canaan valley goes over 100"
January 26, 2004
Prob up to 105 allready! GAT looks like our snow pred at the begining of the year will be a little low.I have not been able to make it up there this year but have fun watching it pile up on the radar.The new web cam is my fav weather soap opera!
hey that is one contest I don't mind losing.... but then again if Almost Heaven were built with a state of the art snowmaking system of course my prediction would be way low... I am on the AH bandwagon BRING IT ON (but then again if it rains alot the first season I can see it now Almoist Heaven better change the name)
I think that Whitegrass' seasonal snowfall is a bit high (I suppose that is where you got the 105" total). My measurements here in Davis for the season so far is around 76", and Timberline lists its season total as 81". I'm not sure how or where Whitegrass gets its snow measurements, but it is either grossly exaggerated, or measured up at 4300'.
Snowshoe is reporting 112, and remember folks, they are the only resort that uses the approved NWS methodology for measuring snowfall.
But does it matter? We're in good shape and will be skiing through April!
[This message has been edited by johnfmh (edited 01-26-2004).]
There is this david lester guy who has been recording the weather in the valley forever it seems & he is a few inches ahead of whitegrass in his measurments.The daily nws hydrolic report seems to jive with WG.The valley gets more snow than davis + the way you & I measure snow is diff from what actually falls from the sky.You get up in the morn & there is 9" on the ground..we say thats how much fell..but during the nite there has been settling & compacting going on.Or maybe a little melting from underneath.So 76 in davis could easily be 105 in the valley.Remember the valley has 4 to almost 4500' mtns surrounding them to help wring out a few more flakes.Davis is 3100' pretty much the highest point.
No ski resort in the valley may use NWS approved equipment, however there is a NWS weather station CANAAN VALLEY 2, at an elevation of 3293' that does. You can find its information at ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html. Through Friday, it has a seasonal total of 77.1" of snow. I'm guessing upper 80s to maybe 90 inches after this weekend at best. Average through the end of January is around 90 inches, so we are just a little above average this year. I measure my snow through approved NWS methods,(i.e. tube above drift winds), however I do not melt to get liquid equivalents. The CANAAN VALLEY 2 station does melt their snow, but that does not affect the amount of snow they record, only their liquid measurements.
This morning report shows 17" on the ground at both CV & snoeshoe,with 24" at the 4000' stake above CV.This continues to tell me cv is a snowier place. 7springs posts good snow amounts all the time but i have no idea what thier total is.Please forgive me for bieng such a snow freak but i grew up in the tropics & i am half norwegian.+ i have a piece of land in canaan & would like to think i picked the snowiest place to build my andy A frame!
Andy:
I sympathize with your love of snow -- I relocated my entire life out here to Davis to pursue my love of snow and unique weather. I am confident that you did pick the snowiest area south of the
Tughill Plateau in New York to build your A-Frame. If any of the three ski areas in Canaan would accurately record snow totals at the tops of the resorts, I wouldn't be shocked to find out their annual averages to be around 200". Even more, maybe 250" at the top of Porte Crayon. Of course, living at those altitudes with those amounts of snow equals major travel obsticles, so 150" a year at 3200 with the option to take a lift up to snowier realms amounts to a snow paradise that is tough to beat!
I would add to your post about the SWEET summers there also,but i won't since this is a ski site!