This wild and crazy ski and snowboarding season continues to excite us around the Southeast and Mid Atlantic. Wednesday didn’t pan out to be the significant snow day that a lot of forecasters were predicting for the Virginias. It appears that more of the freezing rain and rain fell – than snow and even Wisp’s and Snowshoe’s 2" of snow was some 3-5" less than many forecasters were calling for. We received all sorts of reports of rain, some heavy rain, some mixed precip – you name it.
Here at my office I was amazed at how we only saw a few raindrops until around 1pm when the winds picked up and it was blowing a hard rain against the back windows here. Twenty minutes later the sun was trying to come out and I thought to myself, "the rain is gone". Ten minutes later, it was raining pretty hard again. We got that same kind of report from several of you guys and gals. Some talked of a rain, snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain event that provided all of those ingredients within the same hour!
Now TODAY, the sun is shining and there are some snowy looking clouds floating around and we could see a dusting or more tonight.
The temperatures are still CRAZY across the region as well. The high forecasted for Beech Mountain today is to be around 40°. Snowshoe’s high forecasted for today? 25°! Crazy I tell you! Some light snow may fall today and this evening across much of our coverage area and some places may see an inch or so of snow tonight. Snowshoe, Timberline, Canaan and Wisp may see 2-4" of snow through Friday afternoon. If that comes to fruition then the ski resorts in West Virginia and Maryland will have seen as much as 60" of snow in the mountain of January ALONE!
Ski areas into North Carolina have seen a "more than usual" 17 inches or so! Gil Adams, who also wears the hat of Marketing Director for Ski Beech, handles the snow reporting for the Community Collaborative Snow Network and his reporting uses official equipment and he has Beech down for 17.8" on the month now. So it has been a snowy month and it isn’t over.
As if that isn’t crazy enough, some reports of potentially HEAVY SNOW are being teased out and about for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. So February could begin the way that January has been – snowy!
IS A MAJOR SNOW STORM BREWING!!!???
Our inbox is loaded with emails this morning either asking us about or TELLING us about the "impending major snow event" that looks to be setting up nicely to deliver a "Blizzard" of a storm beginning Monday and lasting into Wednesday of next week. Just yesterday I mentioned about how accurate our weather gurus have been at forecasting weather 4-5 days out. Monday is still four days out, so ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.
The NWS is calling for snow and cold to continue through next Wednesday and regardless of whether this is a MAJOR event or not, conditions at the ski areas will be awesome.
WE KNEW OLD BRAD WOULD BE IN TOUCH TODAY!!!
As I was about to post up this morning’s report from around the region I just received an email (VIDEO) from Meteorologist Brad Panovich. He is ONE SNOW LOVING dude and we knew he would not be able to resist telling us what to expect out of the snowfall coming our way tonight and early next week. I was all prepared to go with the data that I had this morning, but instead – what I’m going to do now is post this report, then hop over to SkiSoutheast.com and get that information up – and THEN we’ll check out Brad’s take on things as they apply to the huge snow event and then we’ll post another story by mid-morning.
So, read on and check back within the next hour or so for what we’re going to tell you guys about all the snow heading our way! It’s exciting, so don’t miss it!
Here are the notes of interest from around the region:
Canaan Valley – 24° – They are not reporting any snow in the last 24 hours, but thanks David C. Lesher who is an observer at the weather station at 3715′ elevation in Tucker County – we can report that Canaan Valley picked up another 1.1" of mixed snow, sleet and wet snow to take them to 129.7" on the season and 59.4" for January. They have 38 of 39 trails open and superb conditions!
Timberline Resort – 19° – They picked up another inch of snow and made snow as well to give them perfect conditions on their 32 open trails. They also have terrain parks and snow tubing open.
Snowshoe Mountain – 14° – They are the cold spot this morning and they report another 2" of mixed snow and wintry precip in the last 24 hours. That takes Snowshoe to 137" of snow on the season. They have cut back on some trail opens and offer 55 trails today. They are focusing some devoted snowmaking ops on numerous trails to insure a sensational day on the mountain for this coming weekend.
Laura Parquette writes, "The only open trails with snowmaking occurring will be Upper Cupp and Lower Cupp. While all of our slopes continue to be skiable, we want to make sure we’re providing the best conditions possible right through the end of the season. Because of this, a handful of our trails will be closed today at Snowshoe for some concentrated snowmaking. The annual Cupp Run Challenge is just a few days away! Ski racers are invited to participate in one of the East’s most demanding races taking place on February 2nd. Registration begins Sunday from 6-8pm at the Shavers Center. Be sure to visit our website for further information at www.snowshoemtn.com "
Winterplace Resort – 20° – They report 1" of new snow to go to 47" on the season. They have closed up a few trails today for focused snowmaking. Those trails are: Ridge Runner; Wood’s Run & Turkey Chute. That gives them 25 of 28 trails open today with terrain parks and tubing open as well.
Wisp Resort – 15° – They reported another 2" of mixed wintry precip (mostly snow) and that makes for 7" of snow on the week and 89" on the season. That puts Wisp within 11" of their normal snow total for an entire season and we still have all of February and March left! They have 31 trails open, terrain parks and snow tubing.
Wintergreen Resort – 21° – They are reporting a base of 40-60" and they have 26 of 26 trails (100%) open and Anne Marie Jones writes, "We have a huge weekend on the way with great weather and even better snow conditions. Everyone else in the region is skiing yesterdays rain soaked snow. Thanks to full snowmaking automation, we have covered every trail on our mountain with a fresh layer of new dry snow!"
Wintergreen reports no snow from yesterday’s event.
Bryce Resort – 23° – They report no snow from yesterday’s storm and no snowmaking either. They have plenty of base at 35-61" (we rate them a "10") and they have all 8 trails open, terrain park fun and snow tubing as well.
Massanutten Resort – 22° – That temp is at their 1770′ base of their mountain. 1155 feet up (at the top of their hill at 2925′) it is 29°. (Inversion???!!!) Anyway they did not make snow and report no snow from the storm system yesterday. They do have a 50" base and all 14 trails open. The terrain parks and tubing is open as well.
Ober Gatlinburg – 27° – They made snow last night and report a base of 36-70" on 6 trails. They have snow tubing open as well.
Appalachian Ski Mountain – They made snow with an overnight low of 23°. It is 35° at 8:00am. They will be in AWESOME shape to make some turns today and tonight on 100% of the terrain and terrain parks. App is reporting an 80-106" base this morning. (That is nearly NINE FEET of base (on the max side)!)
Cataloochee Ski Area – 19° – As mentioned above, they are still making snow this AM and we’ve upgraded their base rating to a perfect "10" this morning. COnditions will be phenomenal today on all 14 trails. They have tubing open today as well!
Ski Beech – 17° – They are blasting away at the slopes this morning and they are reporting a base of 30-60". We’ve upgraded their base rating to a (9-10) which means that they will be in great shape today. Beech is reporting groomed conditions and hopefully they were able to lay down some corduroy and eliminate some of the "tough spots" that were on White Lightning the other day. They will offer 11 of 15 trails, snow tubing and the terrain park for today.
Ski Beech is offering an all-inclusive package for anyone interested in skiing or snowboarding on Sunday. The package is $80.00 per person and will be highlighted in conjunction with their Super Bowl activates so the special discount is a stand alone offer, the discount includes:
Lift Ticket (Day or Twilight)
Rental (Ski or Snowboard)
Lesson (Beginner Ski or Snowboard)
Lunch Voucher (View Haus Cafeteria)
The package will be redeemable at the Group Sales office.
Beech is hosting a Super Bowl Celebration in the View Haus Cafeteria, which will be highlighted on a 65” television. They will have Pizza, Wings, Nachos, Snacks and Beverages available during the game. Questions? Call 828.387.2011 ext. 251 or 209 and tell them you saw it on SkiNC.com!
Sugar Mountain – 17° and they are reporting a dusting of natural snow (we thought we saw some snow flakes last night!) They are still making a cloud of manmade snow and they have 100% of their mountain open with all 20 trails, ice skating, snow tubing and great conditions. They are reporting a base of 35-74" and we have upgraded our base rating for Sugar to a perfect "10".
Wolf Ridge Ski Resort – 30° – We’re thinking that Wolf made some snow overnight but regardless they are in nice shape on 10 of 20 trails for today and tonight and they are reporting a base of 46-66".
Sapphire Valley – 29° – They are making snow in prepartion to reopen on Friday. They are always closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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