We’re seeing evidence of some pesty inversions this morning as temperatures are colder around Newland (16°) and Banner Elk (18°) in North Carolina than up top at Snowshoe, Ski Beech or other higher elevations. We are on a way to a very mild Sunday with highs reaching into the 40s and some 50s (possible a mid 50 here and there). This is the lull before the storm, so enjoy your day on the slopes as things should be awesome no matter where you choose to ride today.
CLOSER TO THE MONDAY-WEDNESDAY STORM…SO HOW ABOUT SOME MORE DEFINITIVE NUMBERS
We have yet to hear from our trusty, neighborhood meteorologists but I am sure we will because according to the National Weather Service things are shaping up a little better now and at least they are talking some numbers. If things go according to their forecast this will be an awesome week of skiing and next weekend may be the best of the season (after the storm and the associated winds clear out)!
From what the NWS is saying, the storm precip will begin as light rain at lower elevations (below 3000′) and change over to snow sometime in the afternoon on Monday.
The higher elevations may only see snow from this thing – right from the beginning. As for numbers, this is looking like a 2-3" snow for the lower elevations and maybe 4-5" by Tuesday morning around the North Carolina mountains with some higher snow totals into West Virginia and Maryland.
Then the real fun begins! Tuesday and into Tuesday night we’re looking at some pretty significant snow showers and they should continue into Wednesday and by Wednesday evening we should see some accumulations in the 4"-5" for much of the ski area mountains in North Carolina and maybe some 6-8" (or slightly more) around the higher elevations. Again, areas into West Virginia should get this much or more.
It will be windy as heck during the height of the storm and cold with highs in the single digits and teens and low in the 20s both Tuesday and Wednesday. Some gusts Tuesday evening are expected to ramp up into the 50 mph range! That will make for some crazy snow drifts and probable areas that look like almost no snow fell.
So this next few days are expected to be snowy, bitterly cold and windy. Looking ahead Thursday into next weekend, things look awesome with sunny skies and highs in the mid 30s to mid 40s by Saturday and great skiing weather and perfect ski conditions!
We will update you guys just as soon as we hear from Brad Panovich and Matthew East. This storm doesn’t look as impressive as we’d hoped for, but it looks like a decent little storm for the mountains of North Carolina and maybe more for WV and MD ski areas.
DOING A LITTLE HOUSECLEANING TODAY…
You guys brag on us a LOT and we really appreciate it, but we have been so remiss in getting a lot of the website functionality caught up this season. For example we JUST realized that when you guys clicked the Photo of the Day photos on the front page of the site, that you could then see the full shot of the day (which was good) – but then all of the other links on that subsequent page went to LAST SEASON’S PHOTOS! Crazy! Anyway that has been updated and you can now view photos from all of the ski areas that we’ve posted thus far.
Also we just updated our weather page on the site to show a quick glance view of the temps that are going on at several areas across the Southeast and Mid Atlantic. Click here to view the Southeast Ski Areas Weather Page
To see all of the photos thus far, click here> Ski Photos from the Southeast’s Ski Resorts
Road conditions will be an important topic this week with all of the snow flying around and we just updated the Department of Transportation links that provide the latest and greatest road conditions for all of the region. Southeast and Mid Atlantic Ski Areas Road Conditions
If you are headed to the mountains and don’t know the best directions to get from where you are to there – John Hopewell, aka "Faceshot" from the messageboard took the time to create some nice new mapping for us. We have updated the Resort Locations page with that new feature which does some pretty cool things to help you guys. Check that out by clicking here> Directions and Maps to the Southeast and Mid Atlantic Ski Resorts!
We are combing through the websites to find outdated information and we’ll be updating that this week. (Since it is February 1st, it is probably about time right?!?!)
Speaking of February 1st, that means that means that the pesky little rodent will be slithering out of his manmade cave to tell us whether or not we’ll be seeing six more weeks of Winter or if we should get in a few more turns and throw the skis in the closet. This will be the 123rd trek to Gobbler’s Knob for this particular lineage of Punxsutawney Phil the 23rd or whatever he is! That event culminates on Monday at about 7:25am and we’ll share that news of interest as soon as we hear it.
It’s cute how brazen the events promoters have become over the years. They used to simply say (very tongue in cheek) that this critter was the only prognosticating groundhog. Now with the passing of time, according to their promoters via an email I just received :
1. He is the ONLY true weather forecasting groundhog. All others are imposters! (Gosh that shoots a hole in the official SkiSoutheast.com groundhog "Blizzard" (which oddly enough ALWAYS sees its shadow!)
2. He is 120 years old and that there has only been ONE Punxsutawney Phil. He supposedly is fed some secret elixir of life each summer that gives him seven more years of life. (Didn’t they just say that this is the 123rd year?)
3. He is 100% accurate and has never missed.
4. He never makes his forecasts in advance. Phil’s forecasts are not made in advance by the Inner Circle. After Phil emerges from his burrow on February 2, he speaks to the Groundhog Club president in "Groundhogese"(a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle). His proclamation is then translated for the world.
O-k-a-y….
Put the groundhog – down…
We’re going out on a limb here and predict with all of the stormy weather around that old Punxsutawney Phil will not be able to see his shadow, but somehow, someway his handlers will be SAYING that he saw his shadow because WE ARE GOING TO HAVE AT LEAST SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER! I’m thinking that things will continue pretty much as they have been thus far this season. We will see some thaws (particularly in the Southern Appalachians) but it will be stormy with some big snows and outbreaks of cold that will make for an extended ski season right until the end of March and early into April for some!
How’s THAT for a prediction. So let’s just say that "Blizzard, the SkiSoutheast.com Rodent" just saw his shadow and there will be NINE MORE WEEKS of winter!
I think we just stole PP’s (Punxsutawney Phil) thunder!
GO ENJOY THE GREAT CONDITIONS AND SUPER WEATHER OUT TODAY and check the slope report page for the details. Wear some sunscreen today!
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