I’ m not sure New England is in a drought. Some areas may be and others may not. Certainly the dry and warm fall and especially the November dryness and warmth contributed to drought condition. The pattern seems to have changed since December 7th although going from extreme to extreme. The mountains of north/ central Vermont picked up 45 inches of snow at their bases and 100 inches at the summits between the 7th and Christmas. The skiing was above average during that time period with most terrain 80% terrain open on natural snow. The Champlain Valley was white through most of that period. Copious amounts of rain and excessive warmth over a six day period wiped out the Champlain Valley snow and 80% of the show pack in the mountains.
Since the warm up a clipper and lake effect snows have rejuvenated the skiing bring terrain almost back to 100 percent albeit variable and thin.
Last night and today was interesting as we picked up 5 inches of fluff in the valley on a northwest flow off of Lake Champlain. The temperature never got above 10.
During the next week I expect we will see up to a foot of snow in the northern and central mountains with 1-3 inches falling each day. The low country and valleys won’t see much. Forecasting is very difficult with this scenario as 20 miles and elevation make a huge difference.
The next 2 weeks look cold with flurries, but no substantial storms as the storm track seems to far south and outside the benchmark. A good old fashion Nor’easter would be nice.