Weather
A quick Friday through Saturday refresh is the most dependable part of this forecast, with most northern New England and Vermont ski areas landing in the 3″-7″ range and Sugarloaf favored for 6″-8″. After that, the pattern splits: New England turns windier and much milder Sunday night into Monday with mixed precipitation and uneven upper-mountain snow, while Mt. Bohemia is set up for a much larger all-snow run Sunday into Tuesday that could still bring a conservative 12″-24″. Midweek then trends colder and quieter for most eastern mountains before another lower-confidence snow chance tries to organize next weekend.
Confidence is strongest from Friday, March 13 through early Sunday, March 15, and the individual models are tightly clustered in that stretch on timing, snow levels, and the overall placement of the first wave. Mt. Bohemia keeps its ongoing Friday snow and wind going through the afternoon, but the broader regional focus is the clipper that spreads into northern New Hampshire, western and northern Maine, Vermont, and southern Quebec Friday evening, peaks overnight, and lingers as lighter mountain snow showers into Saturday night. Snow levels generally stay from the surface to about 1,000 feet while it is snowing, so this is a mostly all-snow refresh for every resort in the region. Ratios mostly run around 10-13:1 in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, which points to chalky packed powder rather than true blower, while Mont Sainte-Anne stays a little lighter around 13-15:1. The best short-term refresh looks centered on Sugarloaf, Jay Peak, Wildcat, Stowe, and Smugglers’ Notch, where a general 5″-7″ is realistic, with most other hills closer to 3″-5″. Saturday also stays breezy enough for periodic lift slowdowns on exposed terrain.
Sunday night through Monday is a much rougher call for New England, because the individual models still agree on a strong storm and major wind, but they diverge on snowfall timing, on how fast snow levels jump, and on how much backside snow survives. For the Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine resorts, the dominant signal is strong south to southeast wind, temperatures pushing into the 40s and low 50s at lower and middle elevations, and snow levels rising roughly 2,000 to 4,000 feet while precipitation is falling. That points to rain or mixed precipitation at many bases, denser 5-11:1 snow where upper-mountain snow hangs on, and a real risk of exposed-lift disruptions Monday, especially at Jay Peak, Stowe, Sugarloaf, and Killington. Farther north at Mont Sainte-Anne, the colder side of the system should support a more meaningful all-snow refresh in the broad 4″-8″ range. Mt. Bohemia is the standout: the individual models are more tightly packed there on a long-duration Sunday into Tuesday snow event with snow levels at the surface, wind strong enough to affect operations, and a conservative 12″-24″ potential from dense, wind-worked 9-12:1 snow.
Tuesday through the end of next week trends colder and more routine again for most eastern resorts. Behind Monday’s front, New England should settle back into firmer, more winterlike surfaces with only scattered light snow showers, while Mt. Bohemia likely keeps tapering snow into Tuesday before finally easing. Confidence is fairly good on that colder turn, but it drops again on the next organized snow chance from Friday into next weekend. The individual models do show another colder system trying to bring northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire, western Maine, and Mont Sainte-Anne a fresh round of snow, with a conservative early ballpark around 4″-10″ if it comes together, but the spread on timing and intensity is still too wide to pin down more than that. That later setup looks colder than Monday’s storm, so any snow that does arrive should be lighter and drier, generally in the 12-15:1 range rather than the denser Sunday-Monday mix.
Resort Forecast Totals (Fri Mar 13 – Sun Mar 15)
- Sugarloaf – 6″-8″
- Jay Peak – 5″-7″
- Wildcat – 5″-7″
- Smugglers’ Notch – 5″-6″
- Stowe – 5″-6″
- Bretton Woods – 4″-5″
- Cannon Mountain – 4″-5″
- Killington – 3″-4″
- Loon Mountain – 3″-4″
- Sugarbush – 3″-4″
- Sunday River – 3″-4″
- Mt. Bohemia – 3″-4″
- Mont Sainte-Anne – 2″-3″
