After saying it will open, Sunrise Park Resort says it’s closed for now

PHOENIX — Well, that was a little confusing.

Just 24 hours after announcing it would open for the ski season, Sunrise Park Resort in eastern Arizona said it would be closed until further notice.

The resort gave no explanation for the change.

Sunrise, located off State Route 273 in Greer, had said in a release that it had made enough snow to open the midway point of Sunrise Peak and hoped to have four runs operating by Friday.

When it has enough snow, skiers and snowboarders have access to three peaks and more than 30 runs at Sunrise.

Sunrise’s opening would have come a couple weeks after the state’s other ski area, Arizona Snowbowl, opened its doors for the season. The resort near Flagstaff was forced to delay its ski season because of warm weather and no snowfall.

Sunrise also had yet to get any snow as of Wednesday afternoon.

The National Weather Service said this year’s wait for snow was one of the longest on record.

Flagstaff averages about 18 inches of snow by Dec. 12, while Show Low normally receives 2.6 inches and Prescott has about 2.5 inches.

Temperatures in Arizona’s high country have been 5-15 degrees above normal and that won’t end for at least another week.

The weather service called for highs near 50 degrees at Sunrise through Tuesday, with overnight lows near 20 degrees.

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