WASHINGTON 鈥斅營n an average year, Washington has had , nearly a third of the yearly average of 14.5 inches. While you might not have noticed the difference in your day-to-day life, that margin can mean everything for ski resorts around the D.C. area, which were celebrating some of the first inches of snowfall all season on Tuesday.
The warm, dry winter on the East Coast has been driven, at least in part, by the strong El Ni帽o pattern that is bringing more rain to the West Coast than it has in recent years.
鈥淭he historically strong El Ni帽o is helping to drive the southern branch of the jet stream,鈥� says NBC 4 meteorologist Matt Ritter. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kept the arctic air bottled in Canada for most of the winter.鈥�
Between Massanutten, Whitetail and Wisp 鈥斅爐hree of the closest resorts to Washington, in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively 鈥斅爏now packs are hovering right around 2 feet, keeping many lifts and trails closed. But all three are open, making the best of聽what little nature has given, and doing the rest themselves.
鈥淎ll guns that we can possibly have online are going at full-bore,鈥� says Lori Zaloga, director of marketing at Wisp, of the resort鈥檚 snow-making equipment.
鈥淲e not only need cold weather, we need dry weather to make snow. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been taking advantage of this very cold and dry snap.鈥�
Wisp also saw about 3 inches of snow Tuesday, effectively doubling the natural snowfall this season, and has more snow in the forecast this weekend. But the late arriving snow and cold weather forced the resort to open in late December, several weeks later than normal. Even now, only seven of 12 lifts are operating, servicing just eight of the mountain鈥檚 35 trails and only one of its three terrain parks.
Similarly, more than half of Whitetail鈥檚 trails were still closed as of Tuesday, along with their half-pipe. At Massanutten, only four of 14 trails were open, even now, in mid-January.
鈥淲e were forced to open later,鈥� says Zaloga. 鈥淟ate December gave us our first opportunity for snow-making, so we opened a few trails around Christmastime.鈥�
In the meantime, the resort has gotten creative to help cater to its clientele.
鈥淭he name of the game is weatherproofing for us,鈥� says Zaloga, highlighting non-snow activities like the mountain coaster and ice rink. 鈥淲e even opened up an 18-hole disc golf course, which we had never done before.鈥�
But with consistent winter weather finally here, and another storm on the way, it may finally be time to get back to business.
鈥淎s we like to say, there may not be snow in your backyard, but there鈥檚 plenty in ours,鈥� says Zaloga.
