On Saturday, November 19, temperatures in the Washington D.C. area climbed above 70 degrees, approaching a high record not seen since 1928.

Then a cold front swept through. It brought temperatures down to the freezing mark in a matter of hours. At higher elevation areas, it brought sleet and snow. No matter what your favorite season is, chances are you experienced it for at least part of Saturday.

The temperature took a sudden drop on Saturday afternoon at DCSki’s headquarters in the Catoctin Mountains.

And if you’ve been waiting patiently over the summer for the ski season to arrive, your patience may soon be rewarded. Some local ski areas took advantage of the mercury drop to fire up the snowguns, and continuing storms in the mountain areas may bring close to a foot of natural snow to resorts such as Seven Springs and Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Pennsylvania’s Seven Springs Mountain Resort woke up Sunday morning with two inches of natural snow, and expects that the final tally will end up between 5-10 inches by Monday evening.

According to Communications Manager Katie Buchan, Seven Springs and nearby Hidden Valley Resort turned on the snowguns at 8 p.m. on Saturday evening. The two resorts plans on running the guns as long as conditions allow. An opening date has not yet been set for the resorts.

Snowy morning at Seven Springs Mountain Resort on Sunday, November 20, 2016. Photo by Seven Springs Mountain Resort.

Further south in West Virginia, mountain regions were also experiencing chilly temperatures and natural snow. Canaan Valley Resort reports that its snowguns are running at full force, sharing snowmaking duties with Mother Nature.

Snowmaking overnight at Canaan Valley Resort. Photo by Canaan Valley Resort.

On Saturday night, meteorologist Justin Berk was on site at West Virginia’s Snowshoe Mountain and reported blizzard conditions to his Facebook page. He reports that Snowshoe could see 6-10” of snow at Snowshoe’s 4,848-foot summit by Monday.

Snowmaking underway at Snowshoe as natural snow falls. Photo by Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Temperatures won’t be climbing back into the 70s during the Thanksgiving week, but may climb too high for continued snowmaking, at least during the day. Stay tuned to DCSki and check with your favorite resort for the latest updates on resort openings.