The mercury began falling on New Year’s Day, settling in below freezing and accompanied by a snow storm that is dumping powder across many resorts in the Mid-Atlantic region.

As of 7:30 a.m. on January 2, eleven inches of snow had fallen in the Canaan Valley region, hitting resorts such as Canaan Valley, Timberline, and the White Grass Touring Center. Further south, Snowshoe had received half a foot of snow, while three inches had fallen at Winterplace. Joe Stevens, Director of Communications for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association, reports that single-digit temperatures in the higher elevations of West Virginia are allowing about 20 tons of manmade snow to be produced per hour across all of West Virginia’s snowguns. “That is the same as covering 20 football fields with a foot of snow per hour,” said Stevens. He encourages visitors to wear goggles while the aggressive snowmaking is underway.

West Virginia’s White Grass Touring Center on January 2, 2008. Photo provided by Joe Stevens.

37 trails were open at Snowshoe on Wednesday, and the fresh snow and snowmaking should allow additional trails to come on-line in the coming days. Snowshoe has begun snowmaking operations on Cupp Run.

Snowmaking is underway on Snowshoe’s Cupp Run trail. This photo was taken on December 31, just prior to a winter storm that should leave Snowshoe with up to a foot of fresh powder. Photo provided by Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

At Maryland’s Wisp Resort, snow began falling on New Year’s Day at 2:30 a.m. Three inches had fallen by 3 p.m. on January 1, with seven inches settling in by early Wednesday morning. With temperatures now in the teens, Wisp is also aggressively making snow and plans to expand its open terrain soon. Wisp currently has over 20 trails open.

Snow began falling at Wisp on New Year’s Day. Photo provided by Wisp Resort.

Pennsylvania’s Seven Springs Resort was digging out of 16 inches of fresh snow on Wednesday. 21 trails are open at Seven Springs with powder conditions, and Seven Springs reports that it is making snow on all open terrain today.

The arrival of low temperatures has resulted in a chorus of snowguns firing throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In Virginia, the mercury dipped into single digits overnight at Wintergreen Resort. Resorts such as Whitetail, Liberty Mountain, and Ski Roundtop also plan to make snow aggressively through the week, before temperatures rise above freezing over the weekend.

Snowmaking is currently underway on Whitetail’s expert Exhibition slope. Webcam Photo provided by Whitetail Resort.

New England ski areas are also welcoming fresh snow from a storm that dumped over a foot of powder in the central U.S., causing power outages and flight delays. The new storm should add about a foot of snow to many ski areas in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, adding to several feet of natural snow that fell in a particularly snowy December.