I began filming some video Friday night over at App and Blowing Rock and figured I’d get that posted on Saturday. Then all it has done all weekend long is snow. The images and videos kept on coming. We’ll get you snow loving peeps some video to enjoy later today. We have already game planned to do a "Season in Rewind" video blog all season long and I think we’ll make today our debut day to post the first one. We caught some good video from around the region this weekend and at any point in the season if you want to "look back" and review how each week has gone…you’ll be able to. Look for that later today…
It’s snowing this morning. That’s the sixth morning in a row that we’ve witnessed some snow falling from the sky. It began doing so in earnest Friday and this weekend’s storm is now becoming this last week’s storm that still continues today.
Let’s talk snow. Before we get into what’s on the ground already, let’s look ahead to the forecast. Late on Sunday the NWS was forecasting "sunny skies" for late on Sunday and Monday afternoon with MAYBE one-inch more snow in the North Carolina Mountains and perhaps the heaviest snow in the West Virginia ski areas with another 3-5" of snow. Fast forward to this morning and NOW they’ve put out a "Winter Weather Advisory".
Ya think!
This new advisory now remains in effect until 7pm TUESDAY and is for a combination of SNOW (yes more), Blowing Snow, Strong Winds and Low Wind Chills.
Accumulation – 2 to 6" of ADDITIONAL SNOW! Snow may be heavy at times (it’s falling pretty moderately right now at 7:30am) and continuing through Tuesday.
Our weather dude (that’s his official title) Brad Panovich is looking like the supreme master of all things weather this morning. Back last THURSDAY he was the ONLY forecaster calling for 10-20" of snow. Admittedly he felt 5" or so was probable for most of the mountain communities in North Carolina and the 10"+ snows were for the resorts in West Virginia and Maryland. Regardless, he got it right. There’s easily 8-10" of snow around Sugar and Beech Mountains…and we’re getting reports this morning of a lot of it pretty much across the board.
I think Brad’s forecast of 10-20" held up wouldn’t you agree? So far 13" has fallen at Beech. Snowshoe is reporting 13" over the weekend so far and more is falling. Davis, WV has seen 15" so far…and it’s still snowing!
My SkiMail INBOX is pretty full of reports this morning, so we’ll post up YOUR photos later today.
We’re getting official CoCoRaHs snow reports of:
7.7" of new snow at Beech Mountain with 13" on the ground. By the way that is 21.6" of snow on the season for Beech Mountain Ski Resort now!
4.6" of new snow has fallen at Sugar Mountain (according to CoCoRaHS) and that is 9.8" of snow in the last two days and 10.4" since Friday! Sugar has seen 15.3" of snow on the season.
3.5" of new snow at Mars Hill
6.6" of snow at Davis, West Virginia with 10" on the ground and 15.2" of snow since December 2nd. That’s 20.9" on the season.
That Beech report is a no-brainer. We were up there late on Sunday and there was a good 10" on the ground then and it’s done nothing but snow. That 13.3" of snow since Saturday morning has come on 1.24" of moisture. This is some GREAT powder!
Let’s get to the tour this morning and we’ll cover the OPEN ski areas first and then skip around just for the fun of it.
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 12° – 2" of new snow and 6" from the storm – 9" on the season. They will have 8 trails running today including two terrain parks and ice skating.
Beech Mountain Ski Resort – 6° – 7.7" of new snow; 13.3" this weekend and on the ground and 21.6" of snow on the season. Beech is open for day sessions today on 6 of 14 trails of POWDER conditions and a base of 20-40".
Cataloochee Ski Area – 12° – CocoRaHs is officially reporting another .7" of snow fell and that jives with our call over to Cat this morning. Tammy and Chris were busy but the gal who caught the phone said that they’d seen 4-5" of snow there over the weekend. Cat is open from 1-10pm today with POWDER conditions, a base of 18+" and 10 of 16 trails open. Tubing Reopens 12/11 Saturday. Cataloochee has now seen 9" of snow on the season.
Sugar Mountain – 5° – 4.6" of new snow; 10.4" from the storm and on the ground and 15.3" on the season. Sugar opened Tpm Terrific today! That makes it 10 of 20 trails open at Sugar with POWDER conditions and a base of 26-56". Sugar fans should be advised that this weekend is SugarFest. Lots of fun is planned. Watch 1992 Olympic Figure Skating Silver Medalist, Paul Wylie dazzle us with his amazing talent followed by an on ice skating clinic and a meet and greet session Sunday at 3 pm. No fee is required to watch Paul’s inspiring on-ice performance.
Snowshoe Mountain – 11° – Laura Parquette is reporting 9" of new snow and now 20" on the season. Bear in mind that their season hasn’t begun yet. That will happen on Wednesday when Snowshoe drops the ropes for the first time this season. Snowshoe posted, "Kids waiting for Christmas morning have nothing on us right now! With another 9" of fresh powder falling overnight, bringing our total for the week to just under 2-feet, Opening Day on Wednesday should be one for the record books! The snow isn’t supposed to stop until Wednesday, and up to another foot is possible today. Meanwhile, our snowmaking team continues to pump out tons of the fluffy white stuff as well, and we’ve started to push snow around, creating a great base in preparation for Opening Day on Wednesday. We continue to plan to have 14 open slopes on Wednesday, but with aggressive snowmaking, expect to see that number rise before the weekend. It’s going to be a great start to the season, and we have some great deals available like a 3-for-2 night lodging offer. Call 877-441-4386 and plan your Snowshoe escape TODAY!"
Canaan and Timberline both open this week as well. POWDER will be the word! They’ve picked up 6.6" of snow in the last 24 hours; 9" in the last 48 and 12.4" since Friday AM. That’s 20.9" on the season and another FOOT of snow is forecasted for today and Tuesday up that way.
(We’ll say it again – Way to go Brad!)
Winterplace Resort – 13° – FINALLY! They got in on the natural snow. 6" of new snow has fallen in the last 24 hours and that’s 8" on the season. Winterplace opens December 11th!
Wisp Resort – 17° – They are reporting 3" of new snow but we think that might be from Sunday. The CocoRaHs guys have not updated yet this morning so we’ll watch for that. Wisp plans to open Thursday, December 9th!
Ober Gatlinburg – They got in on the snow as well with 3" of new snow falling. That’s the first measureable snowfall this season. Ober is making snow and will probably open this week. We’ll get the official word from Kathy Doyle and the Anders crew asap.
Bryce Resort – 32° – They are making snow whenever possible and plan to open this weekend. They only saw a TRACE of new snow out of this and so far have seen little in the way of natural snow with only a TRACE measurement on the season.
Massanutten Resort – 30° – They saw a TRACE of new snow and that’s the way it’s been thus far on the season. Kenny Hess and those guys are making snow at every opportunity and it’s been great for snowmaking lately. Massanutten will open the Snow Sports Area for Skiing, Snowboarding and Tubing on Friday, December 10th, 2010. Ski and Snowboard hours 9am-4:30 pm, tube 9am-5pm. Night session starts Dec. 17th, 2010.
Wintergreen Resort – 13° – They’ve seen a trace of new snow and 2" on the weekend. They posted, "Our big investment in additional snowmaking equipment this summer is really paying off. We are currently running on all 3 sections of the mountain including THE HIGHLANDS. Overnight we eased up on parts of Dobie and are running THE HIGHLANDS HARD. No kidding, for the first time, we are making snow on The Highlands with plans to open it earlier than ever before. Will it open Friday when we open for the season? Friday is a real possibility….. Keep checking this report for details about our Highlands progress. The mountain looks fabulous!"
Wolf Ridge Ski Resort – 12° – REOPENS THURSDAY. They are closed for ski ops today through Wednesday. CoCoRaHs is officially reporting 7" of snow there for this past weekend and 9" on the season.
Sapphire Valley – 19° – They are making snow preparing to open December 17th.
THINK COLD! THINK SNOW!
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