. trough will strengthen as it nears the coastline, developing a strengthening wave of low pressure along the trailing cold front associated with the first storm, and as this new storm center ripples north along the front and near the Eastern Seaboard, New England will watch it carefully for the potential for enhanced rain or, for most spots, snow on Saturday.

Another shot of cool but dry air would follow for Sunday, but the same pattern of northern and southern stream energetic disturbances interacting with one another would repeat again next week, in an active stretch that continues for the foreseeable future.

That's all for today!
Matt

BILLABONG "FLAUNT IT" TOUR TO STOP AT STOWE ON MARCH 1 - THE ONLY STOP IN THE UNITED STATES!

Billabong’s ‘Flaunt It’ Series Comes to Stowe, VT
Only U.S. Stop for the All-Girls Snowboard Event

STOWE, VERMONT – On Saturday March 1, Stowe will be the only U.S. stop on this year’s Billabong ‘Flaunt It’ tour. Billabong Flaunt It is an All-Girls Slopestyle Jam snowboard contest that’s aimed at being fun & social, while providing over $10,000 in cash and prizes for the girls to vie for.

Each of the five events are held in the resort’s custom built parks with the Stowe contest taking place in the terrain park on North Slope. The slopestyle is a jam format where all riders are allowed as many runs as they want within the time allotted. Judges, including Billabong pro rider Tara Dekides, will be watching throughout the day to see who the strongest riders are. The contest has two parts; a slopestyle jam in the morning and a rail jam in the afternoon. Cash and prizes will be given out based on best scores, best tricks and style. The overall winner from Stowe will also receive entry to the series finals in Tremblant, Quebec, including airfare and accommodations.

Entry forms are available online at www.billabonggirls.com/flauntit and registration is limited to the first thirty entries. Additional information about the March 1 event in Stowe is also available by calling the resort at 800-253-4754.

QUICK BURST OF INTENSE SNOW FRIDAY...GREAT WEEKEND FOR WINTER SPORTS

A quick moving storm will deliver a shot of intense snow to New England Friday afternoon and evening, leaving a quiet and rather enjoyable weekend for winter sports enthusiasts.

The large area of high pressure that delivered deep cold air to New England is moving east over the waters Friday.  This isn't a favorable position for holding deep cold in place, as a clockwise flow of winds around high pressure will mean a tendency for a southeast wind flow - though that wind direction won't actually be realized as air is pulled southward toward the developing and strengthening coastal storm, yielding an east wind for many.  Still, with relatively warm ocean waters to our east, an east wind will bring milder air across especially Cape Cod, the Islands and the South Coast, meaning snow will probably change to rain in these spots by day's end.  The remainder of New England, and even the South Coast until later in the day, will find periodic snow continuing, accumulating quickly on the roadways owing to the cold temperatures prior to onset of the snow.  You can monitor the latest radar trends through the links to the right of this discussion, and check for active warnings via the appropriate links at left.  As the storm center organizes off the Mid-Atlantic coast and moves northward, increasing amounts of moisture and warmth will thrust northward, colliding with the cold dome in place and creating bands of very heavy snow that will propagate north from the South Coast through Southern and Central New England, especially Friday afternoon.  These bands may produce snowfall rates of 1-2" per hour at times, and will be associated with a thrust of moisture several thousand feet off the ground - a front in the higher altitudes.  This elevated warm front will stall over the Massachusetts Turnpike, and is the reason I'm expecting highest amounts near that axis.  That said, plowable amounts of snow seem likely all the way into Northern New England, where the snow will be fluffier, and though less moisture is expected, the lighter nature of the snow density will mean quicker accumulation.  With the storm quickly jogging east Friday evening and night, I do expect this to be a quick shot, and heavy snow should taper after 11 PM, though a lingering onshore flow will mean areas of light snow in Southern New England persisting through the overnight.   

Though lots of clouds and pockets of light snow will linger on Saturday morning in Southern New England, not much additional accumulation is expected given the deep moisture shifting to our east.  In fact breaks of sun in Northern New England will try to expand slowly southward during the day, and some melting is likely regionwide with surface temperatures rising into the lower 30s.  Drier air will continue to spill in for Sunday, though it won't be exceptionally cold, which means most areas will see melting with the help of sunshine on Sunday, and this makes for an excellent weekend for winter sports enthusiasts!  A northern stream disturbance with far less moisture is expected to traverse New England on Monday, and may bring a scattered snow shower to Northern New England, though it appears as though the next storm of any substance will wait until Tuesday to move east out of the Great Lakes and across New England with a chance of scattered snow and rain showers as temperatures rise above freezing, on average.

With the large scale weather pattern continuing to favor a broad southern stream ridge over the Western United States, and a northern stream trough over the Central U.S., the threat for storms will continue for the next couple of weeks!

Matt