Hope you enjoyed it

...because that was apparently it for spring for now!
What I had thought was supposed to be flurries shows every sign of sticking here at the bottom of Asnebumskit Hill, and it's still merrily coming down.
The Cascades are running through the snow.
Overnight, it dropped low enough where yesterday's mud is largely frozen, so the going is a bit easier on the trails.
At 9:30 am, it is 32 degrees and steady.
Snowing.
The barometer stands at 28.91 inches of mercury and steady.

Lovely!

It's a lovely Sunday afternoon out there; we just had a group including at least three dogs, one child in a backpack, and several adults head up the trail. The trails are SLICK, however, as yesterday's melting all froze last night! Proceed with care!
At 2 pm, it is SUNNY and breezy, just hitting 40 degrees.
The barometer is steady at 28.97.
The Cascades are trickling through the snow.

Snowing like the dickens!

Snow, sleet and freezing rain all day!
At 9 am it is 38 degrees and barely rising.
Snowing.
The brook is running, but it's frozen at the edges.
Barometer is at 29.15 inches and steady under cloudy skies.

And it's ELECTION DAY in Massachusetts!

Warmer?

You know it's been cold when you look at the thermometer at 8:30, it says 25, and you think, "Hey, it's warming up!"

It is!

At 9 am, it is 28 degrees and rising; we may break freezing today!
The brook is, well, frozen, though still running down the middle.
The barometer stands at 29.44 inches and steady under sunny skies.

Trail conditions are good, if you want to get out there today. Trails are snow-covered and broken, but not so packed as to be slippery in most parts of the Cascades. It also looks like it's going to be a nice couple of days for it (might be up to 40 by Saturday).

Brook is freezing!

I think Monday's post will be the last brook measure for awhile; when we checked this morning, it was frozen hard enough to walk on, right at 4 inches. It isn't frozen all the way across (it usually doesn't), but it is frozen well around the edges!
And the Cascades look like a big snowpile.

At 9am it was 18 degrees and rising, barely.
Barometer is 29.26 under cloudy skies.
We aren't seeing too much trail activity beyond dog walkers. It is COLD.
It doesn't appear to have slowed down the juncos, sparrows, chickadees, mourning doves, and blue jays, however!

Changing weather

Right now what's falling is sleet, but it has also been freezing rain. With the temperature hovering right at freezing, it will be going back and forth all day. The radar shows plenty of this storm still south of us, so, if you can, hunker down someplace warm and dry. It's rotten weather for snowshoes and skies, even. We have seen some intrepid dog walkers, though!

(We're having some technical difficulties with our equipment here at the Lodge this morning. We ventured out to get the readings on temp and humidity, but we can't give you much beyond that.)

At 9 am, it is 31 degrees F.
96% humidity
Barometer stands at 29.44 inches and still falling
We have frost warning (no surprise there!)
As of yesterday, the fire danger was still LOW, but I imagine that will be coming off entirely today.
Brook is at 5 inches exactly.
The falls are largely snow covered, with a crust of ice.

Ice is coming

For those of you who turned on WCCA and did not see us this morning: sorry! I got my times mixed up. You can see the "Snow Ghost Community Show":
Fridays at 8.30pm,
Saturdays at 11.30pm,
Sundays at 9.30pm,
Monday mornings at 9.30am
(thanks for the correction, Mike!)

The National Weather Service is warning that we're in for a doozy of a day:

.COLD HIGH PRESSURE WITH ITS RESERVOIR OF SUBFREEZING TEMPERATURES
IS BECOMING ENTRENCHED FROM NEW YORK STATE TO NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND
AND SOUTHEAST CANADA TODAY. LOW PRESSURE MOVING TOWARD NEW ENGLAND
FROM ALABAMA WILL CONSTANTLY DRAW UPON THAT POOL OF COLD AIR TO OUR
NORTH WHILE HEAVY PRECIPITATION FLOWS NORTHWARD WITH THE MOISTURE
LADEN LOW PRESSURE CENTER. THIS WILL RESULT IN A MAJOR ICE STORM FOR
PORTIONS OF INTERIOR SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. THE LOW PRESSURE GALE
CENTER WILL MOVE ACROSS EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS FRIDAY MORNING AND
DEPART FOR THE MARITIMES IN THE AFTERNOON.

So far, all we're getting is rain, and the barometer is staying high.
As they've also said to watch, in particular, northeast facing slopes,
we're keeping an eye out: that would be the Cascades.


At 9am, it is 33 degrees and steady. It's been just 33 for a number of hours now.
98% humidity and raining
So far today we've had 0.04 inches of rain. Our total for yesterday was 0.75 inches.
The stream is up to 6.4 inches and rising, no doubt!
Barometer is 30.03 inches of mercury and steady
Fire danger remains NONE

Traffic on the trail this morning is non-existent, but we did have a visit from
the DPW up on Cataract Street. Looks like they're keeping an eye on the bridges
and culverts today. The Cascades are running!

Brutally cold

It's what we would call "brutal" out there this morning. It's been very slow on the trail; even our faithful dog walkers seem to be taking a pass today.

At 9 am, it is 17 degrees and rising, with the sun high in the sky
46% humidity and falling (that's really dry)
Barometer stands at 30.12 inches and rising
Fire danger is down to NONE
(sorry, I didn't check the stream this morning!)

Overnight, the Cascades froze. There is, as there almost always is, water trickling under the ice, but it's a sheet of ice. We lucked out that it was flowing when the freeze came; it's very pretty!

The snow over the weekend was so little as to be immeasurable as precipitation.

Chilly mornings

While we haven't had a hard frost here yet, we are getting close to freezing most nights now.

At 9 am, it is 46 degrees and steady
96% humidity and steady ('though the sun has not yet cleared the trees)
30.18 inches of mercury and rising; the skies here are clear
Fire danger is LOW

Cascades are running

Out like a lamb?

This is the last week of March, and, while we've been lucky in our lack of storms, it's a bit too chilly to say it's really going out like a lamb. It's below freezing every night lately.

At 8 am, it's 26 degrees and rising.
50% humidity
Clear skies, with the barometer holding steady
Fire danger is MODERATE (not enough rain lately?)

Busy day on the trails lately: kids up on the Cascades, hikers, and at least one biker. Cars in and out of the parking lot all day.

Enjoy the sun!

Sticky

While it continues to be below freezing at night, it is bouncing back up in the forties each day. The trails, therefore, are pretty sticky (except first thing in the morning). Dress your feet accordingly!
(plenty of "mud" tags lately!)

At 5 pm, it's 41 degrees
Clouds coming in; barometer falling
34% humidity

And, speaking as someone who did yesterday, I'd recommend against falling in the brook. It's rather chilly.

What a mess!

The storm, which by our count went through snow, freezing rain, sleet, and rain over nearly 24 hours, has left quite a bit of slop our there! We did manage to clear out one slot this morning, thanks to our neighbors, but everything else is snowed in.
In walking the Cascades trail this morning, we've found a crust on top of four to six inches of snow, under which you may well find water. Go for warm and waterproof, especially on your feet!
Our electronic rain gauge seems to have freaked out with all the types of precipitation. We'll have to give you a report from the manual one.
Currently 34 degrees and still raining here.

Temperature, conditions, and brook update

As of 9am, the temperature here is 26 degrees. There is a brisk wind coming up off of Cook's Pond this morning as well. Remarkably, the brook is still running, as are the Cascades, but that won't continue for long in this weather. The edges are already beginning to ice in.
Should you venture out, bundle up!