I woke up to 9 inches of new snow at the ilsnow storm center Tuesday morning and you can see what it looked like outside my window in the above picture. There was a TON of snow on the trees. Blue Mountain Lake had around a foot from the storm.
Snow pack throughout ilsnow land is greater than a foot. Traditional snow bowls in the south-central Adirondacks are holding over 2 feet of snow pack, which is amazing for late November:
With this storm, the Indian Lake Cooperative Weather Station has set a new maximum for November monthly snowfall (since 1992-93) at 32.3 inches as of November 27th.
As most know by now, snowmobiling season begins at the conclusion of big game hunting season at sundown, December 2, 2018 for Hamilton and northern Herkimer Counties.
Let’s Ride…
…or take a deep breath and not lose our heads here! With this heavy wet snow, there are certain to be fallen trees that snowmobile clubs or municipalities would still need to remove.
Also, there is the question as to when Perkins Clearing would be open to snowmobiling. As of last week when I passed by, Perkins Clearing Road was still being plowed all the way through.
I would expect DEC to have the gates open for snowmobiling Moose River Plains at some point next week as the season opens. However, I couldn’t tell you whether that’s going to by December 3rd or not. I’ll try to get some more information on that.
For the love of your snowmobile, don’t bother hitting the “local village trails” or deep woods snowmobile trails that are not on seasonal roads. The 2-inch ground temperature is still in the upper-30s, which means the ground ain’t frozen yet! There is lots of water and mud lurking under the unseasonably deep snow cover. You might be better served letting the locals ride their beater sleds on those trails to break open the mud holes and give them a chance to freeze later on.
There is no deep freeze on the immediate horizon, and we may be dealing with a soggy, mixed precipitation-type event by Sunday. So I don’t see the underlying situation getting better soon.
Don’t even ask about riding the lakes yet….
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.
