The title was not intended to be click-bait, but what does it mean? According to many sources, our entire coverage area from Wisp Resort in Maryland down to the southernmost ski area in North Carolina (Sapphire Valley) should see more snow this winter.
Fox 5 News out of the D.C. market is predicting up to 20″ of snowfall this winter, which would beat their average of 13.8″.
Joe Stevens’ usually comes out with his “Snow News is Good News” Winter Forecast compilation of numerous regional meteorologists around the middle to late November. We’ll share that when Joseph comes out of summer hibernation.
Ray Russell of Ray’s Weather (High Country of North Carolina) fame has already released his “Fearless Forecast for Winter 2023-2024″ and we can share that HE is predicting that Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain should receive 109″ of seasonal snowfall. Just as a quick sidebar – THAT 109″ would surpass every single winter’s total since ther 2012-2013 season that saw 114.5″. (Beech and Sugar promote that they average 80″ and 78″ of winter snow annually.)
(Ray had actually, mistakenly posted that Beech and Sugar should DOUBLE their 10-year average of 63″ but that 109″ prediction wouldn’t get us there.)
I’ll tell you what though – I don’t know ANY snow-loving soul in the region that wouldn’t agree RIGHT NOW to 109″ of natural snowfall this season atop Beech and Sugar 5000′ + elevations.
However, let’s tap the brakes for a second. Last season was crappy snowfall season across the region. Canaan Valley Resort and Timberline Mountain (both in Davis, WV) saw the most snowfall in the region with 62.4″ and that was WAY off their long-term average of 180″ and nearly 52″ short of the 10-year average of 114”.
Natural snow is “white gold” in the mountain communities of the region. Every time that snow enters the weather forecast, we see BIG boosts in the number of skier visits that pack up and head to the mountains.
We began receiving emails from weather gurus in the region and I subscribe to several weather resources AND I watch any YouTube Winter Forecast that anyone wishes to send my way.
Most every forecast that I’ve received thus far has trended towards this being a “doozy” of a snowy winter. I have already heard from our snow-loving brother and Chief Meteorologist, Brad Panovich and he has re-upped for the 2023-2024 Ski & Snowboarding season. So we will soon get HIS, professional opinion on what we should expect in terms of the white stuff. However, as promised with the title of this post, here is our prediction.
I didn’t access every resource and create some kind of average. I also didn’t just pull numbers out of thin air, but neither did we dip our fingers into the ocean waters to take their temperatures and come up with a forecast. However, what we DID do was look at all of the forecasts that we’ve compiled and noticed a trend.
Every forecast shared with us to date, has seemed to say that we will get about 30-35% more snow than average AND that the better snows will be beginning early in January and hanging tough through March. Okay – that’s kind of normal.
Our ski areas usually get a huge burst of cold air and crank up the snowguns and PRAY that the snow lasts until the next round of cold air hits. If their luck holds true to form, we usually have enough of a base built up to open some slopes around Thanksgiving. ANY skiable days prior to that are “bonus days”.
So, strap on your seatbelt; buckle up and here we go. Unlike most of the forecasts we’ve seen that only cover a small swath of the mountains, SkiSoutheast.com’s coverage is FIVE states and sixteen resorts.
Let’s get to it.
| Resort | Last Season Snowfall | Long-Term Avg | 10-Year Average | SkiSoutheast Prediction |
| Appalachian | 6.2″ | 50″ | 25″ | 51″ |
| Beech Mountain | 36.5″ | 80″ | 63″ | 116″ |
| Bryce Resort | 3″ | 30″ | 29.3″ | 40″ |
| Canaan Valley | 62.4″ | 180″ | 114″ | 160″ |
| Cataloochee | 16″ | 40″ | 29.4″ | 48″ |
| Hatley Pointe | 11.6″ | 65″ | 35″ | 54″ |
| Massanutten | 4.5″ | 35″ | 25″ | 46″ |
| Ober Gatlinburg | 5.5″ | 35″ | 19″ | 39″ |
| Sapphire Valley | 1″ | 30″ | 10.6″ | 19″ |
| Snowshoe Mtn | 55.5″ | 180″ | 117″ | 158″ |
| Sugar Mountain | 33.5″ | 78″ | 61″ | 113″ |
| Omni Homestead | 2.5″ | 50″ | 24″ | 46″ |
| Timberline Mountain | 62.4″ | 180″ | 114″ | 160″ |
| Wintergreen | 4″ | 34″ | 28″ | 42″ |
| Winterplace | 20.5″ | 100″ | 51″ | 95″ |
| Wisp Resort | 49.5″ | 133.5″ | 88″ | 146″ |
As you can see, we think “white gold” will be plentiful. That will excite the masses. According to most experts, what MIGHT be a bit of a challenge are the temperatures. Most weather resources are predicting temps slightly above normal. We will go out on a limb here and double down on our winter forecast and say that when all of snow settles, this winter will provide near seasonal average temperatures overall. So our talented snowmakers should be able to blast the slopes in timely fashion to open early; stay open; build slope numbers up in time for the Christmas ski period and then fight out the usual thaw that happens…and then finish strong for what should be an awesome season.
We believe in the law of attraction around here. Speak it into truth, believe it and it will happen.
So THINK SNOW along with us!
Stay tuned and feel free to email me at [email protected]