Back and Forth

2009-11-07 17:02:22.000 – Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist

Sunrise this morning

Generally speaking, I am a pretty patient person. However there are things that I am quite inpatient about. One of these things is happening right now on and off the mountain: the onset of winter.

Although we consider October and November ‘winter’ months on the mountain, they have the tendency to be very back and forth. By this, I mean that it could be in the teens and snowing one day, and just a few days later it could be in the 30’s or 40’s with rain. That cycle has happened a couple times over the last few weeks. Early to mid October saw a bunch of snow, but it all disappeared with record high temperatures at the end of the month. Now in the beginning of November, things are white again after several days of temperatures in the teens and a few inches of snow. Now temperatures are set to rise above freezing yet again for tomorrow and into the beginning of next week.

This back and forth drives me crazy mostly because it is such a tease. Not only do I enjoy the cold and snow, but this time of year I am more than a little anxious to click into my skis and make some turns. The summit is white, but there’s isn’t quite enough to ski yet. Snow is also starting to appear in the valley as well, both natural and man-made. Sunday River ski area actually opened on October 14, and has been open every weekend since, but I haven’t been able to make it up there yet.

So I will continue to work on being patient, knowing that winter (and skiing) should be here to stay in just a matter of weeks now.

Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist