From the national weather service:

GARRETT-PRESTON-TUCKER-
529 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002

...WINTER STORM WATCH TONIGHT THROUGH CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON...

.TODAY...CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW LATE AFTERNOON. LESS THAN AN
INCH ACCUMULATION. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S. EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
CHANCE OF SNOW 40 PERCENT.
.TONIGHT...SNOW...POSSIBLY MIXED WITH FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET. SNOW
MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. LOWS IN THE
MID 20S. EAST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NEAR 100
PERCENT.
.CHRISTMAS...SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES. TOTAL ACCUMULATION...5 TO 7
INCHES. WINDY. TEMPERATURES STEADY OR SLOWLY FALLING INTO THE MID
20S. NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
WINDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 20S. CHANCE OF SNOW 50 PERCENT.

Also, Timberline just let the ropes fall on Upper Dew Drop. This means there will be top to bottom skiing for all ability levels during the holiday period.

Latest forecast shows over a foot of snow, since the cross country trails already have a base, sounds like perfect cross-country conditions for the next few days. Will have
to skip Timberline and the holiday crowds for the backcountry.

Timberline just opened one of its best trails: Off the Wall. With 12 inches of new snow, this weekend should be good.

Whitegrass, as Mitch mentioned, is also a great bet. Whitegrass has 50 kms of Nordic trails open, of which 25 are groomed.

Finally, Canaan opened a bunch of new trails with natural snow, including Gravity.

[This message has been edited by johnfmh (edited 12-27-2002).]

Just got back from timberline. Terrain was more difficult than canaan's terrain and with 39 inches of new powder overnight, the skiing was nothing short of amazing.

Oh. You were referring to the other Timberline, near Mount Hood in Oregon. Our Timberline is in Davis, West Virginia, and is a considerably more modest affair, but we love the place anyway.

See the DCSki resort profile for Timberline:

http://www.dcski.com/resorts/timberline/

Thanks for the report Skibuddy. Question: where did you get the 39 inch figure? Chip, the owner of Whitegrass, reported 12 new inches on his web site. He's generally very reliable.

Hello John - the 39 inches i was refering to i think is pretty accurate. thier webpage also supports this with thier snow report history. Mt. Hood has been getting battered by the west coast storm system as of late and 3 feet of snow in a 24 hour span is not uncommon. check out thier site at www.timberlinelodge.com.

skibuddy

Hi All - I just moved into the washington dc area from colorado springs. After some advice from local friends and after hearing the weather forecast for friday ive decided to make a day trip out to timberline this saturday (4th). Could anyone whos been to timberline tell me about the roads there and whether they are passable during snowy/icy weather? Ill be taking 66W to 81 to 55 to 32 to timberline. Just dont want to get stuck somewhere out there - im driving a saturn! Thanks - in advance!

I've driven up many times in snow storms in a Prizm. The best route, in my opinion, to take in inclement weather is:

I-70 W to I-68 W at Hancock, MD. Follow I-68 W to 220 E at Cumberland, MD. At New Creek, follow 50 W to the junction of Rt. 93, and then 93 to Davis and Route 32 to the Canaan Valley.

In good weather, the following route is quicker, especially for those living in N. VA:

From Washington, I-66 W to Strasburg, I-81 south one exit to 55 West. Take 55 West to Seneca Rocks. Rt. 33 W to Harman, then WV 32 N to Canaan Valley.

PS The latter route should be FINE on Saturday.

[This message has been edited by johnfmh (edited 01-02-2003).]

PS: The only accurate weather for Tucker County comes from NOAA, which has a weather station in the Canaan Valley.

Here's the latest SNOWY forecast:

THIS AFTERNOON
CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN OR DRIZZLE.
HIGHS IN THE MID 30S. EAST WINDS AROUND 10 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 30
PERCENT.

TONIGHT
SNOW AND RAIN LIKELY...BECOMING ALL SNOW. ACCUMULATION 1
TO 2 INCHES. LOWS 25 TO 30. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION 70 PERCENT.

FRIDAY
SNOW. ACCUMULATION 1 TO 2 INCHES. HIGHS NEAR 30.
SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH BECOMING NORTHWEST EARLY IN THE
AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.

FRIDAY NIGHT
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE
MID 20S. CHANCE OF SNOW 50 PERCENT.

SATURDAY
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF FLURRIES. HIGHS IN THE
LOWER 30S.

SATURDAY NIGHT
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF FLURRIES. LOWS IN
THE UPPER TEENS.

SUNDAY
CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS DURING THE DAY. HIGHS IN
THE LOWER 30S.

http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iwszone?Sites=:wvz041

New snow predictions from NOAA:

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND FRIDAY

TONIGHT
CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE OR SNOW UNTIL
MIDNIGHT...THEN SNOW LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. ACCUMULATION 1 TO 2
INCHES. LOWS IN THE MID 20S. EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION 70 PERCENT.

FRIDAY
SNOW. ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS NEAR 30. EAST
WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.

FRIDAY NIGHT
SNOW LIKELY. TOTAL ACCUMULATION...4 TO 7 INCHES.
LOWS NEAR 20. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW 70
PERCENT.

SATURDAY
MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED FLURRIES. HIGHS IN THE
UPPER 20S.

Looks like saturday at T-line will be good after all just as long as NOAA is correct and the valley gets a friday night dumping.