Our general snows will continue through today, tapering off by tonight. This will add yet a few more inches to this pile of snow already on the ground. As you can see, while snowfall has been generous in recent weeks, not the entire state has been blessed equally. Immediate Buffalo area into Niagara and Orleans Counties have been jipped. Same for a lot of Livingston, Allegeny and Steuben Counties, areas south of Rochester in the Genesee Valley. The last obvious snow shadow has been east of the Northway in Washington, Rennselaer and Columbia Counties. I wish for the locals in this area I had better news that much heavier snows were coming, but it’s the cold that will rule for the next week. More on that later in the blog.
This map highlights your best areas… and tons of clubs and areas that haven’t had snow cover like this in years. Basically anything east of NY Route 14 (With the exception of the counties mentioned east of Albany) is open for business (check clubs locally for more specific information). So… want a 200+ mile adventure somewhere other than Tug or the Adirondacks? How about these ideas?
Ride from Tug Hill south through Tri Valley and West Rome to the windmills and rolling hills of Madison, Onondaga, Cortland and Chenango Counties?
What about from Tug Hill and/or Adirondacks head north into St Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton Counties? Tupper Lake? Tri Lakes Area? Franklin County up to Malone is AMAZING right now.
Ride from the Mohawk Valley south into the hills of southern Oneida and Herkimer Counties, meeting up with CNY Snow Travelers, Ilion Snowdrifters, or into Otsego Counties to meet up with Exeter and Canadurago? Even farther south of Route 20, what about SHASTA (Sherburne Area) and DOCS (Delaware, Otsego, Chenango)? Plenty of other clubs I haven’t mentioned.
What about this challenge? I think C7 running from Malone, down along the tracks through the ADKs to Trackside, then through Penn Mountain to West Rome, Tri Valley, south through the windmills to SHASTA and down Chenango County all the way into the Binghamton area? It’s not often you can run C7 from near the PA border to the Canadian border. I’m sure someone is adventurous to take a jaunt like that… Going back and forth the length of the state on C7 would be something well north of 500 miles round trip. If anyone tries something epic like this, message us and we will link to your pictures and videos.
This next 5-10 days, especially with the holiday weekend, will be dominated by cold. We are not going to see major snow chances until the end of the Holiday weekend… Friday will stay to the south. This weekend the heart of the Arctic air unloads on the Central USA, with the best shot at coldest air, lake effect and/or general snows around or after Presidents Day.
Going back to my blog a few days ago about things I don’t like in the jet stream. 7-10 days out here is the Jet Stream pattern, based on 500 mb from the Euro. A Meteorologist knows big troughs west of the Mississippi, a Greenland Block that weakens and a Polar Vortex that retreats north are all not good signs for this cold pattern we are in to last. The jet is absolutely annihilating California in a west to east zonal flow later next week. At some point we will run out of luck and cold air.
Do I have a specific date on when this winter run ends in a blowtorch thaw or slow warning out of the depths of winter? No. Again, this is pattern recognition and knowing this great stretch for snowmobile lovers is looking more and more likely at this time not to extend deep into March. The reason why I keep coming back to this is to remind you the best of winter is NOW.
You’ve got another 7 days of prime conditions guaranteed at this point. It’s likely to go through at least most of the holiday “Mid-February” break next week, so a total of 10-14 days from now looks likely (not guaranteed like the next 7 days). Last week of February into the first week of March I’m not liking the looks of it if these indicated jet stream patterns start working their way into the short terms models. Cram as much as you can into February, especially the next 7-10 days, maybe 14…
We will be making some changes to the Guide to Your Ride Podcast. Look for more information on that tomorrow morning in the blog and for the changes to be revealed Thursday morning. Have a great day and enjoy winter!
Rich
