Hello Everyone –
The first day of spring this year (2008) is March 20. The equinox will be at 5:48 GMT.
In general, the four seasons correspond to the relative position of the Sun to the earth. Meteorological determination of Spring is calculated when the Sun passes through the equatorial plane. When going from Winter to Spring, the Sun is moving North, and as soon as the Sun crosses the equator, we call it Spring. Sounds I know what talking about right? Well I am now a member of the Google Age and type in “Official Spring 2008” and that is what I found out.
Now back to the show. With spring arriving this week, the end of the 2007 – 2008 ski season nears. Despite some very nice cold temperatures and some shattered natural snowfall during the last week it looks like a number of resorts are calling it quits for this season. The resorts hanging up the skis and boards for the season are in Tennessee and North Carolina. It’s tough to operate when normal visitors are playing golf on nearby courses. Let’s just hope that skiers and snowboarders in the region realize that are still nice conditions on the slopes that are still available.
For any of you wanting to make those final turns of the season, it looks like this maybe the final week and a number resorts throughout the region are looking to finish up the season after this Sunday which is also Easter Sunday. Cosidering the weather cards the resorts have been dealt this season, it’s remarkable just how much snow is still on the slopes. I had a reporter ask me recently what snowmaking means to the industry and I just said the only reason there are still snow reports right now is because of the region’s snowmaking capabilities. This is especially true during seasons like this. This is all the proof I need to understand the power of snowmaking from Tennessee to North Carolina to Maryland. Way to go folks.
That’s it for this week, next the 2008 SNOWIES. Just remember as whether it be cold or whether it be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather will be. Think about it!
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Joe Stevens, a member of the southeast ski industry since 1990 is a regular columnist for skisoutheast.com and serves as the Communications Director for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association.