Monday, January 22, 2024

A bluebird day on Lion’s Ridge yesterday

Morning Observation:

This morning in Huntington at 7:20AM it’s currently 13 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. Winds are calm. Relative humidity is 92% dewpoint 11, barometric pressure 30.46”. We have 8” of snow at the stake. Yesterday’s high was 15, and yesterday’s low was -2. The overnight low got down to -2.

This morning in North Hero it’s currently 20 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. Winds are out of the south at 20-25 mph. Relative humidity is 86%, dewpoint 16, barometric pressure 30.50”. We have 1” of snow at the stake. Yesterday’s high was 19, and yesterday’s low was 9. The overnight low got down to 16.

Forecast Discussion:

After a chilly start to the day, temperatures will be on the increase along with cloud cover as a southerly airflow sets up. Indeed, we’re already seeing winds gusting to 25 mph at our camp in North Hero. Highs today will be much warmer than yesterday, in the upper 20s to low 30s. There’s a slight chance of some mountain snow showers later today and into tonight as a weak disturbance skirts to our north. Tuesday’s looking seasonably mild with ongoing slight chances of snow showers during the day. A more pronounced trough will lift into the region Tuesday night into Wednesday with light snow likely overnight. Unfortunately, we’ll also see the beginning of an extended period of warm weather arriving midweek with snow showers Wednesday changing over to sleet and then eventually rain overnight as warm air pushes into the region. Low pressure tracking to our west will once again put us on the warm side of the storm system with highs on Thursday pushing into the 40s with rain showers likely. Warm and showery weather is expected to persist through Friday with dry conditions expected Saturday as temperatures begin to move back down to more seasonable levels by Sunday. One silver lining to this system is that there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of moisture available so snowpack impacts should be mitigated.

3-Day Forecast:

We’ll see increasing clouds today with a 20% chance of snow showers after 3:00PM. Highs will be near 32 with south winds 6-11 mph in Huntington and 15-20 mph in the Champlain Valley. Tonight should be mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of snow showers before 11:00PM. Lows will be around 24 with southwest winds 8-14 mph.

Tuesday should be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow showers. Highs will be near 32 with north winds around 8 mph. Tuesday night should be cloudy with snow likely, mainly after 11:00PM. Lows will be around 21 with southeast winds around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70% with new snow accumulations of less than 1″ possible.

Wednesday should be cloudy with snow likely before 4:00PM, then a chance of snow and sleet. Highs will be near 33 with south winds 8-12 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60% with snow and sleet accumulations of less than 0.50″ possible. Wednesday night should be cloudy with a 50% chance of rain and sleet before 7:00PM, then a chance of rain. Lows will be around 33 with south winds 7-12 mph. Precipitation amounts of less than 0.10″ are possible.

Almanac:

Last year on this date in Huntington we had a high of 32 and a low of 26. We had 4.5″ of snow at the stake.
Last year in North Hero we had a high of 33 and a low of 30. We had 5″ of snow at the stake.

Burlington averages for this date are a low of 12 and a high of 28.
The record low was -22 in 1970.
The record high was 53 in 1959.

The Lake Champlain lake level in Burlington is 97.72′.
The water temperature is 36˚.
Last year’s lake level was at 97.11′.

The Mt. Mansfield snow stake depth is 55″.
The average depth for this date is 44″.

Mt. Washington Summit Conditions
Current Temperature: 6˚
Winds are out of the west at 54 mph gusting to 66 mph.
24 hr Precipitation: 0
Visibility: 60 miles

Sky Notes:

Sunrise: 7:20AM
Sunset: 4:47PM
Length of day: 9:27:06
Today will be 2:05 longer than yesterday.

The Moon is waxing gibbous, 11.6 days old with 89% illumination.
Moonrise: 1:32PM
Moonset: 5:23AM

About Today’s Photo:

I took a lovely ski up to the Lion’s Ridge Trail yesterday morning. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite trails at Camel’s Hump Nordic, and it certainly didn’t disappoint! A bluebird sky above and plenty of snow on the ground made for an excellent tour.

iPhone 15 Pro