Snow

I’ve found myself looking around the internet a lot lately, as I sit here trying to recover from the Swine flu. It’s not as fun as it sounds.

Anyway, I was thinking about snow- how much we’ve had this season, where it’s falling right now, what this season might look like. My friends in whistler have been kind enough to let me know what’s going on up there. 188″, a new record for November (and it’s only the 20th). 101″ base, and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet. More in the forecast.

Here in Crested Butte, things are decidedly average- There’s about a foot and a half up at the Schofield SNOTEL site, and a whole lot less in town. 12 of the past 25 winters received more precipitation at this point in the year. Yep, pretty average indeed. Which doesn’t mean a lot at this point- 2 years ago there was virtually no snow, but by the end of the season, it ranked #3 for the past 25 years.

This year is “El Nino”, so supposedly the Southwest should get tons of snow while the Northwest sits high and dry. That prediction is pretty off so far. 2 years ago was a “La Nina”, where the opposite is supposed to take place. 2007/2008 didn’t fit the norm for that prediction either.

In the end, it’s a crap-shoot how this or any other winter will be. Forecasting is decent for a few days out, and worthless much past that. So burn some skis and pray to Ullr, and maybe some of that Whistler snow will start heading our way.

For what it’s worth, here are the top five snow seasons since 1985/86 at the Schofield SNOTEL:
94/95: 58.7
85/86: 53.9
07/08: 53.1
92/93: 50.7
96/97: 50.4

At least I’ve been here for two of them. (#’s are in “precipitable” water content, it’s probably at least that in terms of feet) 58 feet sounds like a good year.

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Frank Konsella

Frank loves snow more than anything... except his wife.  He ensures his food is digested properly by chewing it 32 times before swallowing.He is a full-time real estate agent serving Crested Butte and Gunnison and would be honored to send you his monthly newsletter.

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