Can anyone tell me when they rerouted the train to roar past my home last night?!? Oh my goodness that was some amazing wind! We have received reports of winds recorded in the 40mph range last night, and some that claim that winds in some areas reached near 60mph and I can believe it. My home shook two or three times from direct hits! I was expecting the rear glass doors to buckle at times. MAN was it roaring! It began to howl at a little past the time when Rhonetta, the “ho from North Carolina” was doing her auditions and subsequent rant on American Idol last night. Maybe all that wind was coming from her mouth…and the flapping from all that fat around her stomach! Whew, how proud HER family must be! I am certain (unfortunately) she is the talk of the state this morning. What a piece of work!
Anyway – it was windy! We didn’t get the snow we wanted around here although areas further North have received 3” or so, with a shot of up to 10” of snow. (The dogs!) For the complete Southeast forecast and report, visit www.SkiSoutheast.com
What we DID get in North Carolina was COLD temps. Some of the resorts didn’t make snow last night which is a little surprising, but maybe it didn’t quite get cold enough in some areas. All ski areas expect to make snow tonight and some are making it as we speak. All ski areas are looking mucho better this morning. It may a little windy out, but conditions will be 180° from yesterday.
Here’s some summaries:
Appalachian reports that they did NOT make snow last night, but they are this morning. Appalachian also recorded a slight drop in base but they are blasting the slopes now and conditions will be pretty sweet there today!
Cataloochee made snow and is looking awesome this morning on the webcams.
Hawksnest is reporting (according to the SSAA) that they made snow, but there’s no sign of it and the guns aren’t running this morning. They will tonight so expect improving conditions there. We have a story coming on a HUGE Ski and Snowboard Competition taking place at Hawknest that we will share a bit later today.
It’s just about time to pull Sapphire Valley from the website and not even bother trying to report conditions there anymore. Heck they don’t care enough to post reports to anyone and if you check the conditions at many national and regional sources…don’t depend on them because they are all more than six days old.
Ski Beech is looking amazingly nice this morning. The guns are blasting the slopes and they look phenomenal for today’s Retro Wednesday rates. Ski Beech will be making snow as long as temps allow.
We hate to keep beating a dead horse, but we love the job that Sugar Mountain is doing this season regarding snow reporting. While they may not have mentioned the bare spots around the slopes over the last couple of days, they have doing everything else great. Sugar Mountain looks GREAT today. With guns blazing, they added an inch of manmade snow to the slopes and conditions are Sugar sweet for today.
Wolf Laurel made snow and they should tonight and conditions will quickly improve there. Things were looking pretty bad there yesterday but they are improved today. The webcam is now running and conditions look much better.
Conditions are looking very nice at Appalachian, Cataloochee, Beech and Sugar today. Our pick for today…let’s make it a three way tie of Ski beech, Sugar Mountain and Cataloochee. It is amazing what some great snowmaking can do!
Winter coming soon to a ski resort near you!
Our buddy, meteorologist Brad Panovich forewarned us about the winds of last night and today. Those winds will continue to be a little gusty today but diminishing somewhat as the day goes on. He said that after this bit of cold that we’ll have for today and tomorrow to expect it to get a bit mild again for a couple of days and he added, “(After a few mild days we will see) our next storm approaches and this one will be the first in a series of storms into next week that will usher in a colder period for the Southeast. There is cold air already building up in Canada and these series of storms promise to open the flood gates and bring it down south starting next week. Stay tuned!”
That IS great news and we can’t wait for a little more normal Winter pattern.
Until then…see you on the slopes.
Until Next Time!
Be sure to check out www.SkiSoutheast.com for more news and stories for all of the Southeast’s ski areas.
Be sure to email photos, snow reports and comments to: [email protected]