[at-l] Spring

[Art Cloutman]

It was beginning to look like spring around here just a couple of 
days ago. We had a front loader carefully push back the huge mounds 
of snow onto the middle of our lawns so that the snow plow had a 
place to put the snow when he did our driveway.  A couple inches of 
ice remained on the edge of lawn and then a six foot tall ridge of 
snow remains in the middle of our lawn blocking any good views of the 
lake and mountains beyond.  Several days of warm weather( highs in 
the 40's) have melted just enough of the ice and snow that we have 
just begun to see signs of the grass.  Then yesterday we got hit with 
another snowstorm.  4 to 8 inches fell in the area.  We got around 4 
inches on our lawn but at Gunstock 5 inches fell which covers the 
corn snow with a sticky coat of fresh powder.  Skiing was great!  But 
we could not see Mt Washington or the White Mountains because of 
clouds and fog.  NH has reached second place for all time record snow 
fall.  This was measured in Concord, NH at 115.2 inches.  The record 
in Concord was set in 1873-74 at 122 inches.  But, many places in the 
state have over 150 inches.  Gunstock has recorded 139 inches of 
natural snow with 51 inches of man made snow mixed in.  All of this 
gets packed down with warm weather , grooming and skiers.  Even after 
being compacted some places on the mountain have 6 feet of base. 
Just 50 miles south of Gunstock the grass is starting to turn green 
and people are doing yard work.  They are tiring of skiing so fewer 
people are showing up at the mountain.  Management at the mountain 
has determined that the official closing date for the ski season will 
be April 6th.  However, there is talk of opening on weekends for as 
long as the snow lasts.  It has been an incredible season.

There was a report from Mt Washington Observatory on the local TV 
broadcast last night.  Observatory workers have recorded around 150 
inches of snow on the summit.  That is well below the normal winters 
accumulation of 200 inches or more.  But the notches and ravines are 
reporting a higher then usual avalanche activity.
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Life is Good!!!
Art Cloutman