A warmer, drier December causing difficulties for ski resorts and seasonal businesses
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IDAHO FALLS — It’s been an unusually dry winter in eastern Idaho and it doesn’t look like that’s about to change anytime soon.
The National Weather Service in Pocatello is forecasting some light snow showers Wednesday, but it’s “not looking impressive.”
“Barely two inches in the central Idaho mountains. Only 1 to 8 inches in the Upper Snake Highlands,” according to an NWS Facebook post.
Eastern Idaho saw a light dusting of snow Monday night, with slightly greater accumulations in some areas. NWS Meteorologist John Keyes tells EastIdahoNews.com he’s not seeing any major snowfall headed through the area in the next seven to 10 days.
This lack of snow is having an impact on local ski resorts.
“We have closed terrain since opening day,” says Jennie White, Director of Marketing at Grand Targhee. “Ski with caution. It’s early-season conditions.”
Grand Targhee is planning to remain open “unless conditions make that impossible,” but employees are encouraging people to postpone their ski trip until the snow significantly improves.
Right now they’re still holding out hope that a big snowstorm is on the way.
“We did just get four inches of snow within the past 24 hours. More snow is on the way this week. We finally got some temperatures to make snow. We have about three snowmaking guns,” said White.
Kelly Canyon in Ririe is hoping to officially open on Dec. 20.
But until then, the management team is using the delay to their advantage by putting the finishing touches on its new Fix-grip Triple Lift and ticketing system. The resort recently acquired a brand-new Latitude 90 snowmaking machine from Canada to ensure there’s always enough fresh snow for skiers.
“Based on history, in the last 31 years, the latest our resort has opened has been New Years Day and the earliest it’s ever been opened is Dec. 5. A couple of those years, after we’ve opened, we had rain for a couple of days and had to close and then reopened,” Sales and Marketing Director Doug Swanson says.
RELATED: Kelly Canyon gearing up for ski season with installation of poles for new lift
Ski resorts aren’t the only businesses affected. Labelle Lake Ice Palace in Rigby has pushed back its opening day at least twice now because the warm temperatures are making it difficult to build.
It will tentatively be opening on December 27th, depending on the weather.
Winter officially starts on Dec. 21.
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