Cerro Catedral, Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Boscos
Cold temperatures and heavy snow combined to allow an early start to the ski season at Argentina’s Cerro Catedral ski resort, according to Snow-Forecast.
“Argentina has seen the most reported pre-season snowfall of any southern hemisphere ski nation with Catedral (40/80cm / 16/32”) ski area, South America’s largest in terms of lift uplift, reporting an estimated 4 feet (1.2m) of snowfall down to base level and double that up high in the first week of May,” wrote Snow-Forecast. “It made a surprise early opening, kicking off the southern hemisphere’s 2024 ski season last Friday [May 10].”
Skiing at Cerro Catedral usually doesn’t open until sometime in June, which had been the plan for this season until the early heavy and sustained snow made an early opening possible.
Temperatures in the region also helped make early skiing possible. Temperatures from the mountain peaks down to its base were below freezing on May 17, as they had been throughout the week. Weather forecasts for the area indicate temperatures are expected to remain low enough to prevent the snow that fell earlier in the month, and that was expected to fall in the coming week, from melting.
“Staying fairly cold …, mostly in the -10 to +5C range, so there shouldn’t be too much thawing of the early snow,” Snow-Forecast reported. “[D]own south towards Tierra del Fuego, where daytime highs will be closer to freezing and more sleet and snow showers are forecast.”