JAY, Vermont ??” Geographically isolated snow continued to hammer away at Jay Peak this week. A total of nearly 21″ had fallen across the resort at press time, courtesy of isolated Lake Effect snows coming in from Lake Erie. “This is truly Jay Effect snow in the most sincere definition of the phrase,” said Jim Roemer, founder and forecaster for Best Ski Weather, a resort-specific forecasting firm that offers weather related services for many North American Ski Resorts.

“Jay Effect’ snow relates to the phenomenon known as Orographic Uplift which, itself, refers to snow that is deposited as a result of ‘saturation vapor pressure’, and ‘adiabatic temperature change.’ “Suffice to say,” said Roemer, “Jay Peak just got buried.”

Steve Maleski, host of The Eye On The Sky weather broadcast for Vermont Radio for over 22 years, thins back the explanation, but only a little, “Among the Green Mountain Peaks, Jay is uniquely situated to take advantage of these physical processes. When large systems pass by, the mountain is really the first major barrier that streams most of the maritime air wrapping around these storms backsides. Jay is just far enough north to avoid interception by the Adirondacks. Nobody has so many favorable upslope directions.”

This week’s snow has been a result of strong Lake Effect movements from the West and forecasters are calling for these to continue throughout the week.

“Winter is definitely back,” said Roemer. “And it looks like its first stop, as usual, was Jay.”