Nobody mentioned a 44° morning this morning! The cool thing about our archiving of articles every day is that we can easily look back at what the weather gurus predict and then see how their forecasts pan out. It is amazing how accurate the forecasting has been for this season. The pre-season predictions are holding pretty accurate, and the 4-5 day forecasts have held strong as well. Most forecasters were calling for a mild start to the day today – though I don’t think most thought we’d see mid 40s for morning lows. Truthfully though – when I look north and slightly west of our area, I am VERY HAPPY not to be in the midst of all of the ice storms and freezing rain that is pelting much of that portion of the south. Much of the Virginias and Kentucky is suffering from some dangerous ice right now. So I’ll take this milder weather and light rain and keep my mouth shut.
The mild start to Wednesday will be the last of the mild temps for a few days, says Meteorologist, Matthew East. He has provided a nice video that tells us what to expect for the next several days. Click here> Skier’s Forecast for the Mid Atlantic and Southeast Ski Resorts
The summary of the update: Much of our area of coverage is seeing rain, freezing rain and some messy weather today (particularly Wednesday morning). That should change to a quick hit of snow later today and tonight. Thursday will be nice and chilly. Friday looks like more around the clock snowmaking temps and some additional chances at some light accummulating snows! Saturday and Sunday look AWESOME with cold temps, sunny skies and great conditions at the resorts.
MONDAY IS LOOKING LIKE A CHANCE OF HEAVY SNOW! Check out his video! We heard from Matthew East and then checked out all of the weather resources and they all seem to be in agreement that the potential for a heavy snow event is in the forecast for Monday. According to Matthew East, the top computer models (those with silkier skin and… oh wait, not THAT MODEL!) are confidently forecasting a pattern that we haven’t seen much of over the last few winters. From the looks of things, some significant snow is in the forecast for the entire region! STAY TUNED FOR THAT GREAT NEWS!
Here’s the quick tour for today:
Wolf Ridge Resort – 41° this morning. They are reporting a base of 46-66" (Average of 56") on 10 trails and they offer snow tubing as well. Wolf reports, "Colder weather returning Thursday! Just in time for the weekend! Slopes are in great shape! Come out and Ski the Wolf! WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY STUDENT SPECIAL: NIGHT: 6pm-10PM Lift Ticket: $18.00: Ski Rental $5.00: Snowboard – Rental: $10.00"
Appalachian – 35° – It is 2° colder now than the reported low overnight by App’s crew. They did not make snow, but really don’t need any snow as they have a reported base of 78-104" or a single number AVERAGE BASE of 91"! All ten trails, both terrain parks and their ice rink are open.
Cataloochee – 45° – They are reporting a 38-85" base (Average of 61.5") on 14 trails, serviced by 5 lifts. They will reopen for Tubing on Thursday.
Ski Beech – 39° – They are reporting a base of 30-60" (Average of 45") on 11 trails. They have the terrain park set up on Powder Bowl and the ice rink is open. Beech has plenty of snow and very good coverage although they are showing some thinning areas. We’ve dropped their conditions rating to a strong 8 out of 10, but they are ready to make snow and in more need than most of the other ski areas for tonight’s snowmaking temps.
Sugar Mountain – 37° – They are reporting a 37-76" base (Average of 56.5") on 20 trails. They have tubing and ice skating open as well. We have dropped their base conditions rating to an 8 as well. They have plenty of good coverage and good snow, but there are a few thinning areas at trail merges.
Sapphire Valley – They are closed Wednesdays and Thursdays and will reopen on Friday at noon.
Hawksnest Snow Tubing Park – Is closed until Thursday.
So cold is headed our way and that means snowmaking and great conditions for the end of the week and the weekend ahead. If you can get away for the weekend and stick around into next week, you’ll probably experience some really good natural snow and conditions that are AWESOME!
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news from the rest of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas!
Send your snow photos, videos, comments or emails to: [email protected]