It's October, the snow guns are set up at the early openers, the mice are being blown out of the lines, and snowmakers are on weather watch and ready to go; they just need some cold. We're going to our first taste of that cold next weekend, probably on Saturday!

So who are the early openers? We have of course Killington in one corner and Sunday River in the other, but Waterville Valley has been wanting to get in on the early season action by blasting their High Country terrain above 3,400', and there's always the possibility that someone else steps up who has the benefit of both a colder climate and altitude (Whiteface, Sugarbush, Sugarloaf and some others).

Snowology is now operating under a subscription model and our long-form forecasting discussions, most notably storm updates, will only be available to paying subscribers. A full year's subscription is only $29.99 and it will come with not just weather coverage but some discounts and other access. It's well worth the small cost, but for the time being we will make our snowmaking forecasting also available to Free subscribers. You must subscribe and sign in to read the rest of this article.