It’s Sunday, November 16th, 2008 and it is a cold and snowy first day of the week. It is also the first day that more than two ski areas are making snow and THAT is a great signal that we are fast approaching the real start to the 2008-2008 ski and snowboarding season for the North Carolina ski areas.
This morning at 9:30am we are looking around and seeing numerous ski areas making snow. Most areas of the High Country saw just a dusting to perhaps one inch of snow from the "storm" that began with gusto last night around 7:15pm or so. Some of the highest elevations over towards the Tennessee state line are reporting 2", while most of the rest of the area has experienced a dusting.
Thanks to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (coCoRaHS) the highest officially measured snow was around the tops of Sugar and Beech Mountains where .79" of snow has fallen. Perhaps some small drifts will measure 1-2" but that’s about it. It will be great to get some official measurements from some of the areas that historically have been over-reported in the past.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a few more snow showers throughout the day with perhaps 1-2" more snow today.
The great news is that many ski areas are taking advantage of the cold blast of air and preparing to getr open. The highs today will be in the low 30s and lows tonight will remain in the 20s so that means snowmaking around the clock! Monday will "warm" just a bit as temps are expected to reach perhaps 40°. Then MORE COLD and snow is on the way Monday evening as temps dive back into the low 20s. Snow showers are expected Monday night through Tuesday and more important to us snow lovers is the fact that the expected high temps for Tuesday are in the mid to upper 20s…with more around the clock snowmaking temps as teens are expected Tuesday night.
The long range forecast is for MORE colder-than-normal temps throughout the week and more light snow is possible next weekend.
Expect quick openings by Sugar Mountain and perhaps even Ski Beech this week. We’ve provided some additional observations below. Enjoy!
<Appalachian saw some hard snow and began making snow as well!
Appalachian is making snow at 26° in preparation for their opening day, which is scheduled to be November 21. Regardless of when they open, make note that their first day of skiing and snowboarding, they will offer free ski tickets to the first 100 guests at the ticket cashier window. Be sure to get there early to take advantage of this great offer, and enjoy some amazing early season skiing and snowboarding at Appalachian Ski Mtn.
We haven’t heard anything from Cataloochee, but they don’t appear to be making snow (or their webcam isn’t working). They are supposed to be replacing that cam, so that could be the case. As we all know Cat made snow first this season and opened a couple of weeks ago. We’ll update you guys when we hear from them.
Ski Beech began making snow moments after Sugar Mountain did so Saturday evening. They are cranking out some snow at 19.7° right now.
Sugar Mountain began making snow Saturday around 3pm. We received word yesterday from Sugar Mountain fan, Dakota Bauer that they were cranking it out and then we were up that way Saturday evening to enjoy the short burst of blizzard-like snow. They are making their own snow cloud this morning. It is 19.7° up there as well. Sugar Mountain is reporting 2" of new snow. Look for Gunther to open as early as Monday. If not then Tuesday is a good bet.
We’re seeing 31° and mostly cloudy conditions over at Wolf Ridge. They look to have received perhaps an inch of snow over that way. No snowmaking is happening over there right now, but they will be cranking up again soon.
We’ll be updating some photos of the day and more information is available for all of the rest of the ski areas around the Southeast and Mid Atlantic over on www.SkiSoutheast.com. More snow has fallen northward…so check it out.
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