Happy Humpday! It’s a wet one outside today! I am back in the office after a couple of days at home dealing with a nasty stomach bug! So, since I didn’t get to say so on Monday, I had so much fun on Saturday at the SkiNC Summit at Beech Mountain! I enjoyed getting to meet some of the Messageboard Family and look forward to meeting even more of you at Snowshoe in March!
Rain, rain, go away! Please DON’T WASH THE BASE AWAY! Since the end of last week there’s been nothing but talk about the impending storm heading this way. Well, it’s here, and so far we’ve seen nothing but RAIN. As the rain continues and all of the North Carolina ski areas are at temps above or close to freezing there is bound to be some base meltage. Appalachian reported a base of at least 79 yesterday and today they are reporting a base of at least 78. Sugar Mountain reported at least 58 inches yesterday and today are reporting at 54 inches. Now these are just the low end of the RANGE that ski areas report, but you get the point. So, don’t be alarmed if BASE DEPTHS drop a bit in the next day or so, the conditions will still be awesome thanks to all of the early January snow and cold temperatures.
THIS STORM has dumped tons of underdeveloped snow across the NC ski areas. CoCoRahs reporters from across the six areas are reporting tons of precipitation! Sapphire Valley has gotten the most precipitation at .73 inches, Appalachian follows with .53 inches and Cataloochee is a close third with .49 inches. Sugar, Beech, and Wolf Ridge have all gotten just over a tenth of an inch of precipitation. Imagine how much SNOW we’d have if the temperatures were cold enough.
Now, let’s talk SNOW TOTALS…I’ve heard all sorts of predictions in the last two or three days. This morning temperatures are beginning to drop across which means the rain that is falling steadily will begin to change over to a wintry mix and then to SNOW. According to Ray’s Avery forecast, the weather is going to change dramatically and the Beech and Sugar Mountain areas could see 3-6 inches of snow! Appalachian Ski Mountain between Boone and Blowing Rock may also see as much as 6 inches! At Wolf Ridge in Wolf Laurel we could see 1-3 inches.
The National Weather Service is forecasting much of the same….temperatures have already reached their highs for today! Their snowfall predictions are fairly close to Rays. The NWS is predicting 2-4 inches in the Appalachian Ski Mountain area, and 2-4 inches in the Beech and Sugar Mountain areas (these areas usually get MORE SNOW BECAUSE OF ELEVATION), 1-2 inches for Wolf Ridge in Mars Hill and 2-4 inches at Cataloochee in Maggie Valley.
No matter how you look at it, the SNOW IS ON THE WAY! I’ll be interested to see just how accurate the snowfall predictions are tomorrow morning when CoCoRahs reports are up!
Here’s what’s happening…
Appalachian Ski Mountain – 100% open today! Reminder that Season Passes are on sale!
Beech Mountain – 100% open! Snowmaking will occur as weather permits and AS NEEDED!
Cataloochee – 100% open today! FREE LESSON with purchase of lift ticket and rental for the rest of January.
Sapphire Valley – 100% open!
Sugar Mountain – 100% open! No snowmaking during the day or night sessions!
Wolf Ridge Resort – Open on 17 of 23 trails…and it’s SNOWING!! It’s LADIES NIGHT OUT…$15 for Lift Ticket (night only)!!
If you’ve got a few minutes…check out our other websites…
www.skisoutheast.com
www.highcountryweather.com
www.highcountrywebcams.com
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