Dear AC Friends,
First, let me set the record straight. I have been known to frequent ski resorts... after lifts stop running for the season! In fact, just last spring, I hiked up the trails of your very own Stowe Mountain Resort and joined my human in skiing from the top of the Chin. In fact, I have even visited the Adventure Center! Of course, I would never do that when you were open for business; that place is too crazy for me during business times.
As for the thin, blanket-like clouds that you get on snowmaking mornings, here's the deal. The phenomenon you refer to is known as "ice fog." In nature, you don't get ice fog until temperatures reach minus-40 Fahrenheit or colder. When it is extremely cold, there is generally high relative humidity too. A cold air mass can't carry much vapor. So when it gets really cold, the slightest amount of moisture causes ice fog. On the South Pole, for example, exhaust from aircraft or from the power plant at the South Pole Station cause plumes of fog because they saturate the cold, cold air with moisture.
On Mt. Mansfield where temperatures aren't nearly so cold, the ice fog you are experiencing is the result of the super-cooled water droplets introduced to the air by your snowmaking guns. A lot of energy goes into cooling these droplets as they come out of the guns. And, the water from the guns speeds the process of saturating the air with moisture, increasing the relative humidity. The result is the low-lying grey blanket that covers the mountain on cold, clear mornings after long snowmaking nights.
You may wonder how I know so much about snowmaking, the South Pole, and ice fog. The answer: I know snowmakers, South "Polies," and my brain is sometimes foggy. (Also, thanks to weather-expert John Gallagher for his input.)
And last thing: my apologies for taking so long answering this question. I was busy with my Christmas shopping.
Think snow, Oscar
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