Monday, February 9, 2015

This Pattern Is a Wicked Pissah!

Yesterday, Andrew Freedman of Mashable described the forecast for today for Boston as a "Wicked Pissah" and I like that so much that I'm going to hijack it and use it to describe the overall pattern that is currently dominating the weather over North America.

We could call this a high amplitude pattern, but for today, it's simply a "wicked pissah!"
In the far west, this pattern is a wicked pissah for everyone who loves snow or watering their lawns in the summer.  The snowpack in the Sierra and Cascades is dire.  Further inland, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are sitting near or slightly above climatological snowpacks in the upper elevations, but the Wasatch are struggling.  Alta-Collins this morning sits at 66 inches.  More on that in a minute.  

Back in Boston and along the eastern New England coast this is quickly turning into a winter for the ages as multi-day snow accumulations and snow depth on the ground are near, at, or above all-time marks at numerous locations.  As of this morning Boston has recorded over 60 inches of snow in 17 days.  Measured snow depths as of yesterday evening include 53 inches in Bangor, Maine, which ties their all-time record.  The mountains of northern New England are missing out on the heart of the action in the latest storm, but nevertheless, Mt. Mansfield sits at 76 inches, 10 inches ahead of Alta!

And of course, it is snowing across much of New England this morning.

Source: NCAR/RAL
The silver lining here in Utah is that we don't have an inversion and we're at least able to enjoy the warm sunny weather even in the valley.  I walked to the bus this morning without a jacket, which seemed preposterous.  The overnight low at the base of Alta was 37ºF.  There is a weak front coming in for today, so don't let the bluebird morning skies fool you.  We'll get some valley showers and some mountain dust on crust in the high elevations starting later this morning.  There's a slight threat of showers through tomorrow morning, but other than that, we should be dry through the work week and likely the weekend.

7 comments:

  1. I think you may have misinterpreted the New England term "wicked pissah". It means "really great". So the current weather conditions bringing buckets of snow to the East is "wicked pissah" for eastern snow enthusiasts, but the lack of snow in the West is definitely not "wicked pissah" for skiers out here.
    Sara S. (Boise, formerly of Massachusetts)

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  2. Stowe's season snowfall of 198 inches may surpass Alta's 201 any day now.

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  3. Wicked pissah = awesome. Conditions in the Wasatch are not wicked pissah.

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  4. Lost with translation and poor writing. Apologies!

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  5. The conditions in Salt Lake are wicked pissah if you like to golf and bike ride a la shirtsleeve and shorts in early Feb. All depends on point of view. If you're looking for great snow, powder, etc. okay, shoot me.

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  6. I feel we've all learned here!

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  7. My entire legal career was at the Boston law firm which represents Romney's Bain Capital and represents the Kennedy Family. I can assure the reader that "Wicked Pissah" is generally a compliment in New England. On the other hand, I grew up in the upper Mid-West and would expect the term to be a lead-in to a knife fight in Chicago.

    In any event, the snow at Solitude yesterday was very nice both on the meticulously maintained groomers and in the seldom used off-piste of that area.

    Dynamite, off the Summit Chair, was as nice a Blue groomer as I have seen in the Wasatch. I rode it three times just because it was so enjoyable.

    On the other hand, the off-piste trees above the skier's right down Woodlawn had plenty of untracked turning opportunities and were also worth a couple of runs.

    Tommy T.

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