IN THE DEEP

I'm not going to start counting yet because the mountain isn't open, but I think as soon as it is, I'm going to tally the incorrect forecasts. So far they'd be 0-2, and as someone said to me yesterday, "Don't they look out their windows?" But the mountains do something strange to weather systems, and although I call myself something of a weather buff, I wouldn't want the job of predicting snow around here. Sometimes the mountains suck in the system and keep it here for days, sometimes they don't. I'm not sure if there's rhyme or reason to it, but I am sure that all the locals agree on this, never trust a forecast more than 3 days out, and rarely trust a forecast otherwise.

Although I compare forecasts with three meteorology centers (www.steamboatweather.com, www.weather.com, and www.wrh.noaa.gov), they usually all agree with each other, and I tend to make my own assumptions day to day based on how the satellite is looking. All three centers predicted sun with partly cloudy skies and warmer temps (45-50°) for yesterday and today, with the snow coming back in tomorrow. But both days have been dark and dreary, no sun to be had, with a humid 20° chill. And now we're seeing light flurries today.

I'm not complaining, they were blasting the base area yesterday and cold temps mean continual snowmaking 24 hours a day so we can get ready for opening day.

But I want to know, why do these people get paid if they're rarely right?