The weekend outlook

8:15 a.m.
Temp: base 19, summit 16.
Wind: little wind.
Snow: in the past 48 ours Stowe has received a good 8 inches, but no new snow today. warm temps yesterday have compacted the snow a little and made the surface more dense - very nice for carving. so far, we've had 10 feet of snow and today is just the first day of winter! unreal.
Outlook: there doesn't seem to be a way around it. sunday, forecasters are calling for rain. perhaps up to 3/4 of an inch of it. this is a tremendous bummer, but it won't significantly affect the snowpack. most of it will be absorbed, and it is supposed to switch over to snow on Sunday night.
Monday, there is a 60 percent chance of snow, with a high of 17 degrees. it might be breezy with gusts up to 40 mph.
Christmas day is supposed to be sunny with a high of 22 degrees. yippee!

Temp: base 29, summit 27.
Wind: little wind.
Snow: a light scrim of freshies. flurries. extensive grooming overnight.
Other: very nice skiing; a little visibility due to patchy fog, but the moutain company laid down nice groomed carpet all over the place. the bumps, steeps and trees are still powdery and fun. no crowds.

Dec. 20

Temp: base 25, summit 20.
Wind: not windy, really.
Snow: about 4 inches of velvety new snow fell last night and it's still lightly snowing at the mountain.
Other: the skiing is excellent right now. the quad and gondola are running. it might be the nicest day of the whole week.

Dec. 19

Temp: base 17, summit 15.
Wind: calm.
Snow: a dusting last night with more snow in the forecast for later today. they say up to four inches by morning.
Other: groomers are in great condition, very fun skiing. it's been warmer than it has been in a while, but with snow on the way the air is a bit damp. upper nosedive is closed for snowmaking.

Dec. 18

Temp: base 6, summit 4.
Wind: calm.
Snow: no new snow today, but there's plenty. lots of terrain open today.
Other: the sun was blazing this morning, but it just slipped behind an ominous layer of cloud making it a bit more frigid than it already was.
the groomers are in amazing shape. cold, dry snow is making for arcable skiing and riding. beware the wind-blown powder on nosedive and some of the un-groomed terrain is a little crusty.

Erica MacConnell and Sarah Wilde contributed to this report from the Octagon.

Dec. 17

9:30 a.m.**The mountain triple is now running. other lifts are on hold.**
8:42 a.m.**Lifts are on hold due to high winds at Stowe**
Temp: base 10, summit 2.
Wind: gusty, up to 20 mph or so.
Snow: yes. the storm left a total of just under two feet of decent, not-too-heavy snow. 22 inches, but since the wind picked up overnight expect drifting.
Other: dress warm, because the wind is supposed to pick up, we may even get a few more inches of snow. it's a northwest wind, as he storm pulls away from us. as usual with this kind of storm, the wind will be ripping through the notch.