It's warm out there. Slopeside temperatures moved into the upper 50s and low 60s on Thursday and didn't get much below the mid 40s on Thursday night. First chair temperatures this morning (Friday) are sitting near 50F!

With another day of good sunshine and a light southwest wind, temperatures are going to be pushing 70F in the valleys across Central New England with slope side temperatures in the 60s. Snow conditions are going to be a soft and slushy corn fest (i.e., "wet granular"). There's still some resorts out there with a lot of snow that are still open. Just to name a few, Wildcat is open until 4/18 and Jay Peak/Sugarloaf will be open until 4/25. Enjoy it. Take a look at the coverage up at Sugar Loaf (from their Twitter Feed):

The weekend forecast has high pressure sliding off to our east and a slow moving storm trying, and failing, to move in from the west. Here's how it shakes out according to the ECMWF for 8AM Friday through 8PM Sunday:

The details:

• Friday is an April scorcher with good sunshine. Temperatures in the low to mid 60s. Sunscreen and shades a must. 
• Saturday is good early with increasing clouds and a chance of showers. Temperatures will still manage to reach 60F. More soft turns and slushy conditions likely. The rain showers, should they materialize, certainly won't make it any "wetter". 
• Sunday is likely just cloudy with temperatures dropping back into the 40s. Probably not cold enough to firm anything up. 

The week ahead is interesting with a chance of slope side rain showers and possibly summit snow showers on Wednesday as a weak area of low pressure crosses New England. Otherwise the week looks pretty cloudy with rain and some high-elevation (>3000') snow showers more likely than not through Friday. Places in Maine might be cold enough to reap some slightly lower elevation snow showers later in the week (e.g., Saddleback and the Loaf).

Temperatures do back off into the 40s with overnight lows near freezing that could stabilize some of the snow pack to make it to closing dates. Those places farther north and at elevation look like they could drop into the upper 20s, thus slightly higher odds of accumulating snow. Our 10-day snowfall forecast is even picking up on these possible accumulations (note that many the resorts plotted below are now closed, but some are open):

All in all, not bad for April. You get sunshine, sunburns, and a chance of snow next week. Could be worse?

I'll be back with another update either this weekend or first thing Monday morning.

PS: If you are planning to head to Tuckerman Ravine, watch out for falling ice. 

-Dr. Jay | New England Daily Snow