A bit of a false start… In the past week, some significant early season snow has fallen over portions of the western U.S. and far western Canada. The season is off and running…at least for now…as Wolf Creek Pass in southern Colorado will open this weekend with limited terrain. I wish I could say that it is a sustainable plan[Read More…]
Even though we are just a few days past the first day of astronomical summer, I find myself already taking a peek at the northern Rockies when I am working on forecasts for my golf course clients. Why? The skier/weather nerd in me comes out as I look for the first weather station reporting snow in the air. Like you,[Read More…]
El Nino, Stay South. La Nina, Go North. If you haven’t already done so, it’s close to the time when the skis and snowboards get tucked away for summer hibernation. Between Covid-19 restrictions, National Forest leases, and Old Man Winter calling it quits prematurely in much of North America, forces have conspired to end the season for the majority of[Read More…]
Some Powder. Trail Counts Good. The weather pattern that dominated the month of March in the eastern half of the country has continued right into April…unfortunately. I communicated with a resort manager in Vermont last week and found out that the mountain, which has a high base elevation…had received exactly one inch of snow last month. One %#[email protected]*& inch! A[Read More…]
Bluebird Days. Light Snow. The weather pattern hasn’t changed much in the past week as the jet stream set-up has continued to feature a cold trough over the western half of the country and a milder to warm ridge over the eastern half. It has been another snowy week in the West, although amounts of fresh snow have been a[Read More…]
Fresh Snow in the Wasatch. Spring Conditions Reign East. This week’s message is quite simple: If you want fresh snow, head west. If you enjoy spring skiing, the upper Midwest and East will sport those conditions much of the time through the end of the month. That said, I do expect the East to turn a little colder early in[Read More…]
Not Quite Spring Yet. More Snow In The Forecast. While the resorts in the Midwest and East got a solid taste of spring this week as temperatures soared well above normal for a few days, the winter weather action picked up in the West. A cold trough spun its way down the coast from B.C. to SoCal, depositing wonderful low[Read More…]
Fresh Snow in Cali. Mild Temps Next Week. Last week’s installment touched upon the fight we usually see in March between lingering cold to the north and advancing spring warmth from the south. The fight usually takes the form of storminess, where it only a matter of whether there is enough cold air in the mix to produce snow instead[Read More…]
Late Season Powder. Rain And Snow. Although astronomical spring begins with the vernal equinox later in March, “meteorological spring” begins on the first day of March. That’s when the questions start to arise about how long the season is likely to extend. Those questions are more common for resorts over the eastern half of the country, where injections of milder[Read More…]
Warmer end to February. March Snow Looks Good. This has been an absolutely wild weather week across the country, with more heavy snow in the West, the worst run of cold and snow in the southern Plains since 1899, and two significant storms in the East, although the first one generated a fair amount of sleet earlier this week. As[Read More…]
Busy Storms. Slopes in Good Shape. As I write this piece at the start of President’s Day weekend, the slopes from coast to coast are in fine to extraordinarily good shape, thanks to a very busy coast to coast pattern of storms that has played out in recent weeks. A push of arctic air delivered by the stratwarm episode that[Read More…]
Hint: Cold Air Coming Your Way. [Please consider supporting SeniorsSkiing.com with a donation. We appreciate your help. Click here.] I assume that this week’s headline has many of you scratching your head wondering “What in the world is a stratwarm?” I will try and explain but the bottom line is that this phenomenon is in large part responsible for the[Read More…]
Terrain Opens Coast to Coast In my mind, the end of January is roughly the mid-point of the season and as we hit that mark, the slopes of North America are in good shape from coast to coast. There are a few spots here and there where trail counts and base depths are lacking a bit, but overall, the very[Read More…]
Snow For All. Often when I write this piece, I have good news for one region of the country and not-so good news for other areas of ski country. Such is the nature of winter weather across a country that stretches 3,000 miles from coast to coast and with so many and varied climate zones. However, just as there are[Read More…]
The Vortex Is Coming. Last week I discussed a major pattern change that would unfold over North America this month. As we hit the midpoint of January, those changes are well underway. An episode of stratospheric warming over the far northern reaches of the hemisphere has matured in typical fashion, leading to the displacement of the polar vortex away from[Read More…]
For the title of this piece I chose a line from David Bowie’s classic song. The jet stream pattern that ultimately determines the snowfall haves and the have-nots is undergoing change and, ultimately, it will be dramatic. As a lifelong skier and weather nerd, my step gets a little lighter and I tend to have a song in my mind[Read More…]
The Busy Pattern Continues. Last week’s installment headlined a progressive pattern that has been sending ridges and troughs west to east across the continent at a dizzying pace. That pattern produced some meaningful snow in the West earlier this week and then unloaded a blockbuster on the mid-Atlantic and much of the Northeast midweek, jumpstarting the season at dozens of[Read More…]
Progressive Storm Threats Gets Underway Although it’s likely that the holiday period will be a Covid-induced quiet one across the country, it is now crunch time for opening terrain that will create adequate social distancing to fend off further operating restrictions. The past week brought about a pattern change that delivered snow to many resorts that had seen very little.[Read More…]
The Weather Worm Is Turning, Especially In The East. If the optimist in all of us considers November 1 the start of the winter sports season, then the first month of this season was a dud in the eastern half of the country. Cold air masses were infrequent visitors, and natural snow was even harder to find. A persistent jet stream[Read More…]
In last week’s first installment of my weekly discussion, the Pac Northwest and northern Rockies were enjoying a parade of early season snow events while skiers and riders in the Midwest and East had to be content with tuning gear and digesting the state-by-state Covid restrictions rolling out recently. The storms have continued to hit the same general areas that[Read More…]
So It Begins, Unevenly. As is often the case at the start of the ski season, the weather pattern is designating “haves” and “have nots” in terms of sufficiently cold air for snowmaking and natural snow. Consistent with first year La Ninas, as this season will be, November has brought winter weather to the West while the eastern half of[Read More…]
What Does A La Nina Winter Mean For Snow Sports? After seeing a web cam shot of snow-covered Mt. Washington, NH this past weekend, I quickly contracted a case of “calendar shock”, realizing that it was time to submit some ideas on where I think this winter is headed, weatherwise. Co-Publisher Mike Maginn wrote a nice piece on La Nina[Read More…]
Late Season Snow Opens Nordic Opportunities. As the coronavirus situation has continued to unfold and expand, the curtain has all but come down on the alpine season across North America. Nevertheless, lovers of the great outdoors continue to find ways to ingest their fair share of fresh air by a variety of different means, including cross country skiing aficionados. At[Read More…]
For Those Still Venturing Out On Snow Shoes, Skinny Skis, Or Skins. On a typical office day in the winter, I often scan web cams from resorts, living vicariously on those days when I can’t be on the snow myself. Now that the coronavirus pandemic has ground the winter sports season to a virtual halt, I still check out the[Read More…]
March Won’t Be Ending Spring-like. Although I had good intentions, I must confess that I did not get on the snow in the past week. 65 degree temperatures here in Rhode Island early this week didn’t help to inspire, for sure. Much of the East has had a frustrating season, due to a lack of cold and snow, but the[Read More…]
