Winter Park Resort wakes up to a foot of fresh powder, but still seriously behind 10-year average
It’s been a great day at Winter Park Resort as the mountain finally received some much welcomed snow in what has otherwise been an unseasonably dry March. About a foot of fresh powder has fallen in the past 24 hours, and there’s still more to come.
The snow is a great sign, but the resort still figures to end the month, and the season at large, with below average snowfall numbers compared to the 10-year average.
“We’re significantly behind our average year-to-date numbers,” said Steve Hurlbert, director of communications for Winter Park Resort. “Through March our average year-to-date is 276 inches, so we’re running behind. It’s going to be hard to his that number, just because the first couple weeks of March when it was so warm.”
Not counting the couple inches that have compiled today, the resort is sitting at 207 inches on the season, with little chance of hitting the 276 mark by the end of the month. Still, given the current storm system and expected showers into next week, the resort has a chance of matching their average numbers for March.
The resort has received about 23 inches of snow halfway through the month, and the ten-year-average is about 55.6 inches. Another storm is expected to move into the area on Sunday, and could bring four-to-eight new inches of snow by Monday morning, according to weather.com.
But in the middle of spring break season, the timing of the snow may be more important than the amount.
“The timing is perfect, we’ve got a lot of people here right now as anyone who’s been to a grocery store in Grand County can attest,” Hurlbert joked. “The weather has been great, and it’s been fun spring skiing up until this storm. It’s been warm, the sun’s been out and it’s also a great time to sit out on the deck and drink a beer.
“So I think spring breakers are having a ton of fun, but there’s no substitute for great snow. So if we can combine the great spring skiing with some really great powder days too, than it really is the best of both worlds for our visiting spring breakers.”
Winter Park Resort is scheduled to close on Sunday, April 22, though Hurlbert noted that depending on weather the Mary Jane Territory might be able to stay open slightly later as it has in the past.
“To have that flexibility is really nice,” said Hurlbert. “We’ve been able to play that card the last couple of years and keep Mary Jane open a couple extra weeks. But there’s a lot to come between now and when we have to make that decision.”
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