Two Western Washington ski areas to open this week

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. - This seems to be another case of how you never know what's coming when talking about the weather. The climate forecast for a moderate El Nino winter, made earlier this year, was not very encouraging for those wanting an early opening to the ski season. But, it looks like that's what we're getting on Wednesday.

The Crystal Mountain Ski Resort reports it will partially open on Wednesday, and expand that opening on Thursday.   Crystal reports 20-inches of snow at its base and two feet at higher elevations.  You can see what the weather looks like on the area'sWeb cam.

"It's snowing like crazy," says area spokesperson Tiana Enger.

Further to the north, Mt. Baker, says it will be ready to go on Thursday with 40 inches of snow currently reported on the ground at Heather Meadows.

Any opening ahead of the four-day Thanksgiving weekend is considered a gift, and a major boost to the economic bottom line.

 This is one of the earliest openings for Crystal in recent years.

Last season, the opener came much later - on December 16. The year before, on December 1, which isn't considered too bad. The 2006-07 season did come early on November 16. The 2005-2006 season was one of the earliest at November 4 - but the season prior to that, was the drought wintter of 2004-2005.