The snow has ended

The clean up is starting.

The end of the Cascades Trail at Olean.

Cascading Waters sign on Olean Street

Yes, the fire danger DOES remain NONE.

Here's the same shot from yesterday from Olean up the Cascades Brook to the Lodge. Now with snowpiles of about three feet at the street.

Cooks' Pond at Cascades Brook

And the trail from Olean to Cataract is broken. After that, you're on your own! We have not YET gotten the parking area open, but we are working on it! If you're within walking distance, come by. We will post as soon as the parking area is open.

Snow log 1030.02092013 (10:30 Saturday morning)

The skies are lightening!
It is currently 21.2 degrees and RISING!
The humidity is 72% and steady.
The pressure is 29.23 and RISING!
We might be getting through this!
Wind is constantly at least 6-8 mph with gusts of 20 mph.
Now measuring 16 inches of snow here at the Lodge

A few photos from Saturday morning

Here's a few photos (from inside!) from Saturday morning.

This is looking east from the Lodge down towards Olean Street. It's hard to get the scale here, so let me say this: there is a canoe to the right in this photo, and the stone wall under the trees is about two feet high.

This is the teacup magnolia. You can see from the trunk the drifting we've had, even here under the cliff.

About 15 inches of snow

Measuring several spots in the yard, we've had about 15 inches of snow. There is a bit of drifting under and around trees, but we don't have any place that's more than two feet.

Storm log 830.02092013 (Saturday morning, 8:30)

It remains 17.2 degrees and steady.
83% humidity and steady
The barometer is 29.18 Hg and steady
Wind is ranging between 2 and 5 mph

Snow totals coming up! We currently have about 15 inches. There is some drifting, but nowhere is it deeper than close to 2 feet.

Snow log 730.02092013 (7:30 Saturday morning)

We'll get someone out with a ruler shortly, but there has been a lot of drifting, so accurate measures are going to be hard. The official Worcester measurement according to NWS is 27.5 inches; it looks as though we have less than that here.
Still steadily snowing.
Currently, it is 17.6 degrees and steady.
85% humidity and steady.
The barometer is 29.15 and steady (good news!).
Wind is between 4 and 6 mph.
Note that MEMA has announced this morning that the statewide travel ban continues. We just had a plow go up and down Olean, keeping the road to the water treatment plant open.

Storm log 2030.02082013 (or Friday night, 8:30)

Peak wind of 28 mph
Pressure is at 29.21 Hg and falling still
Temperature is 20.1 degrees and steady
Humidity is 86% and rising (which is saying something when it's snow!)
As for snow: 3 and 1/4 to 3 1/2, as it's drifting. That means accumulation is picking up. We've picked up nearly an inch in the last hour.

Storm log 1930.02082013

Update after dark here:
Top wind of 36.5 mph (and remember, we're at the bottom of the hill. That's huge for here.)
Temperature 20.3 and steady
Humidity 81% and steady
Pressure is 29.26 Hg and falling
As for snow, we now are up to 2 and 5/8ths inches.

Storm Log 1730.02082013 (or 5:30 Friday night)

The barometer is now down to 29.32 inches and is still falling.
We now have 1 and 3/4 inches, but it's now blowing around so much that depth is going to be increasingly sketchy to measure.
The temperature is 21.4 degrees and steady.
The humidity is up to 78%.
As the sun goes down, the wind has dropped a bit, as we're now looking at wind between 8-14 mph.

Storm log 1330.02082013 (or 1:30 Friday afternoon)

Still coming down! We now have 3/4 inch of snow!
It is now 24.3 degrees and steady.
Humidity is now 73% and steady
The barometer is 29.53 inches of mercury and still falling.
The wind has picked up a bit; we've seen a top speed of 34 mph in the last hour, and while it is still sometimes dropping to 3 mph, it's much higher for much longer: right now I'm seeing 22 mph (and remember, the Lodge is protected by a cliff on one side).
We've seen some hikers go through over the course of the afternoon, and it's now looking as though that's the only way to travel, as Governor Patrick has signed an executive order to get all traffic off the roads as of 4 pm.

Storm log 1230.02082013 (or 12:30 Friday afternoon)

We've gained a quarter inch! Now up to 1/2 inch of snow and still falling rapidly.
It is now 25.7 degrees Fahrenheit and falling.
The humidity remains at 71% and steady.
The barometer is down to 29.59 inches of mercury and still falling.
And we've now got some wind! Ranging up to 12 mph and down to 3 mph, fairly constant.

Storm log 1130.02082013 (or 11:30 am Friday)

It's building up! We're now measuring 1/4 inch of snow here at the Lodge.
It's now up to 27.9 degrees and steady.
71% humidity and steady
The barometer is now at 29.62 inches of mercury and is continuing to fall.
Still measuring no wind

Storm log 1040.02082013 (or 10:40 am Friday)

We've just gone out to measure accumulation, after about an hour of snow. We now have 1/16 of an inch. It's a very light snow, falling fast.
It is 27.1 degrees Fahrenheit and steady.
It's 70% humidity and steady
The barometer reads 29.68 inches of mercury and falling.
Currently registering no wind.
The Cascades Brook has frozen up around our measuring stick, but it's flowing under the ice at about 3 inches.

Cascades Brook, 10 am, Friday

Blizzard coming!

The National Weather Service has issued a BLIZZARD WARNING!

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON SUNDAY TO 6 PM EST
MONDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON SUNDAY TO 6 PM EST MONDAY.
THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* LOCATIONS...ALL OF RHODE ISLAND EXCEPT BLOCK ISLAND AND ALL OF
  EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS EXCEPT CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS.

* HAZARD TYPES...HEAVY SNOW AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS...WITH
  CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW AND NEAR ZERO
  VISIBILITIES. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...15 TO 20 INCHES OF SNOW.

* TIMING...LIGHT SNOW WILL START IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON AND BECOME
  HEAVY BY EVENING. VERY HEAVY SNOW WILL FALL THROUGHOUT SUNDAY
  NIGHT WITH UP TO 2 TO 4 INCHES PER HOUR LIKELY AT TIMES. THE
  SNOW WILL TAPER TO FLURRIES EARLY MONDAY AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL
  PEAK FROM LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MUCH OF MONDAY.

* IMPACTS...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP BY
  SUNDAY EVENING. STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH THE SNOW TO
  CREATE BLINDING CONDITIONS WITH NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY AT TIMES
  SUNDAY NIGHT. WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES ARE EXPECTED DURING THE
  HEIGHT OF THE STORM SUNDAY NIGHT FROM BOTH THE STRONG WINDS
  KNOCKING DOWN POWER LINES AND THE WEIGHT OF THE HEAVY SNOW.
  SHOVELING SHOULD NOT BE DONE BY ANYONE WITH HEART CONDITIONS.

* WINDS...NORTHEAST TO NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH
  WITH GUSTS AS HIGH 50 TO 60 MPH ESPECIALLY ALONG COASTAL RHODE
  ISLAND AND COASTAL MASSACHUSETTS FROM LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON
  THROUGH MUCH OF MONDAY.