Here comes the snow!

2009-10-12 16:39:01.000 – Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist

The proverbial calm before the storm

So far this month, as of yesterday, we have recorded 3.7 inches of snow on the summit. The maximum that has been measured in one day has been 1.1 inches on the 1st. Both of those numbers are going to change tomorrow.

The first significant snowfall of the season is at hand. A low pressure system that has been dropping a few inches of snow on the Western Great Lakes region all day today, will continue to track east, through the Ohio River Valley. Although it will move into the region as fairly weak system, it will redevelop once it gets into the Gulf of Maine. Steady snow will begin to fall sometime around sunrise tomorrow and continue into the afternoon. Although we don’t typically include snowfall amounts in our 36 hour summits outlook (especially since snow doesn’t typically accumulate above treeline), it looks like we should measure somewhere around 3-6 inches in our precipitation can by the end of the day tomorrow. This is a very exciting time for us snow lovers that work on the mountain, and it will also be exciting for members of our forums who have been conducting a contest of sorts for when the first 2 inches of snow would fall on the summit and should be able to declare a winner after tomorrow.

Even more exciting is the fact that this storm will also bring snow to some valley locations. Certainly places at the base of the mountain (which is around 2,000 feet above sea level) like Pinkham Notch will see an accumulating snowfall as will locations north of the mountain, like Berlin. Even south of the mountain down to the Conway area will probably see some wet snowflakes tonight, but will not likely see much if any accumulation.

Ok, so maybe some of you aren’t as excited as I am about the prospect of snow falling at the lower elevations in early October. For those that fall into that category, don’t worry, it looks like more seasonable weather will return early next week!

Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist