Meteorologist Brad Panovich is ready; the ski areas are ready; snow lovers across the Southeast are ready…and now Mother Nature looks to be ready to provide some cold air that will prompt some snow making from resorts around the region.
Several resorts have notified us that they are "looking strongly" at making snow beginning Wednesday night. Among those reporting in, Cataloochee Resort’s Public Relations Director Tammy Brown was the most bold in stating that they will make snow Wednesday night and "plan to open Thursday, November 17th!"
They are hoping to be able to operate Thursday and Friday from 1pm until 10pm and Saturday & Sunday from 8:30am until 4:30pm.
Brad Panovich, the popular meteorologist of WCNC NBC 6 Charlotte (and SkiNC / SkiSoutheast) fame, reported in just minutes ago with his forecast of a strong cold front moving into the area on Wednesday.
Here’s Brad’s Report:
A strong autumn cold front is moving through the mid-west right now with severe weather that will bring colder, windy and even snowy weather to the mountains. During the day on Wednesday the front will swing through the mountains with strong thunderstorms, gusty winds and falling temperatures. Late in the day and especially during the evening the rain will begin to change over to some light snow above 3500’ and mostly on those Northwestern facing slopes. Accumulations at Beach, Sugar and Grandfather Mountains could be as highs at 1-2”. Since the ground is so warm, little if any accumulations will stick around..
Resorts further north, particularly into West Virginia could see 4-6" of snow and that should stick around awhile as temperatures turn much colder into the end of the week.
That leads me to major pattern change that this front is signaling. The polar vortex and colder air mass is ready to set up shop for the eastern U.S. This time cold air looks to be finally locked into place for an extended period of time which means highs in the mountains will be in the 40’s and lows well down into the 20’s. That should set the stage for a serious attempts to make some base at many ski resorts heading into the Thanksgiving day holiday. Stay tuned for further updates as we may begin to see a real turn to winter time conditions in the coming weeks.
More Mountain Web Cams Coming!
One of most popular websites year-round is www.HighCountryWebCams.com and in addition to showing off many great views of the region, the ski resorts, etc…another great by-product is the ability to show what the roads are like. We’ve had them on Hwy 184, 105 and 321 for awhile and now we are adding one ON TOP of Beech Mountain. We are partnering with Steve and Lin Underwood of Beech Mountain Sports to show a great view of Beech Mountain Parkway as you crest the top of the mountain towards Ski Beech!
Just in time for Christmas…we are working to add a new Main Street Blowing Rock cam that will show all of the beauty of downtown Blowing Rock!
Better Weather!
Brad Panovich has really helped to keep us informed the last two years with the best, most accurate forecasts for the Southeast and he will continue offering his insight and expertise. Additionally, we are finishing an installation of a new Beech Mountain Weather station that will give us another high elevation reporting station. Additionally, we will debuting the new content and contests for SkiNC and SkiSoutheast later in the week…just in time for the official start to Winter 2005-2006!
Stay tuned!
Email me at: [email protected]
Don’t forget to visit: www.skisoutheast.com
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