Has it ever been this bad?
January 10, 2007
102 posts
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Has the weather ever looked so bad going into January. I am only bringing this up due to the fact that the webcams are depressing to look at.
I was looking at a few forecast models and I saw no real cold weather invading the eastern US at least through next Monday--Jan 8.....
yes, during the winter of 89/90 massanutten closed down in january.
Momma nature loves us: She gives us low heating gas bills so we can fly to superpow.
Its been considerably worse many years. There has been, after all, a fair amount of open terrain at Seven Sprins, Wisp, Timberline, Wintergreen and Snowshoe for much of December. I can remember many years when there was pretty much nothing until January. In fact, I just watched the Pittsburgh news, and they reported that it was the 18th warmest December on record. So, while it's not exactly ideal winter weather, it's not record setting warmth either. Keep the faith - there's still 3 solid months of potential winter ahead.
We hit Wintergreen on Thursday night and Massanutten on Friday. In several years of visiting Wintergreen that is the least snow I have ever seen. Masanutten had more variety but even less snow.
The good part is that any snow is good snow, there were no real lift lines, and the 'Nut was running early season prices. I can't complain about that, we're skiing in the South for goodness sakes! So get out there and ski!
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...In fact, I just watched the Pittsburgh news, and they reported that it was the 18th warmest December on record. So, while it's not exactly ideal winter weather, it's not record setting warmth either. Keep the faith - there's still 3 solid months of potential winter ahead.
That's kind of funny... They also mentioned that this was the 3rd snowiest December ever recorded for Denver.
This is the worst that I've ever seen....hands down! And, keep in mind that things would be a lot worse right now if it weren't for lots of relatively new, High-Tech snowmaking equipment. The only other Winter that I can remember as being almost this bad (to this point in the season) was the Winter of 82-83, which was a very strong El Nino Winter. Early season was very mild with near record temps in DC around Christmas week. Although there was some limited skiing in Dec., I didn't get on the snow until Jan., the weekend after New Years weekend. I went up to Blue Knob and only Mambo Alley was open down to the bottom of the double chair (the triple chair hadn't been built yet). And, I also had to ski through lots of snowmaking in progress. The ski season seemed to get under way after that (although conditions were never real good until the 2nd week in Feb.). On or around Feb. 11, 1983, the DC area got hit with a 2 1/2 to 3 foot snow storm! Unfortunately, Blue Knob and 7-S were too far West to get the full force of the storm and received only about 14 inches of snow. However, the skiing was pretty good for a couple of weeks after the storm. Then, it got warm again, but most ski areas limped along until early Mar. The 82-83 ski season was the last season that Blue Knob was operated by the previous owner, Dale Stansil; however, I don't think that the mild weather played into his decision to sell BK.
Although Denver has just been through one of the snowiest Decembers on record, keep in mind that the temps in Denver have not been anywhere near record cold. In fact, the temps in Denver have been pretty close to normal. So, the snowy weather in Denver (and most of the West) has been a function of El Nino produced precipitation, not unusually cold weather. VERY FEW places in the entire Northern Hemisphere have been experiencing colder than normal weather recently.
Since I haven't been skiing as long as a lot of people on this board, I can't comment historically, but yes, the "high lows" have been what have been killing the mid-Atlantic resorts.
The problem I have is that if we had hit the lows that the NWS has been forecasting, we would be fine (at least in much better shape). I was at T-Line for almost a week (measuring temperatures at the base) and we didn't hit ONE forecasted low (oops). One of the reasons I am so skeptical of the warming models is that they are relatively new and if they are the same quality as the forecasting models, we may as well be throwing darts against a chart. That's not to say that this year isn't warmer, it is. But I don't have faith that the scientists can accurately predict the future (next year and the year after that) with their models.
Clay
Clay, I think that you're right on the mark regarding why the NWS has been forecasting night-time temp lows that weren't reached. I believe that the NWS (and all other weather forecasting services) are still trying to determine what effect GW might have on day-to-day weather, particularly night-time lows. It appears that the current forecasting computer models aren't working as well as they should. A possible reason for this is that the weather forecasting computer models haven't been fully calibrated to account for GW. There seems to be a constant GW background effect that's in play regardless of the weather pattern the mid-Atlantic might be under. Having said this, I've noticed that the NWS has been reasonably accurate lately in predicting the daytime highs.
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One of the reasons I am so skeptical of the warming models is that they are relatively new and if they are the same quality as the forecasting models, we may as well be throwing darts against a chart. That's not to say that this year isn't warmer, it is. But I don't have faith that the scientists can accurately predict the future (next year and the year after that) with their models.
Short term weather forecasts and GW models are two totally different animals addressing different mechanisms and operating on vastly different timescales. I don't think it's fair to shrug off GW based on poor NWS forecasting. That said, it is extremely frustrating to see the forecasts off base on such a regular basis. I don't even bother looking at them any more. 
Nice try..AGAIN..MM but the models are calibrated to real time data like weather baloons Ect... & Clay were you cking out a Tucker Co F-cast or a pin point F-cast for 3268(the base of Timberline)? Cuzzz if you was comparing lows for a Tucker Co F-cast the NWS predict just might have been right on considering that tucker Co has elevations Way below the base of TL which would bring lower temps with the Inversion thing that has been prevalent this year.....I think it is Snowing up in the Valley as I write!
Real-time data taken from around the country (and world) is one huge factor in weather forecasting. Of course, the information that goes into modern day weather computer models is massive and complex, particulary the models that are used for making 10 and 15 day forecasts. And, there's now a GW component to weather forecasting that will be studied and fine-tuned in the years to come.
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We hit Wintergreen on Thursday night and Massanutten on Friday. In several years of visiting Wintergreen that is the least snow I have ever seen. Masanutten had more variety but even less snow.
The good part is that any snow is good snow, there were no real lift lines, and the 'Nut was running early season prices. I can't complain about that, we're skiing in the South for goodness sakes! So get out there and ski!
I was just at Massanutten myself this past weekend. I was there Saturday and Sunday. Despite the limited amount of terrain and some thin spots on lower Rebel Yell, the skiing was actually pretty good considering. There was a pretty sizable crowd there on Saturday, but still no lift lines (more than I otherwise expected, given the somewhat warm temperatures and limited terrain). I am glad to see that people are at least still coming out to ski.
I am somewhat concerned what next weekend will have, since there does not seem to be any sign of a cool-off on the temps. There just might be a night or two that they may be able to make snow up there. Hopefully, I can still have a place somewhat close by that I can make turns on, since Timberline and Wisp are a pretty good hike for me to get to. But, it seems that Massanutten is hanging in there as best they can. They (as well as all the other resorts) gotta play with whatever hand Nature dealt them.
But I agree - there are still places around with some decent terrain, so get out there and ski!
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Hopefully, I can still have a place somewhat close by that I can make turns on, since Timberline and Wisp are a pretty good hike for me to get to.
Steven,
I'm in Stafford but have never been to Massanutten (always go to Timberline). How long does it take you to get there?
Thanks,
Clay
I'm always amazed at how Massanutten manages to get some snow down and stay open during major warm spells. Their snowmaking and grooming staff are the best in the business and they have lots of excellent high-tech equipment to work with. Unfortunately, Massanutten will continue to lose snow over the next week or so. With a little luck, this mild spell will finally come to an end by the middle of next week and Massanutten can put it's extensive snowmaking system back to work.
18th warmest Dec. on record for Pittsburgh? I watched the weather report on TV 10 (Altoona, PA) News at 11:00 PM on Jan. 1 and they reported Dec. 2006 as being the 2nd warmest Dec. on record. Of course that's for the Altoona area. However, Altoona is only about 2 hours away from Pittsburgh, so I have a hard time believing that Pittsburgh could be much cooler than Altoona.
Pitt has been constantly cooler than 7S because of inversions.
Warmest December in Pittsburgh since 1984.
Maybe. But only 14th warmest on record.
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The problem I have is that if we had hit the lows that the NWS has been forecasting, we would be fine (at least in much better shape). I was at T-Line for almost a week (measuring temperatures at the base) and we didn't hit ONE forecasted low (oops).
Sorry Clay, that is (at least partially) incorrect. Check out these numbers from Dave Lesher's website. He's a NWS observer located in Canaan. His Forecast Assessment compares the actual highs and lows to the three offices responsible for the forecast in the Northern Allegheny Highlands. For the most part we were at or below the forecast lows. They missed a couple days but even then, they weren't off by much. On a lot of days their high forecast's were warmer than it actually got. Here's the link FORECAST ASSESSMENT
Interesting. That's not what I saw at the base of Timberline.
Clay
Thats's why I said "at least partially" incorrect. I didn't see that at my house at 2800 ft either. Of course I'm not making observations to offical NWS observation standards either. The point of my post was that just because we don't see the temp on whatever thermometer we may be looking at doesn't mean that it didn't happen.
That's a very good point. I guess what I should have said in my earlier post was something like "if the predicted low had occurred
at Timberline we would have been in better shape.
In the long run, we would all be in much better shape ski-wise if we weren't praying for a 1 degree drop so that snow could be made. If it was getting down to 15 degrees each night, we probably wouldn't be quibbling over whether some places only got down to 17 and others to 13 - we'd all be on the slopes.
I think that because science and technology in general have become so accurate (weather models not withstanding
), that when the NWS says a low of 25, I expect to see the snow guns on. When it doesn't happen, frustration comes to the surface.
Clay
I was at Timberline all last week as well. I found a good deal of variance in temperatures between our house at 3400' in Old Tline versus driving to and from Ski Barn and the Canaan Valley Store. Actually found temperatures on the valley floor a good 3-4 degree colder than on the mountain some days.
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In the long run, we would all be in much better shape ski-wise if we weren't praying for a 1 degree drop so that snow could be made.
agreed!
I remember as recently as the winters of 99-00 and 00-01 where we were experiencing mid-60's in January. At Liberty, much of backside never got open the entire season!! So in my humble view, this is consistent with past El Nino years with warmer temperatures. Disappointing? Yes. But not much to do about except look forward to the "big trip" out west in March. Oh, and go fishing!
This Winter (so far) IS consistent with previous mild Winters in terms of having warm spells with temps in the 50s and 60s. However, where THIS Winter differs from other Winters, is the DURATION of the current warm spell. According to TV 10, Altoona, PA, Dec. 2006 was the 2nd warmest Dec. on record. And, yet this warm spell (that started OVER a month ago) is still ONGOING! It's highly likely that, when this warm period ends, it will be the LONGEST (snow-season) warm period on record for much of the mid-Atlantic!!!
It snowed 1 to 2 inches in the West Va Alpps last nite...the top of TL still looked frosted over late in the aft today....it is already in the mid 20's there now...there is talk of snow Sat nite thru tue....& there is talk of some good ole fasioned COLD coming down the pike for the rest of Jan into feb.....just don't complain if it gets too cold..OK?
Isn't it amazing what a little elevation can do! Fortunately, the outlook for 2007 at the WV ski areas might be OK.
hi all,
this is my first post (as you can see) but i've been reading a lot of the posts for a while now. I'm not a meterologist but I work for a pretty well known weather organization and several of my co workers are.
I ask them daily what the heck is up. one of them told me today not to put too much into any forecasts beyond 5 days, and certainly nothign beyond 10. He said he actually saw some flowers blooming.
my understanding of el nino is warmer temps and more precip, which at higher elevations i interpret to be more snow (which is what seems to be happening). at our elevations, more rain (which in my non scientific observation seems to be happening).
i have 0 days this season and am looking into alternative winter activities (rock climbing intro this weekend). basically i'm training myself not to expect much, if anything, so i won't be disappointed.
just wanted to mention that weather stuff. and re: modeling, huge amounts of data is right on! we call one of our co-workers "the mad scientist" b/c he does modeling and is back there in his cube no one knows what the heck he's really working on but he almost took the network down 1 day b/c he taking up so much bandwidth!
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Hopefully, I can still have a place somewhat close by that I can make turns on, since Timberline and Wisp are a pretty good hike for me to get to.
Steven,
I'm in Stafford but have never been to Massanutten (always go to Timberline). How long does it take you to get there?
Thanks,
Clay
To Massanutten? It takes me about an hour and a half to get there (I practically live right on Rt 3, over by the mall). Basically Rt 3 to Rt 29 to Rt 230 to Rt 33 and I am there.
As to getting to Timberline, I've never been there. I need to get up there to check it out (but I'll wait to until better conditions). However, it does take me a good 4 to 4 1/2 hours to get to Snowshoe (and it is not an easy 4 1/2 hours either).
Ugh, the weather does not look promising for this weekend as far as skiing is concerned. I just looked right before coming on here. Right here in Fredericksburg, they are calling for rain and to get up to 73 degrees on Saturday! Figure about 10 degrees colder up around Massanutten.
From what I understand, Massanutten will try to make snow tonight. Hopefully it'll be enough to at least get through this upcoming weekend.
Thanks Steven,
We're going to have to check it out some time soon. One of the reasons we started going to CV was that it is really is a haul to Snowshoe - I must be too old to do that drive in a weekend.
When you get a chance to get to the valley, we:
Go up 17N
15/29
66W
55 (Jump on Corridor H at Wardensville off at Moorefield) back on 55 until Seneca Rocks
33 to Harman
32 to Timberline.
It takes us 3 1/2 hours from our driveway to the lodge parking lot. We are in Stafford, right off of Rte 627 (Mountain View Rd).
Clay
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It takes us 3 1/2 hours from our driveway to the lodge parking lot. We are in Stafford, right off of Rte 627 (Mountain View Rd).
Clay
Only 3 1/2 hours? That is not as far as I thought it was (figured it would've been farther to get to than Snowshoe.
Heck, may have to road-trip up together one of these days as well.
Now, lets pray that we actually get enough of a winter to get some decent skiing in. It was looking promising back at the beginning of December when we had that weeklong cold spell right after Thanksgiving (and that first weekend of skiing at Massanutten was really nice).
Well, here appears to be the December wrap-up of temps in the lower 48:
http://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/community/2007/deptfromnorm102b.gifAccording to accuweather, this December was not as far above normal as January of 2006 around the country. For instance, Minneapolis was "only" ten degrees above normal this December, as opposed to 15 degrees above normal last January. Given the temp spread between Dec and Jan, though, that probably means it was about the same temperature, just in a different month.
Anyway, the national pattern isn't nearly as bad as last January. Once you get to central Kansas, temps are only slightly above normal, and from Colorado west temps were near to slightly below normal overall. Looking more closely, the "normal-ish" line seems to run from New Orleans northwest to Dallas and Oklahoma City, up to Scottsbluff, NE, into Cheyenne WY and then along the front range through the better part of WY and MT. That's about 1/3 of the country that had a slightly above to slightly belwo normal December temp-wise.
Taos reported it's second snowiest December ever, and Albuquerque got it's biggest snowfall of all time, so the Southwest was moist as per an El Nino pattern. My sense is that the Central Rockies (UT, CO, WY) probably have a below normal snowpack right now though; it seemed fairly dry save for one large storm to hit the mountains this month. And of course BC and WA have disappeared under a gigantic snowdrift. We'll hear from them again in July.
So this month wasn't even remotely close to as bad as last January, which saw record temps across the entire country. It just feels that way back east because it wasn't preceded by a good snowmaking cold snap. Remember that Sept and Oct were below normal though, about three degrees below normal where I've been tracking temps in MD, B-burg and KS. So the cold snap came two months early.
To follow up on the comments about skiing out West, in talking weekly with my friends who live up at Whistler, it has been far and away a record year for them. Early openings on both mountains. Last we talked something like a 10 foot base already - total cum snowfall since Nov was around 25 feet! Cripes.
NOAA is predicting snow in Champion, Mchenry and Davis Monday & Tuesday. Seven day low/high temps don't look that great for snowmaking. My feeling is that it would take two weeks of good snowmaking to get new terrain open. We really need some snow.
I've got two windows open here at home, cool breezes coming through and for the last 10 minutes sitting here online I could have sworn it was May and softball was about ready to start.
Yeah it's bad, really bad.
Here in Blacksburg, we tied a record high for January 6th when it turned midnight last night (59 degrees). We'll probably break it by this afternoon. The low for the morning(51) is 7 degrees warmer the previous warmest low temperature for this day.
We had frost in Kansas City. About 30 degrees when I finally got my lazy butt out of bed at 9 a.m., so it probably got to about 27 last night. Still nine degrees above normal, but at least it's below freezing! Overnight lows are forecast to be below freezing for all but two nights over the next week, with normal to slightly below normal temps arriving next weekend.
This is our second cool down in a week. Whatever that Bermuda High is sitting off the east coast, it's having a more diminutive effect out here than it was having in late Dec. That indicates to me that the Bermuda High is weakening, hard as that may be to believe since all the cherry buds are in full bloom back east.
I saw hundreds of kids and families, couples out today going to the zoo or just walking around. This is about like mid April weather here.
I'm thinking 9am this morning was the turning point! It couldn't get much milder for January; sunny, felt like 70 degs already. Our front yards as green as Ireland. Neighbor loading golf clubs in truck for AM round. Took my son to Sat morning youth bowling league, most kids appeared in shorts and tees.
At noon it actually seems a little cooler out and has clouded-up. This is weird. Bring on the nasty cold stuff ASAP.
PS: everyone's on DCSki instead of on the slopes!
It's 49 degrees & dropping here (about 20 miles northwest of 7S). My prediction is that 2 weeks from today, all terrain will be open at 7S, HV & BK.
So far here in Wardensville it's 61* at noon and last night around 1am when I was outside (hey, gotta 'water' the lawn) it was like 58* and hanging. Completely sunny out, feels like mid-May spring weather and a few high clouds in the ski. Cloud skiing anyone?
The skiing weatherman is great, he really knows how to write to his audience:
While the change to winter will not come in one shot, and the transition promises to be a messy one in many locations, but the message I want to convey in the strongest terms possible is that the change is coming, and it is going to be dramatic to produce some fantastic skiing and riding in areas where that notion is just about unimaginable right now. The season will be a shorter one, to be sure, but we do have some terrific days on the slopes to look forward to in the not too distant future.
I see that the Skiing Weatherman is back drinking his "Kool Aid" again. For many ski areas, what little cold or cool weather might come along, is going to be a case of "too little too late". This season is a total BUST for a number of ski areas!!!!
Maybe - but I just got up to Timberline and the parking lot is 3/4 full and all of those people are crammed onto the hill. Not the best conditions to ski in, but people are certainly putting out cash to get on the slope. Maybe they're all here for Winter Wild West Weekend...
In the last few hours the temp has dropped, but hung consistent at 56-58* since around 1pm today. It is extremely cloudy with low hanging dark clouds having covered the sky. They look like perfect snow clouds.
How far have they dropped to be consistent?
Just got back from a late afternoon bike ride on the W & OD trail. Like a morning in June, weatherwise and crowdwise. Ladies in tank tops and shorts, guys in sandals. Got a bug in the eye. Crazy. The capper on this surreal ride was when I passed a house at dusk with a huge Christmas light display and Nativity scene shining brightly over a green grassy front yard.
Meanwhile a huge avalanche on Berthoud Pass near Winter Park CO:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16499980/
At noontime it was 61* and temps all morning varied from 59-62*. Currently at 6:45 it's 51*. Looks like a cold front coming through...?
Ya know it's not just us ...
UT is not getting much either but at least its colder there. My sister is teaching at Snowbasin ... in the rain. The eastern Canadian resorts are having a hell of a time with Blue Mountain actually putting staff on a 3 week leave and running what little they have with a skeleton crew. I imagine Tremblant isn't doing much better. AND ... there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, ie., Colorado. It's hard to ski in a blizzard ... unless you're Crush!
I was looking at Wisp's webcams, boy are they hurting. There has been significant decrease in snow from yesterday to today. They must be down to mere inches now as there are brown spots all over and most of the north camp trails are brown or down to 1/3 of their original width. Another week of this and Wisp will be down to less than half a dozen open trails.
snow - like i have to c what i am skiing on?! not !really ... as Foreigner said ... "..yeah, feels like the first time, like it never did before : feels like the "first time!".
E.
The corner is being turned folks. Out here, we're forecasted to have BELOW NORMAL (my gosh, can an occasional cold snap in January really be such cause for rejoice) on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday according to the Weather Channel. Saturday and Sunday the highs are supposed to be below freezing. Of course I'll be in Utah that weekend. Can't say I'm all that upset, but hopefully there will be a cold snap again after I get back. It really was gorgeous when it snowed last, and I'd like to do some X-C skiing yet... oh and 30 degrees at 10 p.m. We were only supposed to drop to 31 tonight, so that's a good thing.
This cool snap will move east in the next day or two, hang in there!
It's 12:10am and it's down to 48*. A slow but steady drop. Can this be it?!
Europe has found the true culprit of global warming. Forget cow farts, apparently it's
Mid-Atlantic skiers and others who insist on using snowmaking. Shame on all of you!
I don't believe that you're correct in stating that 7-S, HV and BK will have "all terrain" open by Jan. 20. First of all, approximately 50% of BK's 34 trails DO NOT have snowmaking (lower Route 66, Shortway, D-Trail plus the (many) GLADES don't have any snowmaking). Secondly, I simply don't think that 7-S & HV will be able to get everything open by Jan. 20, given the overall weather trend.
Forecasted high for 8000 feet in Utah on Friday and Saturday: 5. Forecasted low: -5. Just in time for my one week ski vacation! Where the hell is global warming when you really need it??? I could have used it on my bike ride today too. Try biking in 42 degree weather with a 30 mph headwind and see how warm January feels then!
...at least they're not forecasting sleet for the time of my flight departure Friday like they were yesterday. If my departure gets grounded because of ice in a winter that's been 10-15 degrees above normal, I'm buying THREE gas guzzlers and running them 24/7.
MM, I'm just being optimistic that once the cold comes, and it will, that the warm water currently in the Great Lakes will fire up Mother Nature's snow guns and blanket the higher elevations of Western Pa, Western Md, and West Virginia. I will continue to stay positive. That way, we'll have a tremendous 2nd half to the ski season and it will make us all forget about Dec and early to mid Jan.
And by the way, thanks for those positive comments about Laurel Mountain in another thread... it is the hill of choice for many of us.
yeah Rz ha ha ha lol like my car won't start @ or below +3F and then I can't make money and put heat in the house or food on the table. that's so funny, isn't it not having income. lmao gosh I am blessed.
See? You should get a job back in DC and rent your condo out to some poor soul on this message board. That way you can work all winter in 70 degree temps, that person can ski all winter at The Canyons, and you'll get rich.
The camera's at wisp showed a slight hint of a dusting over night at the top of the mountain and it looks like the groomers did the best job possible patching up remaining trails. It's still blowing my mind that Wisp is only listing 9" of snow this season so far. I know that may not count the extra 6" or so before the season officially started, but still. That is so low it's beyond shocking. I was going back and doing some looking, that this year was the first year that this area of WV did not have snowfall in the lower elevations between the period of Thanksgiving through Christmas. The prior years going back to 2002 all had snowfall here at the house usually around Dec 5.
tomorrow's the real deal...Today was a bust...a few snow showers here & there...you know the story..the storm was a little west of track..samo,samo...BUTTTT its COLD!
I didn't want to post it because it sounded too Optimistic but a weather F-caster EARLY this morn had thoughts of up to 9 inches for the higher elev of West Va...Now after tracking the NC Mtn f-cast & seeing a trend to more & more snow(3 to 6) & watching the Valley's chance of snow go from 90% to 80% it makes me think that this Clipper is trending further south...SS should still get a good shot......This is Torture!! Maybe thats why weatherman get paid
So far Wisp has yet to flip the guns on. You are right, this is insane torture. I may head up this week just to feel soft fluffy snow once more!
You're right - Wisp isn't blowing yet - there was sunglare on the Happy Camper cam and what looked to be snow on the ground that looked like the first gun coming on. Hopefully they'll be blasting away soon, though. Seven Spring is turning them on right now!
I saw that dusting on the ground this morning. I think they got a little bit of what CV/TL did. Just enough to lightly dust the ground on the top of the mountain. It was over on the North Camp side until the sun started hitting there earlier and melting it.
You may have been right. I now see moisture splattered on the happy camper cam which can only indicate the guns are starting to come on!!!
I am in southwest VA and it is looking promising that we are going to get 3-5 tomorrow and 1-2 tomorrow night from upslope!!!
I may get to finally do some skiing on my hill
http://www.southernskiing.comI'll post pictures after all is said and done!
The guns at wisp are finally on after a month!!!!!
Travis - where are you located at? I'd love to get in turns on your hill if I was close by.
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I am in southwest VA and it is looking promising that we are going to get 3-5 tomorrow and 1-2 tomorrow night from upslope!!!
I may get to finally do some skiing on my hill
http://www.southernskiing.com
I'll post pictures after all is said and done!
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The guns at wisp are finally on after a month!!!!!
You know, I was thinking the exact same thing: with the exception of a few hours overnight on the 27th, it has been exactly one month since they've been able to make snow. Who would have ever thunk it, at the end of December and into January. Blow, baby, blow 
Rz - yeah now *that's* an idea! In fact, funny you said that, I might just be doing something like what you suggest (tongue-in-cheek) ... I wanna capitalize on the housing crash that will come in about 3 years .... hmmmmm! Besides, my skiing is great so mebee I need to focus on making money after this season .... but I still got one season left!
Below is some news that was on Abe and Wags web site. Now that is what I call dedication to providing skiing to their customers!!!!
SNOW UPDATE: Seven Springs had a payloader and dump trucks moving over 5,000,000 pounds of snow from closed Alpine Meadows to the top of the front side slopes to keep them open until cold weather and snowmaking comes back. There is snow and skiing in the mountains. Think spring skiing
I'm not sure, but it looks like I can see some snow blowing at the very top of the hill at Whitetail. Looks like everyone may be able to get into the act.
I am about 2 hours west or Roanoke, VA. Tazewell VA to be exact.
A long way from you. I don't think I will be in a position to open it up to other skiiers yet though, maybe one day!!!!
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WAHOOOOOO and at 7 Springs and Wisp, too. Snowshoe should be in action now as well, and maybe the top of Wintergreen will be cold enough.
From the Wintergreen website: We are making snow!! The guns are on and we are pounding our trails as hard as we can with the white stuff.
Beautiful area of the world Travis. I envy you. You get up to Burke's Garden much, or Beartown?
Best of luck with the ski area!
Roger, we (my family) had dairy farms and still have the land in Burkes Garden...I spent many days feeding, milking, and everything else we did. Had about 450 cows at one time. Beartown is amazing....4705 elevation with fir trees on top...always thought it'd be a nice place for a ski area...are you from the area or, I assume maybe walked the App. Trail? If youve walked the trail over Burkes Garden, you've been right above one of our farms.
I was at Va Tech and B-burg until June of 2006, when I moved here to Kansas City. I convinced a friend to do a backcountry hike into Beartown in Sept of 2005 (a trailless hike). We got about four miles in before the sawgrass and rhodis wore us to nubs of our former selves. I'd love to get back there though.
You don't happen to know Seth Peery, do you? Or the Peery family? They're from Burkes Garden too. I went to school with him; great guy! Very smart... anyway best of luck with the ski hill and please keep us posted on any snowfall and stuff down that way. I know the climate shifts a bit when you go across Clinch Mountain, and Murphy tracks the weather in B-burg quite well, so it would be interesting to compare the two spots.
I know who Seth is, he was a few years younger than me but I know him!
The weather is so different than Blacksburg...it's 10:30 and I would say we are getting a quick burst of mod/hvy snow...roads are covered and we have about 1 inch of snow within the last 30 min. Probably won't keeping coming down this hard.
Looks like a good moisture feed right into your neck of the woods right now. Do you think the Kentucky Mtns take some of it?........TL is looking like its supposed to...FROSTY!!! lookin good Snowmies!........Any word from Canaan?....
I just looked at the Wisp webcams and boy what a difference 12 hours makes! They are listing 1" of natural and 4" manmade. It looks like an absolutely wonderful winter wonderland there. Now I'm tempted to go up even if they just have 1 trail open to enjoy the natural snowfall.
Travis,
The web cam from the Tazewell middle school shows some pretty good snow out your way. Hope you're enjoying it. The snow is just reach Blacksburg. Hope you saved us some.
HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! IT'S SNOWING here in Wardensville at 3:13pm. First actual snowshower of the 06/07 winter for this area!!!!
Snowing all day here in Covington at 2000'. About an inch on the ground, much more on the peaks. May head up to Hot Springs/Ingalls in a bit.
Oh and check this out- Catalooche resort in NC is closing at 4:30 due to whiteout conditions. They have picked up 6" since noon today, currently 3:45pm.
www.cataloochee.com
It'd be nice if I lived in an area that actually caught a break once in a while when it comes to winter. I swear times like this make me want to be as rich as bill gates, buy the entire state of WV, kick everyone out and install snowguns along every stretch of public roadway just to blow snow to drive in. lol
Ok little Gates - you're going to need some help so remember all of us here on DCSki!
Or maybe I should run for office? "...and today I promise a snowgun in everyone's yard, and a free lift ticket in your pocket!"
Yeh, the main thrust of the Clipper...Although from what I can understand didn't seem like one..at least an Alberta ..went south. WV will get the backlash upslope though!....western Pa too!...Oh & Baywalker..slow down...your a FREAK....But then so am I...Let it snow mother huncha!
[Anti-jinx]Bastardi says in a worst-case scenario, the country will experience a repeat of the winter of 1977-78. After a tepid start, that winter was remarkable for its cold and storms, including three powerful blizzards in the Northeast. "Those who think that winter 2006-2007 is going to remain mild are in for a shock. Winter is likely to come with a vengeance. A week from now, we'll start seeing truly cold air across much of the country, and we expect this change to last."
Bastardi believes that if the change in the weather pattern reaches its full potential, the onset of cold weather could result in "one of the top-five coldest 30-day stretches in the past half century." [/end Anti-jinx]
1/9/07 9:35 PM
I don't know about you all, but I'm sitting here gawking at these webcam views and listening to Bing Crosby singing "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" while sipping hot coco.
From the NWS in effect until 0900 01/10:
... SNOW AMOUNTS CAN REACH 4 INCHES NEAR THE MOUNTAINS AND PERHAPS GO OVER 6 INCHES ON THE MOUNTAIN RIDGES THAT EXTEND ABOVE ELEVATIONS ABOVE 2500 FEET...
COLD AIR FLOWING ACROSS THE OPEN WATERS OF LAKE ERIE WILL GENERATE SNOW SHOWERS INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE ADDED LIFT CAUSED BY THE MOUNTAINS WILL CAUSE HIGHER LOCATIONS TO GET THE GREATER SNOW AMOUNTS.
NWS Snow Advisory There is also a special weather statement warning of up to 2 inches by midnight
Clay
