There are no ski areas open or operating in the Southeast or Mid Atlantic as of today. Cataloochee actually still looks pretty good this Monday morning after skiing and riding this past weekend. Cat has operated weekends only for the first two weekends of the season, whereas Sugar operated uninterrupted from opening day through yesterday. That added skier/rider traffic paid a toll on Sugar’s conditions. I was up there on Sunday and it was challenging to get from top to bottom. I suspected that they might shut down ski & snowboarding ops for this week in the face of a forecast that isn’t "snow-making-friendly".
Underdeveloped Snow (rain) is forecasted for Monday and Tuesday and evidently some drought relieving variety of rain so that’s a good thing. Forecasted are for highs in the low 50s with lows around 40° both nights. Wednesday looks nice and dry but with lows forecasted just above the snowmaking variety at 34°.
Right now everyone is looking to Thursday’s forecast of rain/snow showers and lows around 26° as the next window of opportunity to make snow. Bill Leonard of Ski Country Sports in Banner Elk was in the office this morning and he mirrored the sentiment that most have when the forecast is mentioned, "Yea, it looks good for Thursday but it doesn’t look to last long."
The forecast for Friday is highs near 60° and lows around 29°. Past that? It warms up again and showers are in the long range forecast for next week and we’re not seeing any snowmaking temps after Friday/Saturday through Wednesday, November 24th.
Note: The forecast above is using Banner Elk, NC as a base. You can tweak temps about 3° cooler for resorts into WV and Maryland. Also check www.HighCountryWeather.com for more detailed forecasts for all 17 of the ski areas of the region.
So we may see some tweaking of opening day dates coming soon. Those proposed dates will begin changing over to "Opening ASAP, Weather Permitting". Remember that its early. Use the time to get yourself in better shape and tune up your equipment. It won’t be long before the slopes are covered in snow.
Be sure to keep up with the weather reports via the new www.HighCountryWeather.com ! We’re tweaking the delivery and the end results are beginning to take shape. We’re excited!
That’s it for now. Stay tuned as we add some features and "What’s New" at the resorts stories today through Friday.
THINK COLD! THINK SNOW!
Be sure to check back often for more photos being posted as well as our video blog. If you have not yet visited our Ski Messageboard Forum you should do so.
We’ll be sharing TONS more input about our plans for this season, but for a little sneak peek visit:
www.HighCountryWebCams.com
www.HighCountryWeather.com
www.SkiSoutheast.com
Send your comments, photos, videos and trip reports to: [email protected]