Stormy weather pattern will continue to throw a lot of weather at us including at least one elevation sensitive snowfall event this weekend

We waited until March 19th to record what likely will be our coldest day of the month allowing the deep snow to solidify a bit. The snow will indeed soften again this week with the big corn horn day likely to be Thursday. Comfortable 40-degree afternoons are also expected Tuesday and Wednesday with Tuesday being the sunnier of the two days, but I want to caution folks who are expecting those weather conditions to produce deep corn. I can't forecast with any certainty how snow consistency might hold up from one day to the next, but I can put out a short spiel about the importance of dewpoints and how snow on dry above-freezing days such as Tuesday and Wednesday can remain pretty firm. As dewpoints climb above freezing, like they will on Thursday, snow will be able to soften more efficiently. We are also expecting a bit of rain to go along with near 50-degree temperatures Thursday. The rain however is expected to be rather sporadic and I expect a large percentage of the ski day to remain precipitation-free. The wet weather is then expected to get pushed south of Vermont on Friday and clouds might break for a bit of sunshine. Dewpoints are expected to drop again though temperatures should remain largely above freezing throughout the day. 

Though we've been in the midst of a break, the weather pattern can still be described as a stormy one, especially the period beginning this weekend (March 25-26th) and extending through the end of the month and into early April. The pattern, supported mostly by the -EPO or weakness in the strength of the Pacific jet stream does not favor extreme winter-like cold given the absence of a ridge in western North America. It would thus be a terrific regime in January, but in March it aligns more with lots of spring storminess and elevation sensitive snow events. The upcoming weekend looks almost entirely cloudy and it appears as if mixed precipitation or snow will arrive at Mad River Glen sometime around midday Saturday. Valley locations could see a period of rain. Over the last few days, models have been moving in the right direction or at least toward a wet, elevation sensitive snowfall extending through Sunday. Snowfall accumulations could be significant  (6 or more inches) though I will wait until lingering uncertainties are ironed out before zeroing in on a range. 

Though its been a few days since the  last update, their continues to be indications of an even stronger storm around March 28th. Like its predecessor, this storm will have minimal cold air to work with but the prevailing weather pattern supports a favorable track and if the storm were allowed to  deepen enough, we might not need a lot of cold air to support more significant snow. Still a long way to the finish line on this and a possible next storm around the time of April Fools. At the very least, the deep snow established by yet another Ides of March storm will melt slowly thanks to clouds and a weather pattern that doesn't support persistent thawing, at least not yet.