Ski Liberty and Whitetail Ski Resort will suspend operations this evening, closing the slopes until colder temperatures return. Ski Liberty plans to close their slopes tonight at 5 p.m., while Whitetail will stop running the lifts at 4 p.m. Trail conditions at both resorts have deteriorated rapidly the past week, due to the warm temperatures.

Both resorts plan to re-open sometime during March if colder temperatures allow snowmaking. On the positive side, it appears colder temperatures will be returning to the area mid-week. For south-central Pennsylvania, the forecast is calling for low temperatures in the upper 20’s as early as Monday night, with a chance of snow showers through Wednesday. However, this forecast is borderline: temperatures might not fall low enough to make snow, and the snow showers could instead turn into rain showers.

It would take several nights of snowmaking before Ski Liberty or Whitetail could re-open.

These resorts were two of the hardest hit in the region by the record-breaking mild winter. Neither resort was able to open all of their terrain, and conditions were springlike and limited for the bulk of the ski season. Both resorts opened on December 17, but immediately faced warm temperatures and struggled to make additional snow. Some relief came the last week of December, as a string of cold nights allowed area resorts to fortify their bases. But 50-degree weather returned in early January, and there were few opportunities to make snow after that.

Ski Roundtop has also been affected by the warm temperatures, but has not announced a closing date yet. They may try to ride out the beginning of the week to see if colder temperatures return.