The winter of 1997-98 Bloomington had no cross country ski-able daysuntil February 4th, 1998
Wednesday February 4th
Wednesday evening El Niño provided a strong storm that movedup from Florida along the east coast of the United States into the Bloomingtonarea. Much of Kentucky and Ohio received a foot or more of snowfall. InIndiana, Indianapolis and places north recieved no accumulation. SouthernIndiana received up to fourteen inches south by the Ohio river and moreeast than west. Bloomington was on the predicted boarder of any snowfall,but for ski fans, we were lucky. We received in the area of 3 inches. Tracksindicated that one or two persons skied the IU golf course the late hoursof Wednesday.
Thursday February 5th
The morning temperature at 8 am was around 32ºF. The ski conditionsat IU golf course were good for in track skiing from 8 to 9 A.M. From 9to 10 AM the temperature rose to the point that snow began sticking toskis in track. Conditions were still fair if one stayed out of tracks andskied fresh snow. Thursday evening at 7 PM conditions remained fair. Stickingof snow on skis was a problem. From 7 PM to Midnight more snow fell bringingaccumulation to approximately four inches although settling seemed to keepthe total ground cover about the same depth.
Friday February 6th
The temperature remained near freezing. Low spots were wet where drainageoccurs and resulted in ice and snow problems on ones skis if you did notavoid these areas. Using fresh snow and careful use of tracks only in highareas allowed for fair skiing conditions. Friday night had clear skieswhich resulted in colder temperatures.
Saturday February 7th
The early morning temperature was 25º F. Below freezing temperatureprovided good skiing conditions. This skier was not able to get out, butmany tracks all over the golf course show that many Bloomington in-trackclassic skiers enjoyed the frozen snow. The temperature of Saturday afternoonreached the upper 30s. It was questionable whether any snow would survivefor Sunday morning skiing. Tracks show that less than normal numbers ofskate skiers have been out this year. Warm temperature wax would have beenrequired before Saturday.
Sunday February 8th
Again skies were clear and temperatures dropped into the lower to mid-twentydegrees. This skier got out at 8 AM. There were brown spots including somelarge areas on some southern facing slopes. All of the service roads werecompletely melted. Still conditions were good as one picked the best routes.Approximately 95% of the ground was still covered. The snow was frozenenough that this was the first day that this skier was able to skate ski.The area that is the driving range had almost no tracks from previous daysand was the best, in fact very good, for skate skiing as well as trackskiing. Conditions remained good (if snow covered) through 10 AM. Priordays tracks were mostly unusable due to melting that occurred on Saturday.
Monday February 9th
The determined skier might have found spoty sking on the driving rangethis morning at sun up to end a very short season.
-----Spring___________________________Summer___________________________________Fall------
Thursday December 31, 1998
The fall of 1998 was very warm and dry. We wore shorts and short sleevesthrough most of November. The final week of the year temperatures droppedto daytime highs in the lower twenties or upper teens. Snow fell the nightof December 30th. The morning of the 31st, we were treated to five degreesand three powdery inches of snow. Cross-Country skiing seems to be gettingmore popular in Bloomington, because by 11 A.M. when we arrived at theIU golf course, tracks would suggest that 50 skiers had beat us to ourquest to be first out. Those skiers probably found conditions ideal, becausedespite clear direct sun on the snow, by 11:30 we will still gliding withease with our scratched old waxless in-track skis that had seen no siliconesince last season. Air temperature reached only 15 degrees for the day.We did find some snow sticking on our skis if we stood too long on slopesmost directly facing the sun. Friday and Saturday are predicted to bringus snow that will stay for the week to come. A wonderful end to an offyear. We predict good snow and good skiing for 1999.
