With 6+ weeks of continuously skippable trails for the downstate and NYC metro XC skier, it might be a record. Unfortunately, the fun might be coming to an end. On the better side, it’s cold and sunny now, and tomorrow should be a bit warmer with some light snow or wintry mix. There’s a couple of days of grace before worse weather sets in.

Brief on the local groomed ski trails:

• Fahnestock is open, but no details on conditions. Expect it to be icy in the sun, with some damp spots. Hopefully they have enough snow to groom.
• Minnewaska reports trails in fair to poor condition. Best trails are around Lake Minnewaska and Upper Awosting. Castle Point is in poor condition. Expect some icy and frozen spots.
• Mohonk Mountain house reports excellent conditions on the golf course, which was groomed and tracksuit today. Preserve trails are in fair condition, while trails around the Mountain House are in fair to poor conditions overall. Expect icy spots.
• High Point reports they are open.

This post is about conditions for Mar. 2, 2026, and forecast for the next few days. See jump links to Conditions and Forecast.

What will the skiing be like?

In the north, loose frozen granular where groomed, hard frozen elsewhere. In the south, icy spots, with some possible damp spots as well where exposed to the sun. Conditions will definitely have been hard and fast in the morning, and getting better as the afternoon goes on. Tomorrow could be better if some additional grooming is done and a bit of snow refreshes the trails and tracks.

Wait for a bit before hitting p ‘State of the touring centers‘ or in the menu above for reported conditions as of today, because I’m out for a ski. Snow depth graphic below:

Upcoming weather

Summary:

Rainy weather coming midweek and lasting through the weekend. along with rising daytime as well as night time temperatures. Night time lows will start flirting with the freezing point downstate during the Tuesday-Wednesday overnight, and even the far northern lowlands will be seeing lows around freezing or above by the overnight from Thursday into Friday. Winds over the next week will be generally calm with light breezes. Increasing winds by the weekend, with gusts up to 20-25mph.

Bullet point highlights (or lowlights):

• A train of low-pressure waves begins rolling across the starting Tuesday, beginning a very ‘active’ period of precipitiaton.
• The first will move in from the southwest Tuesday morning. It may start as snow in the NYC metro area first, but will shift over to ice and finally rain by the afternoon. Rain or wintry mix will go as far north as the southern Adirondacks and southern Green Mountains by the evening before precipitation tapers off overnight. Areas far enough north or at elevation could get a few inches of fresh snow.
• By Wednesday afternoon a second system overspreads the northeast, again starting from the southwest. This system will ultimately bring some wintry mix and rain showers across the entire region, intensifying on Thursday.
• Low-pressure systems will continue in series through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, bringing rain and rain showers, with some wintry mix. Expectations are moderate amount of rain spread across several days, with risk some of flooding due to the rain plus ice-dams due to breakup of river ice.
• Wwarm and wet conditions are likely to persist into next week. Weather Prediction Center estimates temps and precipitation are both likely to be above normal for the next 10 days at least.