The Snow Drought

First off I want to apologize for not posting in the last couple of days. I've been busy working trying to get everything done before the holiday. Personally, you didn't miss much.

My last blog brought up the possibility of a Christmas snow storm. There are two problems with that as of now. First off the current system out to sea along the northeast coast is acting as a block slowing the flow and thus delaying the storm system. Second the delay in the storm system will allow for more bitterly cold air to attack the region sending the storm out to sea entirely. December will end with 0.4" of snow at Sussex Airport, thanks to an extremely cold and dry weather pattern.

Even with this practically snowless month Mountain Creek is having it's best start to the season in, well, ever. Natural snowfall doesn't help out resorts in this region to much, they rely on the man made snow. Real snow sublimates (evaporates from a solid to gas), melts faster, and disappears quickly in a rain storm. But the man made snow is more thaw resistant, rain proof, and makes for a better base. Now obviously natural snow makes for better surface conditions but thats all it's really good for, except for the mountains out west of course.

Here is a look at the Euro for the storm this Sunday:

After the New Year a pattern change will be in the works. One that makes for more mild and stormy weather. The problem is the storms will like to track up through the Great Lakes putting us on the warm side of things, but January will be more likely to give us some snow. I just can't believe December didn't provide us with one decent snowfall given the negative NAO and record negative AO. It just goes to show how different a La Nina season is compared to El Nino like last year.

P.S. Don't get bummed out just yet. While the best part of this storm will hit coastal areas and some fish out sea we may still get some light snow out it all. The storm is still 72 hours away, and things can and will change between now and then.