Ice-Out 2008

[CanisLupusArctos]

Originally Posted by meteotrade

Another interesting aspect of that high res satellite shot (for you weather weenies) is the area of dark brown from Moultonboro through Tuftonboro. Seems like this area is the first to lose their snowpack in the region? Maybe someone up there can confirm this. But if so, I think it is a teltale sign of the shadowing influence the Ossipee Range can have on the area during winter noreasters; less snow falls on the lee side of the hills than the windward side, so naturally this area will be the first to get back to bare ground in the spring.

Thank you for pointing that out. I had forgotten about that, given today's weather!

The shadowing would have occurred when winds were from the northeast (as in a Nor'easter) and caused less snow on the opposite (southwest) side of the mountains.

Also aiding the quicker melt on that SW side is the fact that it faces the sun, and every aspect that faces the sun for a fair amount of time was the first to melt off, even when 2 feet remained in the shade.

On Black Cat we have mostly bare now, but there are still patches of snow in the shadows of thick trees and on north-facing aspects. We have snow left over from December, and there's only 2 weeks until May 1. This has been a most memorable winter.

Black Cat Shoals opened up a lot more today. Hindering the melt-off was the fact that the open water was skimmed over with ice again this morning and the fact that we haven't had much wind (just a light breeze) all day.

Tomorrow I'm a lot more confident that a couple of places around here will hit 80. The rest of us will all be in the 70s.