All of the chatter via our emails is about the weather. The snow showers that fell Saturday night and most of the day on Sunday around much of the higher elevations got you guys excited! Before we get too deep into our look ahead weather-wise – we need to tell you that ONE ski area in the east has now been open for five days of the new season. That’s Cataloochee and Tammy and their staff notified us on Sunday afternoon that they will NOT be open Monday through Thursday and they will make a decision regarding whether or not they will be open for NEXT weekend by noon on Thursday. They are shooting to reopen on Friday, November 17th and the hope is that they will be able to make snow at some intervals during the week ahead.
Andrea Smith at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia emailed us that they resumed making snow on Saturday night and Sunday. Andrea reports, “Snowmakers have been hard at work all day with 15 guns blasting over several trails. A trace of natural snowfall has also been recorded in the last 12 hours, helping the mountain as everyone continues to prepare for the resort’s scheduled winter opening of November 22, weather permitting.”
We checked around and to our knowledge Snowshoe and Cataloochee are the only ski areas in the Southeast that have some snow on their trails. That brings us to today’s predominate question via email. In one form or another, the question of the day has been, “Can you tell us if the weather is going to allow resorts to make snow this week?”
Weather Updates for the Entire Region Via SkiSoutheast.com
We began providing periodic weather forecast updates on both SkiNC and SkiSoutheast about to weeks ago and we will continue to provide you with the forecast within the middle column of both sites. Those forecasts are usually limited to only forecasting about 3-4 days out. Weather forecasts outside of those few days are iffy at best, but in light of your posts and emails…here’s what we can tell you.
The High Country area of Western North Carolina is looking pretty season as far as temps are concerned. WNC should see a mild Monday and Tuesday and no snowmaking either night. Wednesday’s looking a but wet and no snowmaking. However, Thursday brings in some COLD air and even some natural snow chances. The HIGH Thursday should be around 38º and the overnight low should be in the 20s. Look for more of the same on Friday and Saturday.
Summary: No snowmaking until Thursday, but we may see a lot of snowmaking (nearly around the clock) for Thursday through at least Saturday. Monday and Tuesday, November 20th and 21st look borderline at this time.
Our Call: This weather should crank up the snowguns at several resorts in the state. It’s doubtful that anyone other than Cataloochee will be open next weekend (November 18th) but don’t rule out another resort in NC opening.
The Virginia’s and into Maryland…
Snowshoe’s the only other resort with snow in the ground from some massive snowmaking efforts (check out the photo of the day on SkiSoutheast.com). They don’t plan opening until Wednesday, November 22nd, but they have made a TON of snow so far and its not a stretch whatsoever to report that Snowshoe Mountain has the most snow in the region right now – they just aren’t ready to drop the ropes just yet!
The forecast up that way looks like this:
Monday will provide a mix of clouds and sun with highs in the low 50s. Monday night – no snowmaking with lows in the upper 30s. Tuesday and Wednesday will be mild and Wednesday offers some chances at rain and there’s no snowmaking ops in that period. Thursday is looking like showers early with highs in the low 40s, but Thursday night things get cold quick and there’s some ops for natural snow as well as snowmaking temps. Friday looks like a few more light rain showers may move into the area, but Friday night may offer some snowmaking temps at 28º. Saturday’s high should be in the low to mid 30s so look for some snowmaking most all day and night. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday looks perfect for some snow showers and snowmaking opportunities…which times thing quite nicely for the intended opening on Wednesday, November 22nd.
Our Call: Look for Snowshoe, Wisp, Winterplace and Wintergreen to crank up the guns late in the week and begin pouring it on at every opportunity. Snowshoe will open Nov 22nd, and others will be close to being able to do so…and others will open by the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Things are looking pretty good for resorts to make snow in time for the more traditional Thanksgiving openings. THINK COLD and SNOW…and keep the faith – we’re only mere DAYS away from seeing numerous resorts and trails cranking things up!
Until Next time…
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