It isn’t just the selective memory of skiers and dog mushers, this is an unusually warm October. More importantly, the cumulative snowfall is well below the long-term averages for Fairbanks International Airport.

From Chris Swingley’s fantastic weather site (http://swingleydev.com/weather/local_weather.php), here’s a graphic showing how different this “winter” has been to date:

On “average” we’d have almost 6 inches of snow on the ground by 19 October, and thanks to our well-maintained and groomed trails at Birch Hill, we’d likely be skiing.

Temperatures are supposed to drop this week, however, we’ll still be on the “warm” side of normal (graphic from National Weather Service):

At least, the lows should be dropping back below freezing so the probability of retaining any snow we might get increases. We certainly hope to be skiing by the Ski Fest to be held at Birch Hill on Saturday, November 2. We’ll be there to sign-up skiers for the Sonot Kkaazoot at the lowest possible entry fees from 1 to 4 p.m. at Birch Hill Recreation Area.