It’s the heart of winter in Central New York. Syracuse has just 28 inches of snow this season which is 60 inches short of average. The lack of snow translates to local ski shops, such as Ski Company in East Syracuse.
Transcript
[HORNING] It’s the heart of winter in central New York, which means it’s ski season, right? Well, not exactly.
Syracuse has just 28in of snow this season, 60in behind normal. Binghamton National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Koloski notes how the lack of flakes affects local snow activities.[CHALUPSKY] It has a huge impact on the ski resorts and the recreation. You know, the not just not downhill, but cross country skiing. Definitely the snowmobile clubs. Um, they put those signs out in December and I think they’ve only been out that I’ve seen tracks two times this year.
[HORNING] Chalupsky notes the lack of snow translates to local ski shops like Ski Company in East Syracuse.
[LONGO] You know, in this year has been a challenge. Um, so, you know, we adjust to what we need to do
to get by with everything. Um, you know, we’re not ordering as much inventory in as we might
otherwise bring in.[HORNING] Jim Longo is the manager of Ski Company in East Syracuse. He credits the snowmaking at ski
resorts for allowing skiers to still hit the slopes, especially in years like this.[LONGO] Yeah, I mean, hoping that this isn’t going to be the trend, you know? But the last few years have
been, you know, not as much snow as we might normally get. Um, but again, every year that we
go through this, the ski areas that get that much better with their snow making and grooming, you
know, that becomes a must.[HORNING] And even if it is artificial snow, there’s still skiing to be had. Longo adapts to each season by
staying flexible.[LONGO] We’ve been at this for a long time and these seasons have been up and down. This isn’t anything
new. Um, you know, sometimes you go through some a decent run and then there’s a couple
hiccups here and there, and this is definitely one of those years. Um, so again, we’ve we’ve
learned as well with the climate and the weather and all that, we’re we adjust to the way we
operate year to year so that we can still be here.[HORNING] Shorten seasons and less snow might just be the new normal in years ahead. Nico Horning, NCC
news.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – It’s the heart of winter in Central New York, which means it’s ski season, right? Well, not exactly. Syracuse has just 28 inches of snow this season, which is 60 inches behind normal.
“It has a huge impact on the ski resorts and the recreation,” said Jake Chalupsky, a meteorologist with the Binghamton branch of the National Weather Service. “Not just not downhill, but cross-country skiing. Definitely the snowmobile clubs. They put those signs out in December. I’ve seen tracks two times this year.”
The lack of snow translates to local ski shops, but it might just be the new normal.
“This year has been a challenge,” said Jim Longo, the manager of Ski Company in East Syracuse. “We adjust to what we need to do to get by with everything. We’re not ordering as much inventory.”
Longo is also the head coach of Colgate’s ski team. He credits the snowmaking at ski resorts for allowing skiers to still hit the slopes, especially in years like this.
“I’m hoping that this isn’t going to be the trend, but the last few years have been not as much snow as we might normally get,” says Longo. “Every year that we go through this, the ski areas that get that much better with their snowmaking and grooming, that becomes a must.”
Even if it’s artificial snow, there’s still skiing to be had.
“We’ve been at this for a long time and these seasons have been up and down,” said Longo. “This isn’t anything new. Sometimes you go through some decent run and then there’s a couple hiccups here and there. And this is definitely one of those years. So again, we’ve learned as well with the climate and the weather. We adjust to the way we operate year to year so that we can still be here.”
Shortened seasons and less snow might just be the new normal in years ahead.
New York’s recent ski report.