On Thu, 9 Mar 2006 09:17:27 -0500, telenaut <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Was it the manmade? The time of day? Or something else? Where'd I go 
wrong?
>
>I'd been watching the weather at the Metropolitan Mecca of Schnee (that
>would be Vernon, N.J.). Four days at least of night temps in the 20s and
>days in the 40s. Early yesterday afternoon I excused myself from the 
office
>to tend to the corn harvest.
>
>Main problem, I'm sure, was that I was too late. When I finally hit the
>slopes, it was 49 degrees and 5PM. I was prepared for glop, but that's not
>what was there. Instead, the trails were mostly soft icy patches where one
>could sometimes turn with control and always skid with ease. Topped with
>occasional thin layers of a fast, silky, and not especially wet, snow.

My guess is that dewpoints were so low (temps in the 40's with dewpoints 
in the single digits yesterday in NW NJ) that instead of melting it just 
evaporated...much like it does out west.  Vail in March is the only place 
I've ever skied dry surface snow with temps near 50 and it was because of 
the low humidity.  At a certain level, the snow will just head straight to 
evaporation instead of melting.

-Scott

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