When that westerly and northwesterly flow starts moving in, I can smell the 
snow in the Greens, even down here on the coast of CT.  -- Stuart Cole
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Braaten" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: [SKIVT-L] Upslope Snow Event Accumulations


> On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 15:54:25 -0500, Mike Bernstein <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:48:15 -0500, Peter Salts <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>>
>>>Scott - maybe you have discussed this before, but, what exactly is an
>>upslope event?  I have a general idea but I'm sure it can do with some
>>more explanation.
>>>
>>
>>Not to step on Scott's toes, but this is a layup.  Basically when you have
>>moist air being advected into the area, it hits the 3000' to 4000' wall
>>that is the Green Mtn spine.  You end up with orographic uplift, as the
>>air must climb from the depths of the Champlain Valley over the top of the
>>spine.  As the air increases in elevation, it cools and loses it's ability
>>to hold this moisture.  As such, assuming a proper temp profile, you end
>>up getting clouds and snowfall along the spine (obviously this doesn't
>>just happen here.  This phenomenon is partly responsible for the
>>tremendous snowfall totals in the Wasatch and the Tetons) while it might
>>be sunny in Burlington and Montpelier.
>>
>
> Mike has it covered pretty well.  Just whenever I mention an upslope snow
> event (hard to even term it "storm") I mean that there is no major
> synoptic (low pressure system for example) storm but more a localized
> event caused by the forced lifting from terrain.  95% of the time it will
> not include significant accumulations in the lower elevations and is very
> localized even in the higher terrain (right along the spine).
>
> Same deal with a lake effect event...it is a "snowstorm" for the few
> people under the lake band, but on a whole, it doesn't affect many
> populated regions.
>
> Hope that and Mikes description helps,
> Scott
>
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