Cold temps and the forecast for more snow today and Monday really have put a smile on the faces of Snow Lovers everywhere. Well almost everywhere. The cold temps that have invaded the region played a cruel trick on Ober Gatlinburg in Tennessee and stayed away. The overnight low there last night was only 36° and they could not make snow…and they were forced to close up for Sunday. They should be able to make snow Sunday night and reopen Monday or Tuesday.
The rest of the region made snow and we’ve compiled some tidbits of data for you today.
Bryce They added two more trails or 6 trails open for Sunday and they are looking nice after two days of snowmaking.
Massanutten added three more trails than were open on Saturday and now they have 6 slopes and 7 lanes of tubing for Sunday and much improved conditions.
Wintergreen …says that Dobie, the Lower Cross Trail and the Plunge will be open on Sunday! There’s also a Freestyle Demo Day on Acorn. The Highlands could open Monday.
Canaan Valley – What the heck is going on up there? Their website is only reporting since Friday and only shows two trails open. The Southeastern Ski Areas Association has never even reported Canaan as being open FOR THE SEASON and On The Snow has them with five trails open. None of the above are correct and THAT IS WHY YOU GUYS CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON SKISOUTHEAST! Canaan ACTUALLY has EIGHT trails open today.
Snowshoe Mountain – We have several emails about Snowshoe on Saturday. We’ll try to share some images with you later today. Suffice to say that everybody LOVES Snowshoe! More trails are open for Sunday and they are playing on 39 trails today!
WISP Picked up the reporting. See everybody is paying attention to our reporting. WISP is skiing and riding on 14 trails and their tubing and terrain park going strong.
Hawksnest Resort The Hawksnest Camera is back…and it is showing some MUCH IMPROVED conditions. Hawksnest is open with THREE more trails for skiing today. They will ski and ride on 6 trails today. There WAS an anomoly regarding Hawksnest’s slope report on Saturday. Yesterday they reported 4" to 33" and this morning they are reporting 10-20" which is far more likely the accurate data…unless they pushed a lot of that 33" around. Doubtful…count on the 10" to 20" and they should be pretty nice on Sunday. Get up there and try Hawksnest if you haven’t lately. As they say, "Ski the Difference."
Ski Beech looked pretty good last night. We were up there taking some photos. They added one more open slope for Sunday’s enjoyment.
Sugar Mountain – These guys have gone from 3 slopes to 9 slopes, from a slim average snow base to 8-32 inches in 2 days. Slope conditions have improved daily and continue to get better and better.
Snowmaking Galore! The big change on today’s ski reports is base depths. Each of the mountains added from 2" to 6" on their open terrain and more slopes are open for Sunday play! That is certainly what we all expected to be reading about in mid January and MLK Weekend.
Resorts pretty much made snow around the clock and they should be able to do so today and through the next few days. Meteorologist, Brad Panovich of WCNC News in Charlotte shared this with us about the next few days. "A fast moving “Alberta Clipper†will swing into the Southeast late Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. This frontal system doesn’t have a ton of moisture with it, but the air behind it is very cold and dry so it will squeeze out what little moisture there is available Which means snow showers likely from West Virginia, through the North Carolina mountains starting late Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. Accumulations in the North Carolina High Country 1-3†with higher amount being at higher elevations near the Tennessee line. Snowshoe Mt, WV could see 4-5†of powdery snow."
He adds, "The other big story is the cold air, and I mean cold! Lows Sunday night will easily be down around 10 with wind chills in the below zero range. That cold air will stay with us on MLK day with highs struggling to get into the 20’s. So buddle up and bring the goggles cause the gun will be blowing all weekend."
Brad also said that the long range forecast looks cold with another clipper system arriving Tuesday night into Thursday. He hinted that a "significant" storm system is coming for next weekend.
Snowmaking Temps stick around! – The forecast is calling for some Natural Snow, and more importantly we’ll see highs in the 30s and lows in the single digits, teens and 20s through Thursday so conditions will only get better and better!
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Don’t forget to visit: https://www.skisoutheast.com
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