Some Love for Eastern Snow from Wasatch Weather Weenies

It has also been a very, very good December for lake effect out on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.P. Not surprising, given the well-below-average temps in the upper Midwest for most of December. Mt. Bohemia is claiming 127" total snowfall this season. http://www.mtbohemia.com.

I don't think there is much resort inflation going on in this case, as the famous Keweenaw Snow Thermometer, which is much closer to the mainland, is showing 112" for the season: https://www.pasty.com/snow/

Fortunately the first big storm of the season was heavy and wet. I haven't made it out there, but I have heard Bohemia is already skiing nicely, which is pretty rare this early in the season.
 
Any chance I could get some long term monthly snowfall history from either Bohemia or the Keweenaw Snow Thermometer?
 
Michigan Tech measures snowfall at their Keweenaw Research Center adjacent to the Houghton County Memorial Airport, which is roughly 30 miles closer to the mainland, and considerably lower, than Bohemia, and about 8 miles closer to the mainland than the thermometer. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=michigan ... CAgQ_AUoAg

The daily amounts and the settled depth is published online here: http://mtukrc.org/met/weather_snow_data.htm
They don't publish water-content data, but I wonder if you might not be able to get that data if you asked.

Historical data from Michigan Tech can be found here: http://www.mtu.edu/alumni/favorites/sno ... wfall.html

I don't have any personal connections at Mt. Bohemia, so I don't know if they keep their own records. If they do, it seems unlikely that they would have records that go back before 2000, as that is the year they opened for business.

Regional backcountry skiers and riders have long relied upon John Dee's Snow Central, a snowmobiling website, for snow depths in the Superior basin. John Dee has snowfall and historical data available also. I don't know their sources, however. http://www.johndee.com/
 
:hijack:

Paging Mr. Crocker. . .

Bohemia's snow report for today:

Snow Update: 12-27-13

Past 24 hours: 10 inches
Past 7 days: 51 inches
Snowfall total: 157 inches

We are 100% OPEN
95 out of 95 runs open

We are in a Lake effect cycle
New snow everyday for the past month!

Most snowfall of any lift serviced ski area in the United States this season!

Mount Bohemia, Mich. 157 inches
Alta, Utah 124 inches
Telluride, Colorado 106 inches
Vail, Colorado 104 inches
Copper Mountain, Colorado 106 inches
Park City, Utah 71 inches

OK, now I'm gonna call :bs: I believe the claim of 157 inches. (The County Road Commission has recorded 137 inches as of 12/26, measured significantly lower and not as far out on the peninsula: http://keweenawcountyonline.org/snowfall.php - note that 108" of that fell in December!) I don't buy the claim of "Most snowfall of any lift serviced ski area in the United States this season." Any thoughts Tony?

Either way, even watching from a distance, this has been a very impressive lake-effect cycle. I'm hoping to get out there in January, so I'm crossing my fingers that the cold will continue.
 
Wolf Creek 159 inches
Targhee 149
Jackson's unrepresentative upper station 153 (the realistic mid number is 112)
Alyeska's unrepresentative upper station 146 (mid not published online)
Steamboat 145.5
Alta 132

All of the above include October snow, including 36 from Wolf Creek. So Bohemia IS probably #1 in the United States since November 1. Usually you can call BS on these claims because Mt. Baker leads North American ski area snowfall in close to 75% of seasons. But not so far this season because the PNW is hurting for snow. Stevens Pass has had 106 inches with no one else reporting over 75. Baker rarely publishes in-season.

However:
Whitewater 176
Revelstoke 159
 
Well that shows you what I know. Thanks, Tony. After reading Bohemia's snow report this morning, I went straight to Baker's website, but did'nt find any season totals posted. Then I got lazy and simply wrote the post above.

However:
Whitewater 176
Revelstoke 159

In Bohemia's defense they did say "in the United Sates."

Yeah, I've been regularly checking Whitewater and Fernie's reports. They were a factor considered in my decision to buy tickets to Spokane for late February. I've been surprised by the enormous difference in season totals between Whitewater and Red this season.
 
FWIW, Last week I skied 57" of lake effect snow on the Tug. It was the deepest snow I've ever skied. The deepest snow I skied before that was in the Wasatch after a 3 day storm cycle. The snow was equally light and fluffy. The differences were

1. I skied opening day on unpacked, unsettled snow on the Tug. It was deep and you went all the way down. Face shots were had. Falling meant wallowing and hoping you could find your skis if they came off. In Utah, the snow was skied daily, so it was never much more than crotch deep, unless you went were no one went...which we did, but it took much more effort than on the Tug.

2. You needed pitch to really ski it. The Tug's vert is only 600', so steep shots were short. Not steep, you couldn't really go anywhere.

3. I can drive to the Tug and be home for dinner.

4. Lift ticket was $15 (with my season's pass reciprocal deal) at Snow Ridge, vs $70 in Utah.

So for me, skiing lake effect at home is much more economical. Still fun, still skiing. When you are used to skiing the hills of central NY you really appreciate them, especially when there a ton of pow.

Here are some pix http://forum.nyskiblog.com/57-at-Snow-R ... 33416.html

It snowed another 9" last night up there. I wanted to go today but AcidChrist is sick in bed (and sick in the head, but we all knew that already). Other ski pals are out of town for the holiday.
 
Powderqueen":2rnxkknu said:
In Utah, the snow was skied daily, so it was never much more than crotch deep, unless you went were no one went...which we did, but it took much more effort than on the Tug.
A bit of a misconception - it kinda depends on where you ski. If you get away from Little Cottonwood Canyon, there is lift served untouched side country that you can get to with a simple gravity traverse*. If you want to stay in-bounds and exclusively lift served, again, there are also trivial (meaning little effort for reward) options for that as well.

*: actually that exists at the LCC resorts too, but I'd likely face retribution if I spilled the beans here!
 
powderqueen":2mis1fcu said:
You needed pitch to really ski it.
With 57 inches of lake effect, you need A LOT of pitch, as I found out the hard way on my last day at Niseko. I would think that would be a problem at Snow Ridge.
 
jamesdeluxe":3ewleqve said:
Five to six feet of lake effect in the forecast for Tug Hill from Monday night through Wednesday morning.

We await your TR's ;)
 
jamesdeluxe":2xjvfyyo said:
Steenburgh has confirmed what we all know.

Here are a few quotes from a Utah snow researcher...

Tug Hill lake effect snow is even drier and more powdery than snow in Utah (...) "Tug Hill has the greatest snow in the world"

Tug Hill snowfalls are "probably the most intense storms in the world". That's measured by the sheer number of inches that fall over a short period of time.
:-"
 
These researchers really have to visit Hokkaido, which has lake effect on steroids. Tug Hill reputedly gets 250 inches per year. Niseko gets 177 in January alone.
That's measured by the sheer number of inches that fall over a short period of time.
Orographic uplift is also a key to that. Tug Hill's is about 500 feet. Japan's is more like 4,000 feet. Sierra and Cascade snowfalls within a short period of time should also be compared.
 
It's interesting that Steenburgh, given where he lives, is such a huge Tug Hill wx fan.

A commenter mentions the amazing 1966 blizzard, which my parents still talk about. Heh, 50 inches of snow on one day.
 
Tony Crocker":gmmub989 said:
These researchers really have to visit Hokkaido, which has lake effect on steroids. Tug Hill reputedly gets 250 inches per year. Niseko gets 177 in January alone.
That's measured by the sheer number of inches that fall over a short period of time.
Orographic uplift is also a key to that. Tug Hill's is about 500 feet. Japan's is more like 4,000 feet. Sierra and Cascade snowfalls within a short period of time should also be compared.

They mention Japan.
 
Back
Top