when can i shred?
Dakotas & Iowa

Normally Oct 11

Snowmaking weather normally reaches Black Hills around Oct 11, 361 days away.

That is the whole estimate, and it describes the weather at a reference town. Nobody has filed an opening date for a resort here, so there is nothing to project from. The chart and the tiles below are the same ones the Minnesota page runs on, taken at Lead, SD, Bismarck and Dubuque instead of at resorts. The curve shown is Dubuque's.

Resorts tracked
0
Opening dates on file
0
Earliest normal window
Oct 11
Oct–Nov hrs there
448

When the guns can run

Snow guns need a wet-bulb temperature under 28°F. The mean at Dubuque does not get there until Dec 1, but the first workable window normally arrives on Nov 9. Resorts open on those early cold snaps rather than on the average.

60° 45° 30° 15° FIRST WORKABLE WINDOW Oct 10 normally Nov 9 Dec 8 COLD ENOUGH TO MAKE SNOW Average crosses 28° · Dec 1 Today · Oct 15 Aug 23 Oct 1 Nov 1 Dec 1 Jan 1 60° 45° 30° 15° FIRST WORKABLE WINDOW Oct 10 normally Nov 9 Dec 8 COLD ENOUGH TO MAKE SNOW Average crosses 28° · Dec 1 Today · Oct 15 Aug 23 Oct 1 Nov 1 Dec 1 Jan 1
Mean wet-bulb, Dubuque, 1995–2025 28°F snowmaking threshold Cold enough to make snow

The next two weeks

1 of 3 get snowmaking weather in the next 16 days.

Black Hills

21.9°

Coldest wet bulb the 16-day forecast reaches at Lead, SD.

Coldest hour
Fri 16 Oct, 9am
Air temperature then
28.0°
Humidity then
45%
Hours under 28°
32
First window
Thu 15 Oct, 11pm
Normal Oct–Nov hours
448

Bismarck

28.8°

Coldest wet bulb the 16-day forecast reaches at Bismarck.

Coldest hour
Sat 17 Oct, 8am
Air temperature then
32.7°
Humidity then
73%
Hours under 28°
0
First window
—
Normal Oct–Nov hours
430

Dubuque

30.5°

Coldest wet bulb the 16-day forecast reaches at Dubuque.

Coldest hour
Sat 17 Oct, 7am
Air temperature then
32.3°
Humidity then
89%
Hours under 28°
0
First window
—
Normal Oct–Nov hours
199

Wet-bulb forecast from Open-Meteo, updated twice a day. Guns can run under 28°.

Want resort-specific info? We need help!

We need somebody to find opening and closing dates, and to tell the pre-season opening apart from the full one where the two differ. That mostly means digging through Facebook feeds by hand. Sometimes the website has it. Minnesota shows what a region looks like once it is filled in.

9 resorts in this region, none with dates on file yet. From the Midwest Ski Resort Guide by Midwest Skiers.

Know a Dakotas & Iowa resort's dates, or want to take on the whole state? Email eazydp@gmail.com. Dates for resorts already listed are just as welcome.