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BOONE -- The freezing temperatures came in just in time on Thursday night to help North Carolina's ski industry gear up for what's traditionally one of its busiest weekends -- the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The snowfall that started Thursday night and continued into Friday, along with lower temperatures, were especially welcome during a season that's been warmer than the past few winters.

"It's been a gift," said Kim Jochl, spokeswoman at Sugar Mountain Resort. "Here's 6 inches, 8 inches of snow, four days of temperatures in the teens and it's fantastic."

Skies are expected to be mostly sunny through the holiday in the Northwest North Carolina mountains, but temperatures aren't expected to climb out of the 20s today with a chance of snow flurries, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow was still falling Friday afternoon at the Beech Mountain Resort, formerly known as Ski Beech, and about 6 inches of new snow had accumulated.

Much of the mountain areas, including those at lower elevations than the ski slopes, had lighter snow accumulations, with about an inch or so.

Just late last week, ski slope operators were talking about the above-normal temperatures.

Wolf Ridge Ski Resort in Madison County didn't open until Dec. 29. It had opened on Dec. 8 last year.

"We're in an industry that is driven by the weather, and we're at its mercy," said Kathy Bogdanescu, spokeswoman for Wolf Ridge. "Last year we were lucky."

The mountains had a big snowstorm on Christmas Day a year ago, and then other significant follow-up storms in January, which created excellent conditions for skiers.

By contrast, this year's weather has seen above-normal temperatures and a weather pattern that's created what forecasters at Accuweather.com termed a "national snow drought."

Scott Krentz, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service station in Greenville, S.C., said an El Nina weather pattern with a dominant southern flow of air has kept the South, and most of the United States, warmer than normal.

"We've been averaging 10 to 15 degrees above normal for high temperatures for the last three to four weeks," Krentz said.

Brad Moretz, at Appalachian Ski Mountain near Blowing Rock, said there were enough cold days to create a good base of snow.

Talia Freeman, spokeswoman at Beech Mountain Resorts, said they've got 10 new SMI Super PoleCat snow guns this year, which nearly tripled the resort's snowmaking capacity.

"The challenge this year has been to assure people we have snow," she said.

She reminded people that great ski conditions still may exist at the top of the mountain even when Winston-Salem is enjoying balmy 60-degree weather.

Jochl said this year has been challenging so far, but it's too early to know how it'll turn out.

"This year we may think it's mild and unseasonable, but it's just winter in North Carolina," she said. "It's not unusual."

They're still optimistic about the season, and are delighted with the recent cold air and natural snowfall.

"No matter what the weather, we're always trying to do the best with what we get," Jochl said. "We're in the business to make snow and get people on the snow."