The WEATHER IS ON YOUR MIND THIS MORNING…

First Trax

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…or so it seems from the “flood” of emails asking about the “flood” of rain that is invading the ski areas right now and that is forecasted to last into Wednesday/Thursday. First, let me just say that within EVERY ski season a little rain HAS to fall. Okay maybe it doesn’t HAVE to, but it’s going to. So embrace it. Think of it as a replentishing of the holding ponds that feed the snowmaking equipment. We need water to make snow.

You can also (as Snowshoe’s Laura Parquette wrote) think of it as a well deserved BREAK for those hard working snowmaking crews that have been making snow almost non stop since early November.

…and it looks like we will have a wet Tuesday and Wednesday for most of the region. Some areas will remain a little on the wet side of things into Thursday mid day, but the GREAT news is that COLD AIR is re-invading the region Thursday night and through the weekend and the weather looks near perfect for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Be sure to check out the weather forecast for this week for ALL of the North Carolina ski resorts by clicking here> NC Skier’s Forecast

You can also see the weather forecast for the entire Southeast by visiting www.SkiSoutheast.com  and dropping down to the weather column.

The important thing to know is that this 1-3″ of rain forecast, mostly for Wednesday, will NOT kill the slopes. Truthfully you won’t see it do much more than be a nuisance for the ski area snow managers. Base depths will drop 3-8″ but groomers will do their thing EACH DAY and there will be NO thin coverage or bare areas after this round of rain passes through. We have had THAT GREAT OF A START on cold and snowmaking this season. This weekend will be GREAT CONDITIONS across the board. So if you’ve got reservations for this weekend, you’re going to have a GREAT trip with cold temps and clear skies!

If you have not made reservations to get in some pre-Christmas skiing and snowboarding – do so today. There are some great deals to be had at numerous of the lodging companies that work with us.

SINCE WE’RE IN “WEATHER MODE” TODAY…

Just check out the SLOPE REPORT LINK to see all of the individual resort news and slope openings for today by clicking here> Southeast and Mid Atlantic Ski Report

Most of the ski areas were able to make snow Monday evening and last night as lows were in the mid 20s across much of the region. The snowmaking guns shut down overnight as temps moved up.

NOW ON TO MORE WEATHER NEWS…

The Farmer’s Almanac says, “The next 20 years, is going to be colder,” said Sarah Perreault, assistant editor of the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The almanac is predicting a period of global cooling partly due to the lack of sunspots, a situation which some scientists believe causes cooling on the sun and, subsequently, the earth.

Perreault said the staff still uses the weather prediction method devised by almanac founder Robert B. Thomas, using a combination of solar sciences, meteorology and climatology.

“Obviously we have more technology now,” she said. “We have the benefit of having more information than he had, but it’s basically the same.”

She said the method is not exact. Since the almanac is published so far in advance, it cannot take into account the most up-to-date information on Pacific Ocean oscillations El Nino or La Nina, for instance.

Still, the almanac has an 80 percent success rate for its weather predictions, Perreault said.

“We at the Almanac are among those who believe that sunspot cycles and their effects on oceans correlate with climate changes,” writes meteorologist and climatologist Joseph D’Aleo. “Studying these and other factor suggests that cold, not warm, climate may be our future.”

The Almanac is forecasting temperatures to be some 2° colder than normal for much of the United States. THAT STRONGLY contradicts what “global warming” proponents were ranting about for most of the last few years. You may have noted that most of those proponents have now changed their battle cry to “Climate Change”. Hasn’t the climate ALWAYS changed? My memory says that it changes every three to four months seasonally – AND every few years (to decades) it changes in cycles. So, heck, I JUST became a “Climate Change” advocate!

NOVEMBER “ONE OF THE COLDEST ON RECORD”

So says NOAA! How about the 5th COLDEST on record. November 1976 was the coldest on record across the United States, but last month was a cold one that produced temperatures MUCH below normal for our region and much more snow that forecasters could have predicted.

2007 was the COLDEST year of the last decade in the United States…

The final numbers show that 2007 was the coldest in a decade. So much for the previous claim that “There is a 60 percent probability that 2007 will be as warm or warmer than the current warmest year, 1998.” [Note: it was found late last year that the warmest year in the US was NOT 1998 as “experts” were first claiming. (They found errors in their math.) The warmest was 1934.]

Additionally, last winter 100 prominent scientists released a letter saying that “there has been no net global warming since 1998.”  Why was THAT not broadcast on all the news channels?

Finally the silliness that many, so-called experts, were spouting about how man was killing Planet Earth is subsiding and being replaced by common sense. In fact, there is a list of 400 Scientists who ALL dispute that any significant temperature changes are due to man. How is THIS for a quote??? “U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007 – Senate Report Debunks “Consensus” ”

That list and report was released on December 20, 2007 but of course that didn’t make the Headline News…

For those who doubt the list exists…here is one source: Click here

About a week ago I was speaking with one of our ski area managers and she stated, “I know that now we’re hearing that things may be changing a bit over to the global cooling theme, but the ice caps are still shrinking and that spells trouble for our area if things don’t change.”

I asked her WHICH ICE CAPS were shrinking and she couldn’t tell me. However, let’s go ahead and get those stranded polar bears saved. You know, the ones that they keep showing over and over that are floating on a chunk of ice with no where to go. Poor, poor Polar bears! First of all, polar bears can swim! Second, it has now been stated that the poor polar bear that they keep showing in photos and video clips around the world over the last few years IS THE SAME POLAR BEAR! Now THAT’S funny. It turns out that the little fella jumped off the ice chunk moments after the film crew was done with him and he swam over to a nice island of ice and made some baby polar bears with Mrs. Polar Bear. He’s doing fine according to all involved and living nicely with his family of 37.

According to more recent studies now coming to light – The Western Greenland ice is GROWING according to CO2 Science. Antarctic Ice is growing slightly according to experts studying that region…and it has grown slightly for the PAST TWO DECADES!!!

“Climate Change” proponents argue that the Artic Ice is shrinking and there is proof that this is happening. However, according to a growing list of scientists, this is normal, saying that each region changes in cycles as well. Of course those still clamoring that the world is dying and we’re killing it are NOW arguing that they know why this is happening and that they can still explain it away to support that this is a strange byproduct of Climate Change. Oh well…

Editor’s Note: For the one or two of you who will no doubt write me that I need to stay away from politics and just stick to ski related issues – chill out. First, skiing is related to the weather and Global Cooling means MORE COLD, snowmaking temps and natural snow as well. Second, I am ALL about cleaning up Planet Earth in every way that we can. Clean up the streams, clean up our roadsides. Heck, next time you’re at a ski resort, how about hopping off the lift and walk the lift line and clean up all the cans, bottles and paper goods that are dropped or thrown from the lift…

Last season I wrote about the roadside litter along the highways and byways that approach some of the prettiest mountains of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic and even offered free hoodies and some lift passes for those who would volunteer to clean them up. There were NO TAKERS. Seems that people prefer to complain rather than get off their rears and pick up trash. Put the bongs down and put your back where your mouthes are and go pick up some trash. I was driving through GORGEOUS Damascus, Virginia on Sunday and saw some otherwise beautiful streams that had literal POCKETS of water that was trashed up with a ton of litter. I can provide directions if anyone is willing to go clean it up.

…and before I get a few emails from people asking me “why I didn’t clean it up”, I and my kids have spent numerous little fun trips picking up trash, throwing it in the back of my truck and taking it to the dump. If only we could get EVERY “Climate Change” enthusiast to do the same, we might see some results. Just a thought.

Check back tomorrow for a story on one “climate scientist” who claims that he has a “fix” for Planet Earth’s Global Warming (I mean Climate Change) problem. Here’s a hint: He claims that we need more ski areas! Now THAT is a fix I can support! Check back later for that story!

One more Editor’s note: I want to go ahead and ward off another two or three of you who will email me that you’ve LOVED this website for years but that you’re not going to read it anymore now that I’ve “waxed political”. To those I say, “You will be missed.”

Send your comments, pics, videos and trip reports to [email protected]

 

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