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Temperature Inversion

hiroto

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
514
Points
16
Location
Newton, MA
Saw on Brettonwoods' snow condition:
Current Weather: Cloudy with a current base temp of 37 degrees and summit temp of 44 degrees.

That is quite a bit of temperature inversion condition. Never seen that (or maybe just didn't notice) while actually being on the mountain.
 

Judder

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Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
26
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3
Location
Bennington, VT / Rochester, VT / Sugarbush
Drove from Bennington up to BTV and back today, and wow, what crazy weather. In the high 30's with rain leaving Benn. 54 in Rutvegas. Massive drop in temps when north of Middlebury, with temps diving down to the high 20's. Freezing rain on top of a mostly intact snowpack in Burlington.

The high peaks got cooked with this inversion. Most VT mountains saw highs in the 50s with wind and rain... Venturing to Stratton tomorrow to assess...
 

billski

Active member
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
16,207
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38
Location
North Reading, Mass.
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ski.iabsi.com
Drove from Bennington up to BTV and back today, and wow, what crazy weather. In the high 30's with rain leaving Benn. 54 in Rutvegas. Massive drop in temps when north of Middlebury, with temps diving down to the high 20's. Freezing rain on top of a mostly intact snowpack in Burlington.

The high peaks got cooked with this inversion. Most VT mountains saw highs in the 50s with wind and rain... Venturing to Stratton tomorrow to assess...

I recommend we put Judder on a suicide watch. Don't think I could take it. Burke is down to 8 trails open..
 

Judder

New member
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
26
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Location
Bennington, VT / Rochester, VT / Sugarbush
Yup, pretty sad. Conditions were damn good just a week ago. I rode over a foot of fresh on top of a solid base last sunday. Could not be worse timing for all the traffic coming up for the holidays. This is seriously ruining a lot of folks' vacation plans. Ohh well, I'm sure the mtns will be blowing snow full force come Monday.
 

Judder

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Feb 24, 2012
Messages
26
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Location
Bennington, VT / Rochester, VT / Sugarbush
Yup, Rutvegas. Just like Bennington, not much to see. Do your shopping and get out.

:flame:
Holy crap things got cooked today. 66 at the base of Stratton (maybe higher up top). The winds were ripping, which combined with the high temps, stripped 90% of the natural snowpack from the mountain.

The trails were in horrid shape by the end of the day. Tons of massive bare spots, creek beds in the trails, snowmelt just gushing off of the mountain.

A real Vermont treat for all the vacationers coming up from NY/NJ! Rumor has it, that maybe Stowe and points North did not see such an extreme inversion. I know Sugarbush and points south got absolutely clobbered :(
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,183
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113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
Here was the WILD inversions I drove through tonight on my way home to CT from Mount Snow.

When I left my place at Mount Snow, my car thermometer read 54, and the vast majority of the standing natural snow had melted out. The thermometer hit 57 in Wilmington, VT. 7 Miles South on rte 100 down in the valley in Jacksonville, VT, my car thermometer read 35 degrees!! (A 22 degree drop in 7 miles which was about 10 minutes of travel time!). The temp stayed in the 35-38 range, with a still decent snowpack on the ground all the way along rte's 100 and 112 into Colrain, MA! Then in about 2 miles (and about 750 vertical feet) the temp shot up from 36 to 51!

The max temp I saw on my way home, courtesy of the CT River Valley opening up an express lane for the warm air from the South to move in was 62 just outside of Springfield, MA on the Mass Pike!

While I'm quite used to seeing 10-15 degree temp changes in my CT to VT drives, I don't ever recall seeing a 27 degree variation like I did today!! Wild stuff!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AlpineZone mobile app
 

Bene288

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Nov 25, 2011
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Albany, NY
I was driving to work today. In a town called Stuyvesant that runs along the Hudson River. I turned away from the river and started climbing out of the river valley. In a matter of 3 seconds, no exaggeration, the temp shot from 35 to 57. The windows in my truck fogged so quickly I almost went off the road and had to stop. Never have seen anything like it before.
 

steamboat1

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Aug 15, 2011
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Brooklyn,NY/Pittsford,VT.
I was driving to work today. In a town called Stuyvesant that runs along the Hudson River. I turned away from the river and started climbing out of the river valley. In a matter of 3 seconds, no exaggeration, the temp shot from 35 to 57. The windows in my truck fogged so quickly I almost went off the road and had to stop. Never have seen anything like it before.

Had something similar to that happen going over Sherburne Pass the other day. I was like WTF.
 

goldsbar

New member
Joined
Jan 26, 2004
Messages
497
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Location
New Jersey
What was it about this heat wave that caused such massive melting? It gets warm in the spring with a more intense sun angle and not nearly this much melts.
 

Rowsdower

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Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
818
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18
Location
Upper Bucks/Lehigh Valley, PA
What was it about this heat wave that caused such massive melting? It gets warm in the spring with a more intense sun angle and not nearly this much melts.

We had a fairly new, loose snowpack containing a good deal of natural snow. Lot's of space for warm air and water to infiltrate, rather than running over the surface.
 

yeggous

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Oct 8, 2012
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2,170
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Location
Eagle, CO
It was also very humid, lasted several days, and did not cool down at night. The humidity /rain and night time temperatures are the real killers.
 
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