That is certainly a possibility. In my rain vs. snow exercise, I looked for a location in the Catskills and found East Jewett, elevation 1,950. It had scattered data (aggregate about 25 years) averaging 81 inches snowfall. I'd be interested in Harvey's 2 cents here.
nyskiblog.com
Does Gore report snowfall when the area is not open? Is Harvey getting ALL November and April snowfall since he started collecting data in 2008? My indexing method to Killington would be flawed if (proportion of Gore's Nov and Apr snowfall to Killington's) is less than (proportion of Gore's Dec to Mar snowfall to Killington's). The elevation difference could create such a flaw given the massive rain incidence in the shoulder months.
The map shows Catskill snowfall declining west to east, thus maybe we can say Plattekill and Belleayre are in the 100-120 range but Windham and Hunter are under 100?
Are we buying that number? When I used to ski frequently at Belle, the daily reports always seemed to be accurate (sometimes under-reported) and they usually added up to the 130-150 range.
After skiing these places almost exclusively for decades you have no opinion who gets more snow???
no one is more skeptical about reporting then me , but i might have to agree with those numbers... I have seen first hand the diff between Platt and Bell and Hunter . This is especially pronounced with a North/Northwest flow..ie lake effect... with a regular "nor easter" the differences are much less between all of the cats..After skiing these places almost exclusively for decades you have no opinion who gets more snow???
I have been involved in evaluating "brochure quotes" for areas where I do not collect formal data. The people who know whether brochure quotes are realistic are locals who ski these places regularly. Thus my persistence in this thread.
From what I see here, you NY region locals seem OK with both Hunter's 71 and Belleayre's 140. There is logic that Catskill snowfall would decline NW to SE but by 50% is a lot.
This is the type of insight I'm looking for. I would not have thought the Catskills were close enough for Ontario lake effect, but with the right direction (NW) and more orographic uplift than Tug Hill I can see the possibility. I would guess the western wilderness part of the Adirondacks would get a lot of snow from Lake Ontario. Unfortunately Whiteface and Gore are in the shadow of those.
When Plattekill receives snow originating from Lake Ontario, I recall a few times reading the words "rogue bands of lake effect," which would seem to indicate that specific conditions need to line up along with a bit of luck. Such a shame that the only people in the Tug Hill region who benefit from all that snow are slednecks.
Interesting. We always have called them Sledheads. But I think Slednecks is probably the more appropriate term for the majority of them.
I learned it 20 years ago on the TGR forum. They used it in a positive way, not mocking or scornful.
Windham gets maybe ten inches more a year than Hunter, if that. They're both very snowmaking-dependent.
Yes that's what a Google Earth ruler says. Belleayre is 15 miles SW of Hunter and Plattekill is 20 miles west of Windham. Is that enough for double the snowfall? The argument in favor is that Belleayre and Plattekill top out around 3,300 feet and I can't find anything between them and Lake Ontario over 2,000.
You answered your own question
How about Cannon and Loon? Or Stowe and Smuggs?