Quote:
Originally Posted by HomeWood
Does it ever rain in the souther part of the lake and snow in the northern part at the same time (ie. Moultonborough where I'll be) ?
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Funny you should say that! I have to quote you again because there is now a winter storm watch in effect for southern Carroll County (Moultonborough-Wolfeborough) while no watches or warnings are in effect for Belknap County (Center Harbor - Alton). NWS, in all their 'government wisdom' has the watch area pegged for 4-8" snow while only 1-2" is predicted just over the county line. Granted, this sort of thing *has* come true in the past, but I'm going to state it more generally: The White Mountains and their foothills (i.e. Squams and Ossipees) will hold on to the snow and ice longer than places farther to the south and east.
There are some local topography issues to consider with this situation:
1) The mountain summits may get less snow than the bases, because we're looking at warm air moving in aloft and working its way down to the surface. This also means that the mountain and river valleys stand the greatest chance of damaging ice, especially if the cold air becomes geographically trapped in those valleys. During many ice storms, the Mount Washington Observatory gets rain with temps in the 40s while the lower half of the Auto Road gets covered in ice, with temps in the upper 20s.
2) The lake is a valley itself. It's currently a 72-square-mile ice cube. This could cause the shoreline (i.e. within 500' of the water and all islands) to hold on to the cold air for much longer than the general area, and get as much sleet/freezing rain as any of the mountain valleys.
3) The mountains on the northern shore of the lake appear to be the major dividing line for this storm. That means we're right on the fence (again) and the slightest change in any aspect of this storm would have a noticeable effect on us.