Meteorologist Brad Panovich is already promoting a major arctic blast that appears to be heading our way around the middle part of next week as we get to February 2-3rd and Groundhog Day. More about that in a second.
Brad’s also talking about a "mild weekend" that is heading our way this weekend after 7-9" of snow fell on Wednesday across much of the area. We’ve already heard reports of 7" of snow up at Beech Mountain, 7.5" of snow at Bryce Resort and 7" at Snowshoe in West Virginia. Timberline is reporting 9" in the last 24 hours.
Another 6-8" is in the forecast for the West Virginia ski areas over the next 72 hours and perhaps another 1-3" into the North Carolina mountains with locally higher amounts around Beech. So conditions will be simply fantastic as we head into the weekend after some Friday snowfall. The roads will be in great shape thanks to some awesome DOT crews that take great care of those roadways for us. The temperatures are forecasted to get to near 40° at Beech Mountain on Saturday and Brad’s Skier’s Forecast Video relates to this weekend as "mild" and it IS compared to the frigid temps we’ve enjoyed all season long. However if Beech makes it to 40° on Saturday, they will STILL be 2° COLDER than the average/normal high temperature of 42° for this day in January. (It’s all about perspective, huh?)
While I was researching that little bit of data I came across the record HIGH temp for Beech Mountain on this day in history. Back in 1999 Beech Mountain saw a 68° high temp. Wow! I admit that I don’t remember that, but I’m certain that there was a lot of shorts and short-sleeved skiing and snowboarding happening on that day!
By the way, Snowshoe’s forecasted high temp for Saturday is 32° with additional snowfall, so they’ll be well under their normal average high temp of 40°. Snowshoe’s record high for this day in history? How about the exact same 68° but wayyyy back in 1916! I bet those peeps back then didn’t utter one syllable about "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" or "Global Climate Disruption" or whatever they’re going to label it as next.
GREAT CONDITIONS AGAIN – Groundhog Day Style!
32° to 40° temps will make for PERFECT skiing and snowboarding weather for this weekend. The snow should be packed powder to soft packed for the most part and the temps will be very comfortable for most people. If you haven’t yet enjoyed the slopes this season, PLEASE do yourself a major favor and get out and enjoy these conditions.
Brad is already forecasting that February will start with a bang as a COLD BLAST is headed our way mid week. He’s teasing his next couple of video updates that we’ll want to stay tuned for as that next system and some more cold and snow/stormy weather is in the offing.
Kind of sounds like the fuzzy fat Punxsutawney Phil will be seeing his shadow and forecasting six more weeks of winter. How’s that for a forecast seven days out? He and his buddies are all likely to see the sun and shadow even if it is cloudy and bombing snow, so this reporter will be velly, velling i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-e-d to see what the rodents have to say about the rest of the winter.
BLOWING ROCK WINTERFEST IS THIS WEEKEND…
Join the Village of Blowing Rock as they celebrate the fun side of winter at the 13th Annual Blowing Rock Winterfest! From the Chili Cook-Off to downtown hayrides, from the icy Polar Plunge to WinterFeast, there’s something for all age groups at Blowing Rock Winterfest.
Those who plan to dive into the cold waters of Chetola Lake will at least have some decent temperatures to greet them as they climb out of the cold, semi-frozen waters during the Polar Plunge event.
They’ll have a ton of fun with ice carving, hayrides, chef’s challenge, chili cookoffs and tons more happening in Blowing Rock this weekend. So if you NEED someone else to entice you into making your way to the mountains, there you have it.
HERE’S SOME OFFICIAL SNOW TOTALS:
Beech Mountain – 5" according to CoCoRaHs; 6" officially at the NWS Station at Fred’s and 6" at Ski Beech. That’s 111.4" on the season!
Sugar Mountain – 4" officially atop the mountain, 89.1" on the season
Appalachian Ski Mtn – 3.5" and 63" on the season
Wolf Ridge – 1.4" and 91.2" on the season – which is GREAT!!! (They are reporting 4" of new snow and 109" on the season and they are literally 17.8" too high on their reporting on the season, according to all of the official weather peeps who keep tabs on this stuff.)
Bryce Resort – 7.5" of snow which is more than they’ve seen TOTAL all season long! That 7+ inches takes Bryce to 11.8" on the season!
Massanutten – 8" and 14" on the season. They have to be enjoying that!
Wintergreen – 6" on the day and 10" on the season.
Canaan and Timberline – David Lesher’s official weather center reports and official 9.3" in the last 24 hours, 20" of snow on the ground and 143.3" on the season to lead the way for the region.
Snowshoe Mountain – 7" of new snow and 114.5" on the season.
Wisp Resort – 4" and 118.5" on the season.
(Anyone think Wolf Ridge has had more snow than most all of the other resorts in the region?)
Just s-a-y-i-n-g.
Most of the region’s ski resorts (not located in Virginia) are on pace to match their normal season snowfall averages OR are already WELL OVER their normal snowfall for a full season and yet we have two months left of the season!
Check out Brad’s Skier’s Forecast Video at https://www.skisoutheast.com/weather.htm and get your car packed and head to the mountains. You can thank me later.
See you on the slopes. Feel free to email me directly at [email protected]