The Good and the Bad of New Snow

2012-01-06 22:52:59.000 – Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist

Things are starting to look much more like they should around here for this time of year, which makes me a happy observer. Although after 5 winters the novelty of riding in the snow tractor has definitely worn off, it was very nice to have to use it for shift change on Wednesday, even if it was only from near the 2 mile mark on the road.

Since arriving in that snow tractor, the first two full days of our shift (yesterday and today) have seen fairly persistent snow showers, with several inches of new snow being measured. This is going a long way to help the mountain regain the aforementioned look it is supposed to have this time of year. Moderate wind speeds have been moving this snow around quite a bit too, which has translated into some increased avalanche dangers down in the ravines. In fact, there were a couple of avalanche related incidents in Huntington Ravine this past week. You can read about those incidents on the Forest Service website. Hopefully those incident reports can act as a reminder of the very real avalanche dangers that exist on Mount Washington, even in lean snow years like this.

Naturally, I’m hoping the wintery weather continues, leaving the slow start to winter behind us. Unfortunately, I have to try not to let the fact that the forecast models have been consistently showing a nasty rainstorm for next Thursday spoil that hope.

Brian Clark,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist