Powder hounds: Vermont's holiday weekend snow is gonna be pretty great

Burlington Free Press

Despite the recent record-setting heat, Mother Nature is delivering for skiers and riders for the MLK Day holiday weekend.

Last weekend, a new high temperature record was recorded at Burlington International Airport by National Weather Service at: 59 degrees.

More:Winter storm sends skiers gift for MLK weekend: How much snow did Vermont resorts get?

That smashed the previous high of 56 for Jan. 11 set in 1980 and messed up Vermont's boon of snow that dumped on ski areas leading up to New Years Day, so much so that ski resorts like Jay Peak sent out a news release that all but told folks to just stay home.

But do not fear pow hounds.

Ski patrol at Bolton Valley Resort shovels off their hut on Thursday morning, Jan. 16, 2020, as a winter storm continued to dump snow on the Green Mountains. Northern Vermont was expected to get anywhere from 6 inches to nearly a foot of snow in the higher elevations.

"We are just getting started," said Hugh Johnson on his blog post at Smuggler's Notch Resort, where forecasts called for snow through the weekend with total accumulations of more than a foot by the end of the weekend.

"Snowmaking guns will start firing again tomorrow right as the first wave of snow hits us," posted Sugarbush on Instagram Wednesday. They predicted up to 16 inches of snow by the MLK Day holiday.

“We are getting dumped on,” said Brian Hughes, a groomer at Killington Resort, in a Wednesday video posted to the Ski The East Facebook group.

Annual thaw

That warm front, although record-setting, is actually not rare for Vermont in January, according to the National Weather Service Burlington.

Just about every year, a January thaw makes of temporary mess of the ski and ride season. But then, Mother Nature gets back to business with a cold snap, just like the one Vermont will experience on Thursday and Friday.

More:Fluffly flakes are falling! Vermonters post snow pics on Instagram and Twitter

"It's not unprecedented with a strong front coming through," said Meteorologist Rebecca Duell of the contrast between last weekend's high and the negative temps that will settle into Vermont by Friday.

She points to one day in January 2018 with a low of -2 degrees and then, six days later, a high of 61. Some years, a snow-producing cold snap following a strong thaw has produced some of best ski and ride conditions of the season.

Winter storm watch

Most of Vermont was under a winter weather weather advisory on Thursday while sections of the Green Mountain in northern Vermont were under a warning from 11 p.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. on Thursday with close to a foot of snow predicted in the higher elevations.

Smugglers' Notch ski patrol gets first tracks Friday morning, Jan. 16, 2020, as a winter storm dumped snow across Vermont with nearly a foot possible for higher elevations in the northern Green Mountains.

The cold temperatures will also allow ski resorts to make snow, with temps Friday night dipping into the negative single digits, but rising into the 20s Saturday and Sunday — with possibly some more snow falling in the mountains — and then dipping back into single and negative digits for MLK Day.

Contact Ryan Mercer at rmercer@freepressmedia.com or at 802-343-4169. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmercer1 and facebook.com/ryan.mercer1. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.