I came across this from another forum, and thought it worth sharing: Accuweathr blog: Madness Winter Outlook.

I like that the guy is optimistic about the winter, saying we’ll get our fair share of snow this year. I’ve been checking out the NOAA predictions, and they do show that we will bode better for snow in the Midwest than last year, but their predictions only show “average” amount of snow fall. Since last year was rated as “significantly below average,” I’m happy with “average.” But now I read this dude’s blog (not sure who he is, or how right he’s been, just that he’s a weather dude), and it gives me hope.

Let’s review last year’s snow situation:

Ski hills, such as Spirit Mountain, were significantly delayed in their opening days. Spirit missed their opening by a few weeks, if I recall. Lutsen made their opening weekend, but they suffered without having enough quality snow-making weather to actually get as many runs opened as they wanted. The season progressed with extremely limited snow fall, but temperatures managed to plane out enough to allow for snow-making.

When we did get snow fall–the natural stuff–it didn’t stay long. At least twice that I can recall (once in December) I went to Spirit to enjoy 3-5″ of fresh, only to find it slushy and slow–and foggy! It was ridiculous.

The season hung on, and then gave us a last-gasp dumping of 20th-century-Midwest blizzard-like conditions around March. Most of the ski hills were at their limited hours, however, so people didn’t get to enjoy the snow (except those who hiked). Still, all the resorts made their tentative closing dates: temperatures allowed for the mostly man-made base to loiter into the twilight of the season.

In the upper peninsula of Michigan, however, things were different. I got three trips to the U.P. in, and all of them blessed with snow. The first was a last-minute trip to Bessemer, where we enjoy 8″ of fresh (other nearby areas got up to 2 feet of snow, as Josh pointed out when he called, as he almost literally passed me on the highway coming back from Bessemer from a snowmobiling trip). The next trip to the waaaay northern tip of the U.P. we got fresh snow at least the day before, and during (though not much). Already there was a large amount of accumulation, and we hand shin-deep snow for most of our turns, and the people we were sledding with also enjoyed a similar time. The last trip occurred in the middle of April–APRIL–when a front moved through the Lake Superior region, and piss-pounded 4 feet on the U.P. Our favorite Yooper resort, Mount Bohemia, opened back up and we–along with 6-10 other hardcores–got to enjoy mid-April turns…something unheard of in the Midwest.

In the mountain area (specifically Utah), we again got blanked…not a single powder day. Snow conditions in the mountains seemed favorable to us (of course, we’d take pretty much anything due to conditions in the Midwest), but according to a lot of the locals, it was down from what it normally was. The second trip we got to enjoy optimal spring coverage as well. But still, the locals complained it was lower than normal.

So the snow conditions were mostly bleak last year. We’re in need of something better. We DESERVE it. I’m rallying behind this guy’s outlook, because for one, I love the snow. For two, NOAA said he’s probably not that far off the mark.

And three, we need the fucking snow. So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.