- By Dan Veaner
- Sports
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With a record-setting warm December and January comparatively balmy so far, skiers and snow plow operators have been suffering. The first week of Lansing Recreation Department's ski program was canceled due to warm weather that restricted the amount of snow Greek Peak could produce. On Tuesday the ski resort's Web site said, "Pray for SNOW!!!!" and listed most slopes as closed. The resort has 32 trails of varying terrain and skill levels, two of them new this year.
Recreation Director Steve Colt says that the warm weather is hurting the ski resort, because people don't think about skiing when it's green outside, even when there is manufactured snow on the slopes. "We've already had a record amount of calls asking about boat slips, camping, little league baseball and so on," he says. "People's mind sets are as if it were early April."
According to AccuWeather.com typical weather for January is an average of 24 degrees, with a high of 32 and a low of 15. But so far this January the average high has been 52.25 and the low 32.5. Last Saturday the temperature set a record high of 63 degrees. The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell reports November temperatures averaged four degrees above normal, while December averaged eight degrees higher than the norm. Precipitation was also more than normal last month by about four inches.
The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts normal winter temperatures for the most part, or slightly higher than normal in our area. But it says the snowiest periods would be between mid-November and December, as well as mid-February through March. So far that prediction has not panned out.
Colt says that if the trend continues it could affect the Lansing ski program more. The first weekend was postponed, and he wouldn't predict whether it would be able to go this weekend. "We'll tack it on the end," Colt says. "We're just going to keep moving back until they can take us."
But he also worries about whether that will be possible. He notes that without a good base of snow on the slopes you can't extend the season. "We need to get at least six trips over," he says. "I think they're making snow as fast as they can, but the absolute undoing of a ski center is rain. At this stage in the game I'm not going to be heartbroken if it stays green here, but I'd sure like to see it get white at Greek Peak."
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