A “Pinch of Snow” today and BIG SNOW Next Week!
Good Friday morning all! Our FirsTrax post title this morning sounds a bit like a recipe, and that was the intention as SNOW is always the perfect ingredient for any weekend ski and snowboarding getaway.
It is snowing across Snowshoe Mountain, Timberline, Canaan Valley and Wisp resorts this morning. Check out these cameras to see it BOMBING SNOW in a few locations.
http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/snowshoe-basin/
http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/snowshoe-shavers-centre/
http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/snowshoe-boathouse/
http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/canaan-valley-resort/
http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/wisp/
As you’ll see (depending on when you view the cameras) it is snowing quite hard in some locations. That snow looks like it should continue to fall until around noon today with perhaps 1″ of total snowfall.
That will certainly setup a start to a WONDERFUL weekend to make it a ski getaway to your favorite ski area.
Meteorologist Brad Panovich is thinking that we’ll see snowmaking temps all weekend across the entire region with even colder air coming in next week. Perhaps more than a foot snow may fall. See where below!
By the way today is National Weatherman Day, so we’ll take this moment to thank our guy Brad for his great contributions to our website!
Significant snow is also expected into next week across the entire ski coverage area.
It is frigid this morning with a low of 8° at Beech Mountain and mostly 20s into Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland this morning. Brad’s report can be watched below and he’s talking about temperatures BELOW ZERO as we get into Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
Brad’s Skier’s Forecast video is showing a couple of back-to-back snow storms that should create wrap-around snows that could mean significant snows for all of our ski areas Sunday, Monday and into Tuesday and Wednesday of next week! All bets are off JUST NOW in terms of just how much snow these storms might bring but some of the models are indicating that it could be a storm that brings as much as another foot (OR MORE) of snow.
Brad is also predicting POWDER conditions with a high water-to-snow ratio that should make for champagne powder conditions here in the east!
Check out the full video forecast for the Southeast and mid-Atlantic:
BRAND NEW STREAMING CAM FOR BANNER ELK…
Fans of the Hwy 184 camera in Banner Elk will be pleased to know that sometime later today our Kenny Griffin will be replacing the old, static camera with a new HD Streaming camera.
That camera has always been one of the top five most popular webcams in our arsenal via the former HighCountryWebCams.com and what is now ResortCams.com.
That location is great because not only does it offer a one-weekend great means of covering the annual Woolly Worm Festival in mid-October – it is ALSO a phenomenal road conditions camera as it shows the conditions nearest Sugar Mountain Resort and on the way up to Beech Mountain.
Kenny should be at that location as we speak and you can check out the NEW camera via this link sometime later today. http://www.resortcams.com/webcams/banner-elk/
Conditions Look PERFECT for an Awesome Weekend of Skiing and Snowboarding!
If you haven’t made it up to your favorite mountain yet this season, THIS is a GREAT weekend to do so. There will be snow on the ground and plenty of perfectly groomed snow on nearly every trail in the region as resorts are either 100% open or very near to it.
Snowmaking WILL be in progress at most of the ski areas so bring your goggles. There will be an exception or two to that as some ski areas will not make snow during open sessions. You can check tomorrow’s snow report and we will detail those resorts.
But the weekend looks great to combine some awesome skiing with some Super Bowl parties.
ONLY ONE BIT OF NEGATIVE TO THROW IN…
With the heavy, heavy, heavy traffic in the mountains for this weekend, expect some lift lines and crowded slopes. I received more than a few emails from skiers complaining about being ran into (one emailer claimed that they were hit four times in less than a half day of skiing last weekend).
In fact I received repeated emails from two disgruntled visitors of last weekend. One claimed that he’d never seen anything like the kind of crowds on the mountain last Saturday.
The truth is – there IS a lot of pent up desire to hit the mountains since November and December were so bad. Last weekend DID kind of have the “perfect storm” that created more traffic than usual for that weekend as if you will remember we had 2-4 FEET of snow prior to the weekend and visitors saw the opportunity to come up and play in perfect conditions.
It will be a busy weekend this weekend, but I don’t think we’ll see QUITE the heavy crowds that we had last weekend. Of course, I could be wrong…
Regardless, let me give you guys a little secret. Get out early. Some ski areas open at 8:30am and most at 9am. When the slopes open – get on them. “Early birds” get more top-to-bottom runs in by 10:30 or so than visitors will be able to THE REST OF THE DAY.
One small beef…
Last season I began to notice Sapphire Valley Ski Area reporting manmade snow in their NATURAL SNOW column on their snow report. They changed their snow report such that it doesn’t separate manmade snow from natural snow and some NATIONAL reporting services are hence reporting that manmade snow as “NEW SNOW” as if it was natural snow. In a few cases this season, we’ve seen Sapphire report “9-12” of NEW SNOW.
Now Appalachian Ski Mountain seems to have taken up the practice. Today they are reporting 2″ of NEW SNOW. The issue is that SOME NATIONAL reporting agencies are reporting that as natural snowfall when it isn’t.
Additionally most ski areas show manmade snow, some show HOW MUCH manmade snow but they also have a natural snow column on their snow report. Sapphire and now Appalachian report manmade AND natural snow in that same column so it can be misleading to potential visitors.
FREEBIES COMING YOUR WAY!
Kenny and I will be coordinating an effort to begin giving away a ton of lift passes and some vacations beginning next week so stay tuned as nothing beats skiing and snowboarding except FREE skiing and snowboarding.
A Chance to Help Someone in Need…
Last weekend I reported about a young couple who lost everything in a fire in Davis, West Virginia as shared by Timberline Resort. They are appealing to anyone who can help a young couple who lost everything in a fire on Tuesday of this past week. The Davis, West Virginia community is a close-knit one and so we thought we’d share their notice to help aid the young couple.
Timberline Resort has posted a link to the cause and it was posted by Bailey Rose Stanton.
On January 26, a section of the Talaheim apartment complex in Davis, WV caught fire. My close friends, Steven Abner and Briana Johnson were safe and were able to get their dogs out of the home. However, everything in the apartment was destroyed. These are some of the kindest people I have ever met, individuals with an incredibly positive outlook. They are so thankful that no one, human or canine, was physically harmed in the blaze, but would greatly appreciate financial help to get them back up on their feet. Any donation is appreciated!
There is a GoFundMe page setup and at the time of this post 50+ people had helped to raise 3750 towards a goal of $10K. If you are blessed to be able to help, here is the link to do so: https://www.gofundme.com/cuaa4vqw/
That will do it for me. Enjoy your day and…
#THINKCOLD
#THINKSNOW
Until next time…
Enjoy your day and THINK SNOW! THINK COLD! Email me anytime and about anything at: [email protected]
Be sure to VISIT OUR SNOW FORUM. JOIN AND TAKE PART! It’s Free!
Also visit all of our Ski Resort WebCams.
Also be sure to sign up for our newsletters. It’s FREE and easy. Click in the signup to the right