Weather
Tuesday’s storm followed by a sharp midweek arctic front will bring roughly 4″–8″ of new snow to many northern New England mountains and around 4″–6″ to Mt. Bohemia in Michigan, with the highest totals centered on Stowe and Cannon Mountain and solid base-building at the rest of the pack. Behind these systems, cold air locks in with recurring snow shower chances and occasional light waves through the second week of December, favoring the northern Green and White Mountains, the western Maine high country, and the Keweenaw. Open resorts like Sugarbush, Jay Peak, Stowe, Cannon Mountain, Bretton Woods, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, and Killington should see steadily improving coverage and surfaces through the workweek, while closed areas such as Loon Mountain, Wildcat, and Mt. Bohemia quietly stack natural snow ahead of future openings.
Tuesday’s storm delivers around 4″–8″ of fresh snow to most of the northern New England mountains and about 4″–6″ at Mt. Bohemia, setting up the first truly wintry midweek pattern of the season at the operating areas and a solid base-building shot where lifts are still idle. Snow fills in quickly Tuesday morning, peaks through the day, and eases late Tuesday night, with the deepest totals focused on Stowe and Cannon Mountain and healthy coverage as well at Sugarbush, Sugarloaf, Bretton Woods, Killington, Sunday River, Jay Peak, and the still-closed Loon Mountain and Wildcat. Temperatures in the upper teens to low 20s from bases near 800 feet up to summits above 4,000 feet keep precipitation all snow, and snow levels near valley floors mean top-to-bottom coverage at every hill. Snow-to-liquid ratios generally run in the 13–16:1 range, so snow quality leans toward lighter, chalky powder rather than heavy, wet snow, especially along the Vermont spine and across the higher New Hampshire and Maine peaks. Winds stay breezy but manageable for most of Tuesday, although gusts into the 30–40 mph range on exposed ridges may create some drifted, wind-textured snow on the highest terrain.
After a brief lull on Wednesday, an arctic front with snow showers and embedded squalls Wednesday night into Thursday adds roughly 1″–3″ to many northern Vermont, New Hampshire, and western Maine mountains and a similar 1″–3″ around Mt. Bohemia, but the bigger story will be the wind and cold that arrive with it. This second wave is more showery and banded than Tuesday’s broad shield, with brief, intense bursts likely as the front sweeps across the northern Greens, the Presidential Range, and the Maine high country, and additional lake-enhanced snow flaring in the Keweenaw. Snow-to-liquid ratios again sit mostly in the low to mid-teens, so accumulations will still ski well where terrain is open, but persistent northwest winds gusting into the 40–60 mph range along ridgelines will roughen exposed surfaces and could drive upper-mountain wind holds at Jay Peak, Stowe, and Cannon Mountain during and just after frontal passage. Temperatures tumble into the single digits and teens by Thursday night with subzero wind chills over the higher summits, locking in the new snow, promoting wind buff on leeward aspects, and sharpening the overall wintry feel across the region.
Looking beyond Thursday, the pattern through the second week of December favors persistent cold and periodic light systems that continue to target the northern mountains and the Keweenaw for additional snow while storm tracks remain focused on the northern tier of the country. A broad trough over eastern North America supports below-normal temperatures from Vermont and New Hampshire through Maine and into Michigan, so any precipitation that does arrive is likely to fall as snow at resort elevations, with snow levels hugging valley floors. Guidance suggests frequent chances for scattered mountain snow showers and occasional light, fast-moving systems rather than a single blockbuster storm, an ideal setup for gradual base building on open terrain at Sugarbush, Jay Peak, Stowe, Cannon Mountain, Bretton Woods, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, and Killington. Loon Mountain, Wildcat, and Mt. Bohemia should also continue to accumulate coverage under this regime, so once operations ramp up, they will be tapping into a noticeably deeper natural snowpack and generally drier, colder snow than earlier in the season.
Resort Forecast Totals
- Cannon Mountain – 6″–8″ total (5″–7″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03) + 1″–2″ Wed night (12/03) – Thu night (12/04))
- Stowe – 6″–8″ total (4″–5″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03) + 2″–3″ Wed night (12/03) – Thu night (12/04))
- Wildcat – 5″–7″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03)
- Bretton Woods – 5″–7″ total (4″–5″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03) + 1″–2″ Wed night (12/03) – Thu night (12/04))
- Sugarbush – 5″–6″ total (4″–5″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03) + 1″–2″ Thu (12/04) – Thu night (12/04))
- Jay Peak – 4″–6″ total (3″–4″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03) + 1″–2″ Wed night (12/03) – Thu night (12/04))
- Mt. Bohemia – 4″–6″ total (3″–4″ Tue night (12/02) – Thu night (12/04) + 1″–2″ Thu night (12/04) – Fri night (12/05))
- Sugarloaf – 4″–6″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03)
- Killington – 4″–6″ Tue (12/02) – Tue night (12/02)
- Loon Mountain – 4″–5″ Tue (12/02) – Wed (12/03)
- Sunday River – 4″–5″ Tue (12/02) – Tue night (12/02)
