Happy New Year Everyone!
Okay, I know some of you skiers and snowboarders out there are a bit preturbed with the weather! We all are. I can assure you that the ski area management teams are looking at the forecast for the next couple of days and thinking more than a couple of thoughts that are probably laced with some profanities towards Ma Nature.
After a great beginning to the season in early December, it has been four weeks of simply trying to maintain what snow they have as there have been fewer nights cold enough to make snow than the other way around.
…and now today, we are looking at a forecast for the mountains of North Carolina that looks a lot more like a stormy Spring forecast than the first of January. According to the forecast by Ray Russell of Rays Weather – we’d better get our turns in early and often today because some 1-3" of rain is in the picture for later today, tonight and Tuesday.
IF Russell’s forecast is accurate (and they usually are), then the resorts will be looking p-r-e-t-t-y bad by Wednesday. Appalachian Ski Mountain will be fine as they have a ton of snow base to weather it; Cataloochee and Wolf Ridge will be o-k-a-y. Sugar Mountain will make it through with some significant thin coverage though and more than a few bare spots.
Ski Beech will probably have to close Upper Shawneehaw again and only ski from Lower Shawneehaw down and those trails will not be looking too good as well. Beech already has a bunch of thin coverage around the middle of Lower Shawneehaw where it merges up with Powder Bowl and Freestyle.
THERE IS GOOD NEWS….
The good news is that this "kicking a dog while he’s down" rain comes AFTER all of the resorts made it through the all-important Holiday week of skiing and riding. Brisk traffic was seen at all of the resorts and while we’re thinking that no records were set, the resorts were pretty busy.
Additional good news is in the form of what looks like a sustained period of cold weather that begins on Wednesday evening and lasts AT LEAST through Sunday. There’s some chances for snow Wednesday and again on Thursday with lows Wednesday night getting down to a snowmaking 22°! Thursday’s forecast looks like it will allow for around-the-clock snowmaking with highs in the 30° range and lows in the teens! Friday looks seasonably cold with lows dipping into the mid 20s (more snowmaking). The weekend ahead looks possibly snowy with lows in the upper teens to mid 20s both nights.
So if you have a ski trip planned for this coming weekend, things are looking pretty good. Remember that nobody can make snow like our North Carolina snowmakers.
Maybe – just MAYBE we’ll see another prolonged period of some snow and cold! We’re due!
Check the Slope Reports for the details today!
Enjoy your day!
Until Next time…
Be sure to visit www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news from the rest of the Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas!
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