Come Ski Vermont

National Weather Service at 429AM this morning:

“...HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS CANCELLED... ...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING ACROSS THE NORTHERN ADIRONDACKS...THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY OF NEW YORK AND VERMONT...AND ALL OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT... WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST THURSDAY. THE BLIZZARD WARNING REPLACES THE HEAVY SNOW WARNING PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT.”

The last couple of years here (almost since we moved back) have been marked by poor ski conditions.  No more as you can see out the Nerdville window:

We already had over a foot of snow from a long series of small fast storms with no thawing in between.  The ski areas had built their bases deeper with snow making taking advantage of the unusually cold weather.  But this is the real thing.  That storm below is going to wind up tight as it gets over water and pump a few inches an hour back this way all afternoon and night.

BTW, see the apparent hole in the storm over northern Vermont where we live.  It’s an artifact caused by radar in Burlington not being able to see through the high peaks of the Mansfield range to the relatively low tops of the clouds that snow comes from.  Trust me; we’re having a blizzard.

I was going to straighten out my desk (you can see above that it needs it), write a long thoughtful blog (I’m sure you can wait), learn Yahoo Pipes, and work my way through my inbox (faintly visible above).  Instead I’m going to x-country ski the roads before the wind picks up and come home and be snowed in with Mary for Valentine’s Day.