opensnow.com - getting lazy over there?

[carvemeister]

I don't know - I used to rely on the forecasts there for the past few years (somewhat) for the Northeast. Seemed as much or more reliable than some of the others. But the last few months it seems to be in conflict with itself at times. One example - yesterday I was getting pumped up for a possible trip to Maine based on posted predictions of possibly 12"+ at Sugarloaf at the end of this week. But I knew I had to keep checking daily before assuming anything, especially this time of year.

So this morning, they released their seemingly well researched weather analysis discussion for those same days. Now of course, it looks mostly like nothing but rain/sleet and that's it. I expected to see the snow forecast numbers likewise decrease as well, but no - they still show 12" plus. I'd understand if they just didn't update this page, but in the same snow number details it says Rain/Freezing Rain with Freezing Levels near or above mountain summit. Yeah, so what's up with that? Looks like rain for sure, but snow totals are 12+"

Anyhow, I know, who cares! I guess I needed to vent because I'll probably decide to stay home rather than drive from L.I. to Maine in a freezing rain shitshow on Thurs. I spent a few hours yesterday planning a final 4 day getaway, and these seemingly bogus numbers didn't help. So today I looked around for cheap airfare to the west instead. Nope. Not good! (whatever happened to the always cheap NYC-SLC fares of years past?) Below is the forecast for Maine and for The Loaf as of 7PM tonight. I'm ready to go at the last minute if it changes, but not sure how much trust I'll put in OpenSnow for this one:

 

[James]

Go to the gathering at Stowe etc. they'll be skiing.

 

[mdf]

I'm anticipating a nasty drive Thursday and possible-to-probable icky weather on Friday and Monday. But Saturday and Sunday are looking nice in the forecast right now.

Still plenty of time for the "Gathering Effect" to come through with a change for the better, though!

 

[carvemeister]

Yeah, Friday looks like a nasty ski day, but the weekend could turn out nice if the rain doesn't punish them too much. My wife and I are probably going to try and hit somewhere we can use our MaxPass, so Stowe is out. We were going to leave on Thurs. to ski for 3 days, but now it looks like the best bet with the weather is to drive up somewhere Friday instead. The Loaf is probably further than I like to drive from Long Island for a 2 day trip now, so thinking we might give Loon a shot. Not as much terrain open, but allegedly it's still skiing pretty good so far. K-Mart and Stratton are also on the pass, but they're looking pretty dreadful.

 

[Core2]

Someone complained about this exact thing and Joel commented they get those snow prediction totals through automated feeds which aren't always accurate because of reasons.

 

[carvemeister]

Thanks, that explains it. Since the recent change in the daily snow New England Forecast reporting by Plymouth State Meteorologists has been so good I made the assumption that the Resort forecast pages would be updated using the same forecasts. Of course now thsose have caught up to the earlier forecast by Plymouth State of mostly r***/freezing r*** and the prediction of 12"+ has gone to about ~1" Reality bites. Looks like a warm weekend though, so that's good. Last turns!