Where is the snow?

moosehunter · January 19, 2006, 04:19:31 PM

Who has ridable snow around their home? Deadwood? what are the trails like? Any one in northern Mi.?
Snowmobiles are great fun 'till you have to watch them sit all winter :( we have no snow.
mh

sprucebunny · January 19, 2006, 04:31:14 PM

Ours all washed away yesterday. :'( I'm depressed about it, too.

Knew I should have bought a sander and not a plow :-\

If you look at "weatherunderground" they have a snow depth map. Looks to me like Canada is the best bet ???

http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/SnowDepth.html

SwampDonkey · January 19, 2006, 05:17:21 PM

I was out walking on the woodlot today and I was walking mostly on ice. Snow went by-by in the past week. The potato fields are about all bare, with a light dusting today. There's about 4 feet of snow in line fences where the wind piles it up. :D :D I wouldn't want to ski doo across rivers, streams, ponds and lakes without the scuba gear on. :D

Part_Timer · January 19, 2006, 06:52:14 PM

I wish we had snow. We had jus a dusting yesterday 27 degrees and today it is 54 tomorrow is 50 and rain. It has been that way for a month now. WE NEED SNOW for tubing behind the quad.

Tom

Deadwood · January 20, 2006, 06:57:08 AM

I got sick of looking at my snowmobile too and headed up to the only place in Maine I thought had snow...Caribou. Found out they mostly have ice, and darn thin ice too. I broke through and sunk my sled three times...once halfway up the engine compartment. It took me 8 hours to get out...after I walked 3.3 miles back to the Border Crossing at Limestone. There they let me use my phone, after I was grilled for 20 minutes about who I was and where I was riding and all that.

It was not fun, but I did manage to get 260 miles on my sled for all that work. Of course tugging and pulling to get my sled unstuck injured my back and now I am down and out for a few days waiting for it to recouperate. The whole trip was a disater and they got 2 more inches of rain since I left on Thursday morning.

I will say this, DON'T head to Caribou Maine to ride snowmobiles...its downright dangerous up there.

Jeff · January 20, 2006, 07:04:19 AM

We have ice and a skiff of snow. Two ice storms this week.

SwampDonkey · January 20, 2006, 07:25:12 AM

We are just a little south of Caribou here (40 miles) and ice is all through the woods here and nothing is froze over. I crossed the beaver pond on snowshoes a couple weeks ago and I discovered to my horror there was only 1 inch of ice.

We had them storms Deadwood mentions and even more rain than in Caribou. 3 major ice Jams on 3 rivers, but subsiding now some. Expecting freezing rain/snow mix over the next 2 days. Worst January I ever seen in my life. At least back in 1981 the ground was bare and it was short sleeve weather. I helped my uncle burn brush Jan-Feb, got our snow and cold in march that year, killed our locusts as they leaved out in Feb. :

sawguy21 · January 20, 2006, 07:48:18 AM

Joan, don't head our way. I have not used the snow blower for over a month and that was on a skiff of the white stuff. It is going to be tough for the farmers to plant this spring if we don't get some moisture.

SwampDonkey · January 20, 2006, 08:40:50 AM

Want some of our 'moisture', was the wettest year on record (almost 60 inches rain). Seems every time I had to go to the woods it was raining. :D

Jeff · January 20, 2006, 01:08:55 PM

I set up a "snow cam" shooting past our "tree worth the mess" tree, and into our front yard. Got the camera in the front window. Not using it for anything else so might as well keep it there. The picture is replaced every 60 seconds.

beenthere · January 20, 2006, 01:34:34 PM

That scene looks great. Wish we had snow in WI. Had some good snow before Christmas, but the temps have been above freezing during the day for most of a month now. There are plus's to that too, but still would like to have the snow.

SwampDonkey · January 20, 2006, 02:24:53 PM

She's 32 F right here now and light snow, gonna get 15 mm rain and 1 cm snow by Saturday night. Not a big storm. I could brush the drive way off with a broom. :D I'de like to have a little snow so I can walk in the woods again. I landed on my back a couple times yesterday.

Jeff we need a 'smilie_butt_rub' smilie :D :D :D

Max sawdust · January 21, 2006, 07:06:05 AM

We have snow ;D
Not a as much as we should have but trails are open for snowmobilse, Driven trucks on the lakes to the ice house, XC skiing, and sleding with the kids.

matter of fact tonight is a bon fire and night time tobogan running.

0's - 10's at night and 20's in the day forever it seems. Just peerrffeecctt

max

SwampDonkey · January 21, 2006, 07:48:01 AM

Seen a video on TV news last night. Some lake to the south of me has a couple fishing shacks consumed by melting ice. :

Deadwood · January 21, 2006, 09:30:22 AM

Het Swampdonkey,

When I was up to Caribou I heard on the radio that some place in Canda called Riley Brook was flooded bad. Just as their pumps started pumping out the water, another wind/ rain storm came in and knocked out their power...and thus pumps. Poor souls.

By the way if I knew you were only 40 miles south of Caribou I would have stopped in. At least something good would have come out of the trip!

SwampDonkey · January 21, 2006, 10:24:52 AM

Yeah I'm 2 miles from the Bridgewater/Centreville border crossing, exit route 1 by the Irving Mainway. I'm looking at the 'Big Rock' out my dining room window. ;D

solodan · January 21, 2006, 02:20:53 PM

Take a trip out west. We have had alot of rain here this year, and have alot less than normal,but above 8000' there is still about 10 to 20 feet on the ground. I was at a wedding in Minnesota about 8 years ago, and I was talking to some guy and told him I lived in California. He asked me if I knew what a snowmobile was. :

Then he was really confused when I told him I lived in the mountains and there was still snow on the ground when I left for Minnesota in the middle of July.

Deadwood · January 22, 2006, 08:04:58 AM

That reminds me of a story...

I was working with this guy from Pakistan and since Nationalities don't bother me, I was chatting up a storm with this new guy, getting to know his culture and all that. Well this mouthy, know-it-all, trouble-maker of the shop kind of guy asked me to ask this new Pakistan guy if he had ever seen snow before.

Snow? Pakistan is part of the Himilyan Mountains. Of course he has seen snow I said, it's only the roof top of the world!

Obviously this back-fired on the know-it-all who was not so all knowing afterall!

SwampDonkey · January 22, 2006, 08:22:25 AM

There's even snow and glaciers in Africa on Kilimanjaro,Tanzania in the Rift Valley. 19,335.6 ft. high, 220 miles south of the equator.

Long Link

Ever see the movie with Gregory Peck, 'Snows of the Kilimanjaro' ?

pappy · January 22, 2006, 09:58:27 AM

Where is the snow you ask????

Try Northern Maine!!!! where Deadwood was is 50 miles south of us.

When he came up to this end of the state there had been a huge snow storm two weeks prior... We had 39" of the stuff over Christmas (in about a 24 hr. period)...Shovel..shovel..shovel.. It took the local snowmobile clubs a week to get the trails groomed out!!!

branches laden with snow hanging into the trails what a mess... But we got it.. :

The week in between him coming up this way a couple friends from the Bangor area came up to ride.. From Monday to Thursday they had what I think will probably be the best riding of the winter!!! When they left it started raining and it rained for two days..

When Deadwood jumped on his sled there was three feet of unsettled snow full of water you couldn't even walk on the stuff with snowshoes... There was water holes every where!! and it was raining... It just wasn't the right time to ride!!!!!!! :

:

Travis you didn't heed to the warnings on the radio about staying off the trails as they weren't safe... It was all over the TV and radio the Maine Fish and Wildlife were at trail intersections w/ road crossings telling people not to ride... They were tired of rescuing stuck sledders!!!!!

Deadwood wrote

QuoteIt was not fun, but I did manage to get 260 miles on my sled for all that work

You must be one very strong and determined young man who really likes sledding... Ya'll come back now ya hear when the conditions are more conducive to snowmobiling than submarining.. ;D ;D ;D ;D

As far as the conditions up this way today two foot base w/ fresh 4 inches of snow, groomed trails and bright sunny blue skies...

Timburr · January 22, 2006, 10:06:14 AM

No snow here!!

As a child, I can remember there always being snow somewhere on our patch for 6 months of the winter. Not now. Some winters there is no snow.

So far this winter we've had 3 scatterings totaling only 40mm (1½")

Not snow, but some interesting pics of freaky ice sculptures on Lake Geneva. Caused by 70mph winds at -7ºC (19º f) on Jan. 2005

Swiss ice storm link

Deadwood · January 22, 2006, 11:55:33 PM

Yeah Pappy, I am very determined when it comes to snowmobiling. I certainly was desperate as my sled has never been on a trailer before and the fact that I hauled it 200 miles from home and rode alone the whole time.

I know what kind of snowmobiling you have up there and it is the best...no question there, but crappy riding up there this past week was a lot better riding than on nothing down here.

There was one final reason I headed up North though. I needed to get 150 more miles on my sled so I could take it in for it's first service. I wanted that being done while we did not have snow down here. The whole trip worked out well as my sled is all ready, and snow is on the way tonight.

As for the warnings on TV and radio, I honestly never heard them.

SwampDonkey · January 23, 2006, 07:08:54 AM

Quote from: Timburr on January 22, 2006, 10:06:14 AM
No snow here!!

As a child, I can remember there always being snow somewhere on our patch for 6 months of the winter. Not now. Some winters there is no snow.

Dang jet stream! :

:(

Max sawdust · January 23, 2006, 07:19:54 AM

Quote from: pappy on January 22, 2006, 09:58:27 AM
Where is the snow you ask????
Try Northern Maine!!!! where Deadwood was is 50 miles south of us.
As far as the conditions up this way today two foot base w/ fresh 4 inches of snow, groomed trails and bright sunny blue skies...

Only good thing about that 39" of snow getting rained on is it will make a heck of a good base that should last a long time. 8)
Max

SwampDonkey · January 23, 2006, 07:26:19 AM

Not many snow mobiles around here, neighbor and cousin have one each, hardly used. One outfit started up a Cat dealership down the road a ways back in the late 90's, but it didn't last. I haven't road one for 25 years. :

Bill Johnson · January 23, 2006, 12:22:10 PM

We have some, not as much as most years though, but enough for the idjits on their snowmobiles to race up and down our roads.

The must be close to 15" or 35 cm of the stuff now, but the long range forecast calls for above freezing temps and rain.

Trails around here have been limitedly opened since Christmas but trails north and south are closed more often than not.

Kevin · January 23, 2006, 07:27:46 PM

Three separate drownings here this weekend.
One on a tractor and two others by snowmachine, two through thin ice and one got turned around at night and drove into open water.

Deadwood · January 24, 2006, 07:45:50 PM

That's sad news indeed.

I love snowmobiling, but I certainly do not want to spend my last moments aboard one. I came home that weekend and made a post on the snowmobile forum I belong to/ moderate for. My exact words were "Dangerous". I was scoffed at, which is unfortunate.

I know we are desperate for rideable snow, but as Pappy said, they closed the trails for a reason...something I have never heard happen before here in Maine. I would feel even worse if I found out one of the members of Forestry Forum met ill-fate on thin ice with a snowmobile or with a tractor...

Stay safe huh?

RacinRex · January 25, 2006, 02:49:36 PM

Yeah MooseHunter we are rather frustrated also. No snow in this neck of the woods and I really haven't gotten any logs to saw lately so I'm not getting to use any of my toys out here in Alpine. Sled is tuned up and ready to go and I'm anxious.

SwampDonkey · January 25, 2006, 03:15:17 PM

That white stiff will be even more scarce in another month. :

sawguy21 · January 27, 2006, 06:55:18 AM

Rained here yesterday. I am half expecting the grass to start greening up. It is more like April than January. The driest winter I have ever seen.

Mr Mom · January 27, 2006, 08:34:47 AM

My maple buds look like there are going to bust open soon.

Thanks Mr Mom

SwampDonkey · January 27, 2006, 10:03:55 AM

Cold here today and yesterday -10 C (15 F). But, not much snow. Suppose to be in the 30's the next 2 days.

pep · January 30, 2006, 09:35:32 AM

Lots of snow in Northern Ontario. We've been getting dumped on since yesterday morning. So far close to 10-12 inches. Overall about 3' in the bush.
Shovelled 3 times yesterday. >:( >:( >:( >:(

Moosehunter, lots of snow around the Tri-towns and Kirkland Lake. I saw your post from lastyear about being in Kirkland Lake. You drive right by my shop on Hwy 11.

Cheers Pep

pappy · January 30, 2006, 09:54:58 AM

With colder temps and new accumulation of 6" or so the snowmobile clubs have been out grooming and the trails are super... the off trail riding is just super also in this end of the state... 8)

Stay off of some of the lakes though... warmer than usual temps this year and some of them are just not freezing... :( check with the local clubs to find out which ones are safe :P

Quote from: pep on January 30, 2006, 09:35:32 AM
Lots of snow in Northern Ontario. We've been getting dumped on since yesterday morning. So far close to 10-12 inches. Overall about 3' in the bush.

Up in this end of the state we've got about the same amount in the bush also... butt about 50 miles south of here and on down to southern Maine could sure use that storm you're getting pep 8)

SwampDonkey · January 30, 2006, 10:04:07 AM

Just came from the bush and I can walk anywhere in the woods on crust. Don't need snow shoes. Going to be milder again at the end of the week. 25 F and sun shining now.

Jeff · February 16, 2006, 05:35:17 AM

Its coming and its ugly. :-\ About 2 inches here calling for upwards of 12. YUCK! I must have drug all this cold weather back from florida.

SwampDonkey · February 16, 2006, 07:51:12 AM

45 F here yesterday afternoon, 25 F this morning. Snow/rain mix coming for friday but not much accumulation. Gonna be dang cold by saturday night. {{shiver}}.

Jeff · February 16, 2006, 02:07:56 PM

Well, I think its here and it looks like a dandy. Big Time thunder and lighting with this snow. Thats really pretty rare for here. The wind is hard out of the northeas now which means the edge coming in of a big rotating system. Always get the worst storms that has winds starting out of the northeast.

SwampDonkey · February 16, 2006, 02:20:32 PM

Nor'easters are our worst too. But today it's coming outta the north so far. I'll let ya know by tommorrow morn'n if it's going to be much. The sun has been in and out of the clouds several times today. Thermometer been stuck on 25 all day. ;D

solodan · February 16, 2006, 06:15:01 PM

It sure didn't feel like winter a few days ago, we were in the high 60's. ;D that's like june for us here. woke up this morning in the teens. we should be getting some more snow the next few days, but probably under a foot. plenty of snow above 8000' here, 10 to 20 feet on the ground, but none below 6000 feet.

SwampDonkey · February 17, 2006, 01:45:40 PM

Trying to show the rain bouncing off the puddle on the drive way

Nice mucky field with water run'n everywhere. :

40 F and rain'n cats-n-dogs

Murf · February 17, 2006, 02:48:43 PM

Yep, went out last night after dinner to clean out the slush some, I had left a little snow behind to absorb the rain instead of turning the asphalt to ice.

All of a sudden the flashing blue light was a flashing white light, and bright too.

It took a minute for me to realize it was lightening. :

SwampDonkey · February 17, 2006, 03:14:06 PM

Holy samolies it's monsoon weather

I think it's about to shift as the temps are spirally down from a high of 43 F and brisk winds are coming out of the NW. We're going into the deep chill overnight. ;D :D

SwampDonkey · February 17, 2006, 04:16:16 PM

Well storm's almost over, I can see sunshine pouring in from the north. Still some sporadic showers. 35 F now

You can see the water has filled the ditch and is running over the road. Looking brighter to the north. ;)

Clouds/fog lifting off the mountain.

Well time to build a fire to be ready for a cold night. ;)

sawguy21 · February 17, 2006, 04:52:58 PM

The last two nights and yesterday were b*****n' cold here. It was -26 this morning and now -8. Feels a lot better. Still no snow.

Minnesota_boy · February 17, 2006, 05:01:01 PM

We have snow, but not lots of it nor is it high quality for sledding, but there has been snow since the end of November. Looks like it might stay a little longer as the high temperature for today was -15 F.

breederman · February 17, 2006, 05:06:47 PM

Jeff, ya coulda kept some of that wind! When it came through here this morning we had BIG wind, HARD rain,then hail, then slush,along with thunder and lightning all in about a ten minute time span. Then the sun came out.
It was almost 50 degrees f this morning now the puddles are starting to freeze,gonna be 10 degrees by sat am and not warm up much during the day.

sawguy21 · February 17, 2006, 05:07:53 PM

Mb, we are herding the arctic front south east as fast as we can :D :D :D :D

Minnesota_boy · February 17, 2006, 05:10:42 PM

We need better guards on that Canadian border to keep your arctic herd out. ;D

Tom · February 17, 2006, 07:41:36 PM

I had sun and heat in the 80's today.

Kevin · February 17, 2006, 07:48:30 PM

That must be really painful when it dips down into the eighties, eh? :D

SwampDonkey · February 17, 2006, 10:30:31 PM

I got knocked out of commission for 5 hours from a power outage. Wind ~

Minnesota_boy · February 24, 2006, 03:17:50 PM

It looks like those who want to snowmobile can come up this way now. We got 9" today to go on top of the 3 that dropped Wednesday and Thursday. That makes 12" of new powder for you all to play in. 8)

Deadwood · February 25, 2006, 06:34:11 AM

Yesterday the weatherman here kept saying we were going to get flurries. It must have been some big flakes because by 3 pm we got 5 inches of snow. Not a lot, not really enough to go sledding on, but no one was really expecting anything so it was a treat. Still I guess that makes up for the big blizzard they predicted a few weeks ago. They claimed 15 inches and we only got 3.

For all of you that hate snow, you can thank me. I knew last fall when I bought a new sled we wouldn't get any snow this year. Last year at this time I had over 3000 miles on...this year only a 1,000.

crtreedude · February 25, 2006, 06:51:39 AM

Still no snow... :

thecfarm · February 25, 2006, 07:16:06 AM

Deadwood,I'm about an hour from you and I cut wood through the so called snow storm.We might of got 1 inch and it's all gone now.You can have it.Wife just started up the greenhose.Spring is close.You will probaly get a chance to ride your sled in March.This id when we got all our snow last year.

crtreedude · February 25, 2006, 11:37:32 AM

Wait one DanG minute there - I have snow! I think Jeff just got his wish. I go an post something, and all of a sudden, I have a snow storm...

Jeff · February 25, 2006, 11:41:11 AM

Maybe its ash?? ;D

crtreedude · February 25, 2006, 11:47:37 AM

Perhaps, sometimes when you are fishing lake Arenal you get ash from the volcano - I kid you not.

blueox · March 23, 2006, 02:21:28 PM

We found it!! Its about 3 hours North of Quebec City, the cottage we stayed at was in a town called Biencourt, this is near Rimouski. We rode 170 miles on Monday March 13, the trails were incredible. They are like little mini highways up there. They groom the trails perfectly, the lakes are still thick with ice. There are some serious snowmobiling going on up there, we are going back next year ....we had a blast.

With out exageration, I bet we saw 100 deer thru-out our 170 mile journey....When we drove home thru Drummondville QC the deer were grazing like herds of cattle. Hundreds of them....it was unbelievable! (come hunting season, you won't see one....)

SwampDonkey · March 23, 2006, 02:35:57 PM

Well you were certainly in the right country for snow. They have gotten snow up there over 8 feet some winters. Have to tunnel in the snow to the house and make a snow bank garage for the car some years. :D But, down here in NB we don't have much. But, today I walked in a pasture to get to some thinning and it was cover deer dung and I seen 6 deer just before I turned into that lot. I seen where the deer were giving the sugar maple regen a hammering this winter.

sawguy21 · March 24, 2006, 08:55:53 AM

I left my snowthrower with a buddy when I moved. Sounds like he is getting practice with it, almost 10" of snow fell in central Alberta last Saturday. :D Without it though, the farmers would be wasting their time planting this year..

solodan · March 24, 2006, 03:51:24 PM

Well, we have recieved over 10 feet of snow in the last 3 weeks.
It has warmed up alot in the last few days and is melting quick at the lower elevations. Sledding should be good in the high country through the end of june. Some years in the high country we can recieve up to 1200" of snow. Yes, that is right, it was not a typo, that is 100 feet.

SwampDonkey · March 24, 2006, 04:25:53 PM

Geesh, if your getting that much snow there must be glaciers. Up in the coast mountains in BC there are areas of glacier accumulations, but they are mostly receding.

solodan · March 26, 2006, 02:16:43 PM

Yeah, we have glaciers in the Sierra but studies are showing that they are retreating very rapidly due to warming. However they say that the glaciers on Mt Shasta are growing, but also due to warming. I know two guys that left today for a chopper drop off in the backcountry. They will ski for 4 days back to where they can be picked up by a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Along the way they measure the water content in the snow pack. My guess will be that the snow is not the deepest we have seen, maybe 10 to 20 feet, but the water content should be very high this year. California depends largly on this data to plan for water usage over the next year.

pappy · April 24, 2006, 03:35:40 PM

Still got left over drifts of the stuff :

We could always have a snowball fight ;D

or chunks for the cooler

SwampDonkey · April 24, 2006, 06:25:10 PM

People are farmimg here now (not beside me), and the ground is powder dry on the good farmland. I'm starting up my thinning crew May 1st.

solodan · April 25, 2006, 12:07:35 AM

It's been raining here, and still snowing in the high country. A few piles left from the plows at my place, and still 15+ feet on the ground above 6500'.
Backcountry skiiing and snowmobiling should be good well into july, but I really would like some sunshine, and warm weather.

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