A spring-like trip back to winter…

2007-03-28 18:22:01.000 – Jim Salge,  Meteorologist

A bare stretch of road…

After a nice week in the valley, with mild temperatures, melting snow, corn slopes and a general spring like feel, we find ourselves in an alternate universe now back on the summit. Temperatures are plummeting from their overnight highs near the freezing mark, and windchills combine for temperatures near -30F. I’m not sure it’s a cure for spring fever, but it’s certainly a reality check for the upcoming crew.

Until today’s cold outbreak, the warm weather this past week really worked havoc on the slopes of the mountain. With little snow above treeline to begin with, we found the landscape along the Autoroad rather abnormal for this time of year. On the trip up today, we took the truck to 2 miles up the road, and beyond that, we found long bare spots usually covered with feet of drift. Moreover, lots of rock and exposed vegetation on slopes typically skied this time of year. It was very much a spring-like trip back to winter. The ravines are still good, but otherwise, the snow is all down in the trees. Very strange…

This week’s summit crew will be summarizing the March data over the coming days, and we’ll have a comprehensive report on this winter’s snow in a few days. However, we can’t count out April (or May). A lot can happen on Mount Washington between now and Memorial Day weekend, the traditional end of winter!

Jim Salge,  Meteorologist