RICHMOND, Va.-
If mud on her rental skis isn’t proof enough, Nikki Chambers knows most snow buffs won’t be happy with the warmer conditions plaguing Virginia’s ski resorts and most of the East Coast.
“The amount of mud that is coming back on my equipment is evident of what the slopes look like,” said Chambers, manager at the Ski Barn, which provides rental equipment to the Wintergreen ski resort about 90 minutes west of Richmond. “When I’m wiping mud off skis instead of snow, that’s what I take as a sign.”
And warmer-than-usual temperatures have chilled business in and around the state’s ski resorts.
For Chambers, that has meant cutting back staff and made her contemplate bringing out sandals and other summer items earlier.
“There’s two of us standing in here right now. If we were snapping skis we’d have five people employed right now,” Chambers said. “When you’re used to skiing at a resort that’s 100 percent open and you’ve got a resort that’s only 20 percent open and it’s sunscreen weather, you’re not thinking about skiing right now.”
While Bryce Resort in Shenandoah County started off with good conditions, only three of eight ski slopes were open Wednesday, manager Manfred Locher said. And if conditions don’t improve, it may be one of the worst seasons the resort has experienced.
“When you have temperatures in the 50s and 60s, people in the Washington area they don’t think that there could be even snow on the ground,” Locher said. “There is snow, but it’s getting less everyday.”
As the temperature neared 60 degrees Wednesday, families brought their children and dogs out to enjoy the weather at Brown’s Island along the James River in downtown Richmond.
Others like Sarah Manning, who was among those jogging during her lunch hour, said she’d prefer cooler weather during the beginning of January.
“I would rather have the cold weather, but I don’t want the snow and ice,” Manning said.
Brian Cullen, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Wakefield, said the moderate El Nino this year hasn’t brought the expected temperatures and precipitation.
“Obviously we’ve been warmer than normal,” Cullen said. “It’s a little bit of a confusing year. It’s not following the normal El Nino type pattern for the winter.”
Cullen said it was the sixth warmest December on record for Richmond with an average of 47.3 degrees. The warmest was 51.5 degrees in 1889. January also is expected to have above average temperatures and normal precipitation, but Virginians should see near-normal temperatures and precipitation in February.
Temperatures haven’t had much effect on the outdoor ice skating rink at MacArthur Center in Norfolk, but general manager Jim Wofford said the warmer weather may not make people think about going ice skating.
“It’s more in the minds of potential ice skater to think, ‘Do I go ice skating when it’s 70 degrees outside or do I go sit on the beach?'” Wofford said.
