It’s been wet and warm in New England, but this winter isn’t a dud just yet

Snowmakers have been taking advantage of recent cold temperatures at ski areas like King Pine. (WiseguyCreative.com)

It was early November when I was tailgating with a quartet of friends across the street from Gillette Stadium, where in a few hours we would be tormented by the sluggish play of  the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Less than three weeks until Thanksgiving, I grilled steak tips and sampled salsa dressed in no more than a hoodie and shorts. The high temperature in Foxborough that day was 73 degrees, a climate more suited for training camp rather than a Week 9 NFL game being played in the Northeast. 

Amidst an admittedly-uneducated discussion about the climate, one of my friends suggested that everything now is just a month later. In a sense, if you don’t like the weather, wait a month and it will probably be what you’d normally expect. Yet, that circumstance would suggest that wearing shorts to a football game in early October in Massachusetts would be a normal occurrence. Unless you’re a teenager, and you wear shorts no matter the arctic chill, that’s unlikely. 

But I gave him the month anyway, and held back my skiing expectations for December. So, if mid-December should be thought of as mid-November, weather-wise, New England was off to a pretty good start to the season when some areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, saw more than two feet of heavy snow over one weekend. At the very least, it was a great base-building event. 

And then came the rain and skyrocketing, spring-like temperatures. That base quickly faded away. 

Through the power of snowmaking, many resorts have managed to remain afloat in what has been a difficult weather season. For other, smaller ski areas, it has been a day-to-day struggle to open. They’re not alone. A heat wave closed ski resorts across Europe early this month, when a handful of countries suffered through what started as the warmest January on record, only one week into the year. 

It all had us skiers in the dumps. Except, it seems, our friends to the west. 

To watch the Western U.S. receive all the snow that we New Englanders deserve, all season long, has been frustrating. In early January, Snowbird had already received 311 inches for the year. Lake Tahoe got slammed. For Pete’s sake, actor Rob Lowe posted video of himself on social media taking powder face shots at Alta (looks like a pretty good skier too). 

But I would also like to remind you just how early we are into this winter season. In an age when Killington can snap its fingers and create an arena suitable for an international World Cup event, we can tend to demand a lot more of the mountains. But it’s not time to panic just yet. If you happen to remember, December 2014 was one of the warmest on record in some parts of New England. Early January 2015, started much the same way. Slowly. Little snow to speak of. 

Later in the month, a series of storms began. By the end of the season, almost eight feet of snow made it the snowiest season on record in the Boston area. 

You remember. That’s the winter you smile about when everyone else recalls the horror of living through it. 

So, sure, book that trip out West. But don’t declare this season a dud quite yet here in New England either. We’ve seen in the past how these things turn. Besides, it’s only December, at least by my friend’s weather-calculating skills. 

Whatever way you look at it though, it still means plenty of winter to come. The hope doesn’t die quite that easily. 

Eric Wilbur can be reached at [email protected].