Let's not forget snowmelt. A few days ago one of my friends hiked Mount Shaw in the Ossipees and said he found 2 feet of frozen-solid snow up there. Looking around the lake today with binocs, I can see there are still patches of snow visible on the north sides of Mt Major and Gunstock, with the ski trails still solid white. That means there is probably more snow left in the shade of trees where it is hidden from view.
For anywhere above 1500 feet it was a banner year for snow. Some places in the White Mountains had 6 FEET (or more) in the past month. During the storm at the end of February, Randolph, NH picked up 39.6 inches of snow. Wildcat Mountain Ski Area had similar amounts. Only a couple weeks ago, the AMC/USFS cabin at the entrance to Tuckerman Ravine posted a snow depth of 77 inches. Hikers I talked to said it was a very dense, cement-like snow.
The above information tells me that there's probably a lot more snow left to melt from the higher elevations, and we have 3 days of summerlike temps starting tomorrow. The ground is saturated, with the recent heavy rains still finishing their runoff, and the trees are barely beginning their annual budding -- not yet drawing much water from the ground.
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