Snowmaking Weather

A t 4 AM this morning, the air temperature at mid-mountain was 39 F. The humidity was 80+ percent giving us a wet bulb temperature of 37-38 F.



OK, let's do some "Snowmaking 101". Typically, when the wet bulb temperature is less than 28 F, we start making snow. When the wet bulb gets less than 25 F and, even better, less than 20 F, we start making lots of snow. The lower the humidity, the lower the wet bulb temperature. A cold, clear night with a wet bulb of 20 F is great snowmaking weather. A warm, stormy day with wet snow falling and a wet bulb of 33 F is not snowmaking weather.



So, we are still a little ways from snowmaking. That first snap of cold weather usually happens the last week of September or the first week of October. For much of October, we make snow whenever it is cold enough, not necessarily every night. Starting in mid to late October it is usually cold enough every night to make snow and during storms maybe we make snow all day. A few weeks after that, we can often make snow 24 hours a day.



Our system is ready. The equipment is in place. The crew has tested the pumps, the water lines, and the electricity. The seasonal snowmakers start next week. Stand by for cold weather. When it happens, it usually happens fast. There are lots of things for you to worry about out there. A-Basin making snow is not one of them.