Christmas Update
Saturday’s rain didn’t do much damage with temperatures getting barely above 32*F in the afternoon.
Now we’ve got 7 inches of fresh snow in Indian Lake as of 6:30pm and the lake-effect guns were crushing Moose River Plains this evening. Lake-effect snows will continue in ilsnow land right through Tuesday.
I hear the the north end of Perkins Clearing Road and Newcomb trails haven’t been plowed in several days. So Friday’s snow and today’s snow begins to count for the base.
We’re open for business. Traffic will be light if you come up to ride.
I’ll let you know when I see Parks and Rec grooming the local Indian Lake village trails.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
Ride day! Report 12/22/17
The clock was ticking down to quitting time at work and I felt like a caged animal with the snow event raging outside, which made it all the more sweeter when I got out.
As expected, most of the local trails were rough. But the 8 inches of new snow cushioned things nicely:
The best riding was S86/Little Canada between Sawmill Road and the Lone Birch and of course, S87/42nd and Broadway.
Even the Sabael trail was passable. But there were several muck holes that are going to open up further when more traffic hits. I broke the trail down from Route 30 onto Indian Lake. But no way was I going to be the first one on the lake.
I didn’t bother taking S84 out to the Newcomb trail because I don’t know whether the Newcomb trail is still being plowed for logging. I took C8 out to the former Arctic Cat dealer, but then turned tail and went back to town because I know that ride was not going to be fun.
Here was some of the best I hit this evening:
Weekend Outlook
The central and eastern Adirondacks could get significant icing on Saturday. Milder air will make better in-roads over the western Adirondacks with temperatures rising into the middle to upper 30s for a time, making things sloppy but not enough to wipe out Friday’s gains.
Bottom line is that we are close to having enough snow for the groomers to get out there and set the base for the season on the local trails, if we aren’t there already. We’re in a really good spot for pre-Christmas riding conditions.
Lakes?
Ice fishermen have ventured onto the lakes. But I’m not going to tell you they are safe. Only you can determine whether the reward is worth the possible risk of turning your snowmobile into a submarine.
Christmas Day
The Christmas snow event has been on the horizon for a while now. At this point, it does not appear that the polar jet and subtropical jets would merge in time for a colossal snow storm here. But the primary low (associated with the polar jet) moving through the Great Lakes should bring enough energy to get things busy for us later Sunday night into Christmas Day:
I hesitate to hazard a guess as to how much snow we get on Christmas Day with such a complex system still a few days away, but I’d say that at least 6 inches or more seems likely. If the primary low really goes to town and captures the coastal low for a true double-barreled storm, it could get nuts here. Leftover lake-effect and orographic snows will add to the pile, after the Christmas snow event moves by.
Next week
The bitter cold for next week in the wake of the Christmas snow event has also been on the horizon for a while. Wednesday will be bitterly cold, but Thursday may be morbidly cold. ECMWF is showing subzero readings for MAX TEMPERATURES!
Days like this occur maybe once or twice in mid-winter. But having this in December is extremely impressive!
Pre-New Year’s Storm
But wait, there’s more… Maybe much more!
ECWMF depicts two significant pieces of energy moving toward the eastern United States on Saturday, December 30th:
With something like this, we could have a complete northeastern United States blizzard cranking away by December 31st. This is still over a week away, but I do think this has some legs.
After that?
I’ll gladly take my chances with this prevailing mean weather pattern January 2-7 to keep it cold and to add more snow to the pile:
This appears to be nearly bottomless cold the eastern two-thirds of the United States. What a start we are having to the 2017-18 Winter Snowmobiling Season!
Keep Updated
I will tend to post about long range weather patterns on the main website. For more time-sensitive storm updates and random things that pop up in my head at 3am, I’ll post on the Facebook page which is found here: www.facebook.com/ilsnowcom
Make sure that you:
- Click the Like Button (if you haven’t already)
- Under Following, set to “See First” in your news feed & set notifications “On”
That’s all I got for now! If you enjoyed reading this, please share with your friends on social media or wherever they hang out.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
This report is brought to you by Steet Ponte Auto Group. Many of the vehicles here in Indian Lake are bought from the Steet Ponte. Co-owner Joe Steet is a huge fan and booster of ilsnow.com. If you’re looking for a new truck, give Steet Ponte a good look.
