Tremblant Discussion" section of these forums for search references.)
A Hypothesis denoting the potential benefits of the
Hurricane Sandy Weather System for the Tremblant
2012/13 Winter Alpine Ski and Board Season.
Weather Storms with the size and power of Hurricane Sandy
are statistically very rare due to the unlikely convergence of
unique circumstances, that for purposes of this
topic, can be boiled down to two major systems.
The first is of course, the original Hurricane Sandy
which has already had a devastating record of
death and destruction as it has traveled north-bound
from the Caribbean, up the East Coast of the U.S.A.
Over 65 fatalities, so far...
The second and compounding factor, is the collision between
Sandy and a "Nor-Easter" which is a powerful northern cold
weather system on its own.
Together, in very basic terms, there is a synergistic and very
powerful amplification of the worst destructive aspects of these two
systems to create what many weather experts have called
"The Perfect Storm".
Like it or not, Tremblant is on the trajectory for the tail end of
the storm and we feel it may actually benefit our winter season.
Here's why, in sequential steps...
Number 1 is the projected path, showing the broadening
span of Sandy as it diagonally crosses Eastern North America
inland from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario, Quebec
and onward to the Maritimes.
Please note legend including wind speed, which can be seen to be
declining as the system moves North East and widens out across
the map.
- Screenshot courtesy of NOAA.
- 10.29.12.Sandy.Path.a.jpg (291.11 KiB) Viewed 5692 times
just prior to landfall...
What a mess!!! And a BIG mess at that!
- Screenshot Courtesy of NASA.
- 10.29.12.Sandy.Space.NASA.jpg (268.26 KiB) Viewed 5690 times
1) The period of heaviest projected rainfall,
basically, Tues. through to Wed.
- Screenshot Courtesy of NOAA
- 10.29.12.Sandy.Rainfall.a.jpg (227.21 KiB) Viewed 5684 times
as defined by NOAA.
- Screenshot Courtesy of NOAA
- 10.29.12.Sandy.Rainfall.b.jpg (257.46 KiB) Viewed 5684 times
So, the main reason all this rain water we hope Tremblant gets
from Hurricane Sandy will be beneficial, is that soaking the Mountain
thoroughly, just prior to the arrival of temps that are cold enough to
create snow by either Mother Nature or Man-Made will greatly help
reduce the core temperature of the Mountain quickly, making it a much
more suitable "Host" for surface level snow.
The principle of Physic's we're interested in here is Heat conduction
(as opposed to electrical conduction), and is the flow of internal
energy from a region of higher temperature, the inside temp of the
Mountain that's been subjected to a long, hot summer, to one of lower
temperature, the cooler ambient air temp of early winter, by the interaction
of the adjacent particles (atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, etc., and in
our case, water) in the intervening space.
Additionally, the water soaking into the Mountain will eventually freeze,
and at that point it will become a fair conductor of cold/frost into the
Mountain that will facilitate a deeper, quicker and consequently
more durable, frost penetration.
Any mechanism that assists the deeper cooling of the Mountain at any time
in winter directly benefits us throughout the entire season, but is particularly
important in Spring when the Mountains cold storage capability helps keep
snow surfaces, snow.
Now, lets look at the near term, 14 day weather forecasts for Tremblant.
- Screenshot courtesy of The Weather Network.
- 10.30.12.Weather.Network.14.day.trend.jpg (120.55 KiB) Viewed 5683 times
them with the cooling trend and possible sub-zero overnights of the 14
day Weather model projected above, we have the very solid foundation
for Tremblant to be in very close to ideal preparation for the arrival and
retention of Snow.
Please Note: Summit Temps at Tremblant are typically 4 or 5 Degrees C
Colder due to 2116 Ft. or 645 Meters higher elevation than the Base level
values show in the above graph.
.