News
ENLARGE
The unseasonably warm weather may not be what skiers and snowboarders looking for deep powder want, but it hasn’t dimmed the hopes of the local ski resorts.
With overnight temperatures still dropping into the teens, the resorts have had ideal conditions to make snow and plan to continue opening new terrain before the Thanksgiving rush.
“We’d much prefer if it was snowing, but if it’s not snowing, we want it to be sunny during the day and cool at night,” said David Roth, Copper Mountain Resort’s public-relations coordinator. “During the day, it makes for great skiing conditions, but because it has been so clear and cool at night, the temperatures have been right for making a ton of snow.”
The warm, dry weather in the high mountains is due to a high-pressure field in the atmosphere that hasn’t been able to get over the upper ridge, said Robert Koopmeiners, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“It’s similar to the summer, with upper-ridge troughs not coming through,” he said. “...They’ve been under a ridge for most of this fall.”
The weather doesn’t look too promising for snow in the near future, either.
“There’s a slight chance, like 10 to 20 percent, for precipitation Friday morning ... then dry through Tuesday,” he said. “Then a little bit comes in Tuesday night into Wednesday. Then it’s back up to 20 percent in the high mountains again. So, it doesn’t look great.”
Despite the weather, the resorts have all continued to open new terrain and have plans on opening more before Thanksgiving.
“We are ready to continue to make snow and our snowmakers have been really diligent in what they’ve done so far and will continue to be.” said Kate Coble, Keystone’s public-relations manager. “We have 105 skiable acres open right now, and we’ve been able to continually open new terrain.”
With weather reaching into the 50s, though, resorts have had to cut back on snowmaking operations during the day, Coble said.
“We’re definitely ready for it to get colder,” she said. “It’s more of a question of when, not if, it’s going to get colder. But we have an unbelievably powerful snowmaking system.”
With overnight temperatures still dropping into the teens, the resorts have had ideal conditions to make snow and plan to continue opening new terrain before the Thanksgiving rush.
“We’d much prefer if it was snowing, but if it’s not snowing, we want it to be sunny during the day and cool at night,” said David Roth, Copper Mountain Resort’s public-relations coordinator. “During the day, it makes for great skiing conditions, but because it has been so clear and cool at night, the temperatures have been right for making a ton of snow.”
The warm, dry weather in the high mountains is due to a high-pressure field in the atmosphere that hasn’t been able to get over the upper ridge, said Robert Koopmeiners, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“It’s similar to the summer, with upper-ridge troughs not coming through,” he said. “...They’ve been under a ridge for most of this fall.”
The weather doesn’t look too promising for snow in the near future, either.
“There’s a slight chance, like 10 to 20 percent, for precipitation Friday morning ... then dry through Tuesday,” he said. “Then a little bit comes in Tuesday night into Wednesday. Then it’s back up to 20 percent in the high mountains again. So, it doesn’t look great.”
Despite the weather, the resorts have all continued to open new terrain and have plans on opening more before Thanksgiving.
“We are ready to continue to make snow and our snowmakers have been really diligent in what they’ve done so far and will continue to be.” said Kate Coble, Keystone’s public-relations manager. “We have 105 skiable acres open right now, and we’ve been able to continually open new terrain.”
With weather reaching into the 50s, though, resorts have had to cut back on snowmaking operations during the day, Coble said.
“We’re definitely ready for it to get colder,” she said. “It’s more of a question of when, not if, it’s going to get colder. But we have an unbelievably powerful snowmaking system.”
