By Matt Zapotosky and Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 1, 2008

An unusually early cold snap has ushered in wintry weather to the Washington area, bringing November to an end with temperatures 10 degrees below normal and allowing ski resorts to open weeks ahead of schedule.

The cold, rainy weather yesterday did little to slow the crush of holiday travelers flying or driving back to the District, but officials at Reagan National, Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall airports reported only scattered flight delays, and traffic seemed as backed up by Redskins fans heading to FedEx Field as it was by those coming back from Thanksgiving getaways.

"It was a pretty good holiday for us at the airports this year," said Courtney Prebich, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles and National. "Everything seemed to be going smoothly."

That's not to say that the Washington region had no traffic problems yesterday: Traffic snarled in both directions on Interstate 95 in Virginia, and at least three weather-related fender benders kept police in St. Mary's County busy. Across Maryland and Virginia, police reported sporadic, minor accidents, but none significantly stalled traffic.

Amtrak and other out-of-town train and bus services were crammed with holiday travelers looking for a ride home yesterday. A ticket agent for the Chinatown Bus service said all their buses were filled, as they were the two days before Thanksgiving.

"It was, like, crazy," said the ticket agent, who said she preferred to be identified only by her first name, Crystal. "Everyone's rushing at the last minute."

Dozens of people stood in the chilly weather yesterday outside the old Woodward & Lothrop building at 11th and F streets NW, waiting for the afternoon bus to arrive.

The cold end to November presaged an even colder December, with highs in the mid-40s and lows in the upper-20s, said Kate Walters, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.com.

"Because the past few winters have been relatively mild, it will feel a lot colder," Walters said.

There was some good news that came with the cold: Slopes at ski resorts, which take advantage of cold temperatures by making snow, are opening early this year. The slopes opened two weeks early at Wintergreen Resort in central Virginia. It's the first time the slopes there opened during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in more than five years, said Dana Quillen, a Wintergreen spokeswoman.

The ski resort is usually packed during Thanksgiving weekend with members and property owners who want to hike, dine or go to the spa or wreath-making workshops. But the recent cold weather allowed the 11,000-acre resort to fire up its snow guns last weekend and create a few inches of powder.

"We are trying to shake everything out," Quillen said. "The snow we made was so beautiful that people were going to get mad if we didn't open."

Officials at Whitetail Resort, just across the Maryland border in Pennsylvania, plan to kick off ski season this weekend thanks to a "colder than average November" and the likelihood of "real nice wintry-looking weather coming in for December," said Don MacAskill, the resort's general manger. The resort typically opens for skiing the week before Christmas, he said.

"We're eager to get things open and get our guests on the mountain," MacAskill said. "Typically, there's a lot of enthusiasm in the early season to get out on the snow."

What is not so typical, he said, is to have a cold-enough end to November to allow such an early ski-season opening. Below-freezing temperatures in November helped resort officials start producing snow Nov. 21-23, two weeks before normal, MacAskill said.

"It has to be at or below freezing to be able to make snow," MacAskill said. "We make it right on the trails themselves. It's basically a function of pumping water out of snow guns, and it crystallizes in the air and falls on the slopes."

Still, resort officials might want to curb their enthusiasm before natural white covers the ground, experts said. The absence of La Niña or El Niño, the leading indicators of seasonal weather patterns, makes it harder to project what the winter will look like.

"There is a degree of uncertainty when it comes to long-range forecast," said Christopher Vaccaro, a spokesman with the National Weather Service. "The climate patterns can't be accurately forecast beyond a week or two. . . . It could be mild one week, then we could have back-to-back snowstorms."

The region can expect more scattered rain showers today. Tomorrow and Wednesday are expected to be mostly dry, with highs in the low 50s followed by a cold front Friday and through the weekend.