"Ski resorts are struggling to open runs, walk-through ice palaces can't be built, and the owner of a horse stable hopes that her customers will be satisfied with riding wagons instead of sleighs under majestic Rocky Mountain peaks. It's just been too warm in the West with not enough snow. Meanwhile, the Midwest and Northeast have been blanketed by record snow this December, a payday for skiers who usually covet conditions out West."
"In the Western mountains where snow is crucial for ski tourism - not to mention water for millions of acres (hectares) of crops and the daily needs of tens of millions of people - much less snow than usual has piled up. "Mother Nature has been dealing a really hard deck," said Kevin Cooper, president of the Kirkwood Ski Education Foundation, a ski racing organization at Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada line."
Warmer-than-normal conditions across the U.S. West have produced much less snow than usual, limiting ski resort operations and postponing winter attractions that require cold. Lake Tahoe resorts opened only a small percentage of lifts and recorded well-below-average snow depths. Temperatures near Salt Lake City averaged 7-10 degrees above normal, delaying the Midway Ice Castles. Near Vail, sleigh rides were replaced by wagons at Bearcat Stables. The Northwest experienced torrential rain that washed out roads and flooded homes, while the Midwest and Northeast saw record December snowfall that benefited skiers.
#western-snowfall-decline #ski-tourism-impacts #snowpack-and-water-supply #regional-weather-extremes
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