Whats the latest you've ever seen snow in the Catskills?

[mink319]

What is the latest you have ever seen snow on the ground left over from winter, in the Catskills?
The latest I have ever seen snow left over from winter was Memorial Day weekend up on Indian Head Mtn in a very shady ravine near Jimmy Dolan Notch.
From what I have seen the snow usually last until mid May on the summits and notches, yet this year it melted early.

 

[TomEske]

Well Mink, I've seen snow hidden in the deep holes of rock cracks in the first week of June last year. Mostly around old quarrys like the one on the old overlook road near Devils Kitchen leanto.
The latest I've ever seen it snow (and accumulate) is May 15 2002, we got about 4-5 inches above 2,000' through the notch (Devil's Tombstone). I was working that day on the shoulder of Thomas Cole trying to build a shed, and no sooner did I draw a pencil line on the wood than the snow would cover it before I could get the saw in poisition.
Your question reminds me of when I was in Norway last. My cousin from New Mexico asked a little boy in the city of Bergen (where it rains a LOT) if it ever stopped raining here. The little boy turned around, and with a straight face said "I don't know, I'm only 12."
Happy Hiking,
Tom

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I have also seen patches of old snow several times during the first week in June in the northern Catskills e.g. on Sleeping Lion (aka NE Halcott) and S Vly Mts. Also on areas of the Long Path north of Route 23 (Ginseng through Huntersfield). Usually most of the snow is gone my mid-May.

 

[ken]

saturday may 18th 2002 i woke up (at 1000') looked out my winddow and saw that it was snowing (and sticking) - about six inches came down while i was on hunter and sw hunter - there was still plenty left the next day (sunday) up on rusk - it was gone by the next weekend though (memorial day weekend).

 

[Bob Smith]

I use to own a house in Lexington, it was the last week of April back around 1983 or 84 and the Catskills got 2 storms. 18" on a Tuesday and 36" on a Thursday. It was May 2nd and I was x-country skiing in a T-shirt on 4' of snow, most of it was gone by May 11th.

 

[jbreen]

Ken -- I remember that week-end. I was up the week earlier with the family at North Lake having what we thought would be the last snowball toss of the season with the snow we found under north facing bushes. The following week-end the campground had collapsed tents and needed to plow the road because of the heavy snowfall.

Jim

 

[ken]

>>we thought would be the last snowball toss of the season with the snow we found under north facing bushes<<

i was up the weekend of may 4th (doing hunter & sw hunter with
someone and slide on sunday) and there wasn't any snow in sight - it was even pretty warm that weekend with some bugs out - - - the snow you found under the bushes for your last snowball toss must have fallen sometime that week?

 

[snowshoe]

I cant say the latest I saw snow in the Catskills but if this helps some the latest significant snowfall in High Point NJ was 9 inches on May 9th. I would image the Catskills seen snow much later than that.

 

[jbreen]

Ken -- it was corn snow (ice) and it was well in the shade of bushes. I figure it was there for most of the season.

Jim

 

[LtHiker]

I postholed up to my knee on Plataue mtn in June, granted it was just one step but it was cold with my shorts on. And I saw some really small patches of snow and ice last weekend on Slide.

 

[porky]

We awoke to one inch of snow on the morning of June 2 one year back in the 1980s. This was at my house, at 2100' elevation in the western Catkills. I remember because my wife had put out the tomato plants the day before. Although the snow melted long before noon, and it had only fallen as rain in the valley below us, the tomatoes were goners. I think we gave up gardening after that.

We have gotten snow here at one time or another in every month except July.

porky pine

 

[Ridgerunner]

31st of december

Sorry, could not refrain from saying it.