Photo notes: Left to right above:
Woolly Worm Mascot “Merryweather” aka (Ajay Vir), the winning worm owners Brock and Max Wright of Newland (notice Max is holding the cash!), Mary Jo Brubaker (who contributed to this story), Dr. Bill Burroughs who examined the worm to ensure that he passed post-race inspections, Robin Morgan, Donnie Ellis, Tommy Burleson, Mr. Woolly Worm Jr (Shawn Stricklin) and Adam Binder.
I know that most of you reading this post are only here for the 2023-2024 Woolly Worm, Winter Weather Prediction and those details ARE shown below. I want to first thank Mary Jo Brubaker for the photos and details. I was not able to attend this year’s event as my wife was having knee replacement surgery on Saturday. I apologize in advance for the photo quality, but at least we have the intel and we will update with better images as we get them.
Saturday was quite the busy day as the weather could not have been nicer and the Autumn leaves could not have been showing more color. CBS National News was there covering the event (adding to the chaos and fun) for a special on Fall Festivals to be aired in November.
Here are some details shared by Mary Jo about the 46th Annual Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC:
Mike, for the first time in a few years, the winning worm is a local worm!”, she shared with obvious enthusiasm.
She added that the winning worm’s name was “Jeffery” and the owners were Brock and Max Wright of Newland, North Carolina. Newland is Banner Elk’s next-door-neighbor in Avery County. Tommy Burleson, the 7′ 2′ reader of the worm and former NC State and NBA basketball player is also a resident these days of Newland.
Mary Jo shared that the winning owners could not have been cuter as they had prepared a special habitat for Jeffery, complete with a little tub for water and more. I guess a pampered woolly worm is a winning woolly worm.
I’ll have MUCH MUCH more to share pertaining to winter weather predictions and more over the coming days. Keep checking back.
THE 2023-2024 Winter Prediction According to Jeffery the Winning Woolly worm:
Week One: Colder than Average and SNOW.
Week Two: Colder than Average and SNOW.
Week Three: Colder than Average and SNOW.
Week Four: Colder than Average and SNOW.
Week Five: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow.
Week Six: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow.
Week Seven: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow.
Week Eight: Above Average Temperatures and No Snow.
Week Nine: Above Average Temperatures and No Snow.
Week Ten: Above Average Temperatures and No Snow.
Week Eleven: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow.
Week Twelve: Colder than Average Temperatures and Light Snow.
Week Thirteen: Colder than Average and SNOW.
So in summary, according to the science of reading worms, this winter will offer a mean temperature of 27° and that is great for natural snows as well as the manmade variety that ALL of our Southeastern and mid-Atlantic ski areas make. According to the intel shared, we should only see THREE weeks (of the thirteen week winter season) with milder temps and less snow than normal.
That jives with a teaser that we heard from Dr. Ray Russell’s fearless forecast where he is predicting almost DOUBLE the 10-year average snowfall totals. As an example, the highest elevations of Beech and Sugar mountains usually get around 80″ of natural snowfall and Ray is predicting 109″. THAT would be MORE than double the 36.5″ Beech saw last winter and 29″ more than the long-time average.
We will share more winter predictions and I’m certain our buddy, Joe Stevens is prompting his meteorologist contacts with their latest as well. Our own, Brad Panovich will fill us in on his winter prediction as well.
Stay tuned…and in the interim – FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM.
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Simply hop over to https://www.facebook.com/SkiSoutheast and also send that link to your snow loving friends. We will begin announcing exciting new contests and giveaways to include lift passes and free vacations!
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Until next time. Email me at [email protected]