Hey, it's Earth Day today, and it's also my 'bearthday' as some of my friends call it. I was actually born on the very first Earth Day back in 1970. Earth Day came about as a result of Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin who organized a national teach-in to raise awareness of environmental concerns. Many folks younger than me may not realize this but growing up in the 1970's meant smog in the cities so thick that you couldn't see more than a few hundred yards, our gas had lead in it that poisoned our air, acid rain from coal fired power plants in the Midwest killed the aquatic life in the pristine lakes of the Adirondacks, sewage along with PCBs and other chemicals flowed freely into our rivers that we also fished and drank from. We've come a long way but we have oh so far to go still, and Earth Day is still important.

And with that let's also celebrate the return of corn season to the Northeast. We have 5 ski areas in the Northeast still operating every day this week and 2 others with variable weekend schedules who will come back online. There are still about 6 ski areas operating beyond our map in Quebec as well.

We're going to build that corn up nice and deep this week after bouncing back and forth from spring to winter and having some washouts and refreezes, many of which have been ill-timed for the weekenders. When corn first starts to build, r@!n and warm temps can melt it out on snowmaking terrain, and of course the natural snowpack is less substantial though it is still holding up north. This week through Friday is the best time to hit the corn, but it looks like Saturday is going to be another washout I'm afraid. Here's the broad view from the GFS:

While there is some precip during the week it looks almost entirely timed for non-lift hours though there is potential of some lighter r@!n bookending this system on Friday and Sunday in some parts. Modeling has been pretty consistent for the heavy stuff on Saturday. I'll of course try to dial this in better as we get closer to the weekend but we need the storm to speed up a bit to save Saturday.

Since we're down to just 7 tracked ski areas and have really only one system that is likely impactful during the day, I've condensed my coverage down to just the low and high temperatures for every day of the week at the base elevations of ski areas. There may be some freezing at elevation at open, on some days, but things should generally soften up nicely pretty quickly. Remember also that the highs won't feel like that when standing on the snow vs. standing in the parking lot, so dress appropriately for both the slopes and the tailgate.

TUESDAY
Killington: 37/57
Sugarbush: 46/60
Stowe: 42/55
Jay Peak: 38/52
Sugarloaf: 40/52

WEDNESDAY
Killington: 35/56
Sugarbush: 38/56
Stowe: 35/47
Jay Peak: 34/44
Sugarloaf: 36/49

THURSDAY
Killington: 37/62
Sugarbush: 40/63
Stowe: 35/57
Jay Peak: 36/55
Sugarloaf: 36/58

FRIDAY
Killington: 45/67
Sugarbush: 47/67
Stowe: 42/61
Jay Peak: 42/59
Sugarloaf: 41/59
Black Mountain: 41/59

SATURDAY
Killington: 37/59
Sugarbush: 49/60
Stowe: 43/54
Jay Peak: 44/53
Sugarloaf: 43/51
Black Mountain: 45/51

SUNDAY
Killington: 42/57
Sugarbush: 43/59
Stowe: 38/52
Jay Peak: 40/53
Sugarloaf: 37/53
Black Mountain: 38/53
Sunday River: 38/56

Knowledge Is Corn!

-- Matthew Scott