Cascade ski peaks are wondering when Mother Nature will send the love — or at least the snow.

Heavy rains and warmer-than-usual temperatures forced many ski resorts to temporarily close this week, while ski shops and ski schools braced for cancellations and falling sales.

The ski season, which usually starts in late November and runs through early May, brings around 1.8 million snowboarders and skiers to the state's resorts every year, according to Ski Washington. This year, many are going to Idaho, Oregon or inland Canada, among other farther-flung peaks.

Although some local resorts plan to reopen tomorrow or Friday, the weather doesn't look promising.

A tropical system from Hawaii, known as a "Pineapple Express," keeps pushing rain into Washington. Warm, wet weather is forecast off and on through early next week, said Dustin Guy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

"If you're looking for snow, get on a plane and head somewhere else for powder," Guy said.

Area ski resorts Crystal Mountain www.skicrystal.com, 1-888-754-6199 Open, but only two lifts operating. Lift-ticket prices reduced yesterday and today. Stevens Pass Ski Area www.stevenspass.com, 425-353-4400 Closed yesterday and today. Mt. Baker Ski Area www.mtbakerskiarea.com, 360-671-0211 Closed yesterday, today and tomorrow. Planning to reopen Friday. Summit at Snoqualmie www.summit-at-snoqualmie.com, 206-236-1600 Closed Monday, yesterday and today. Sources: Mt. Baker, Stevens Pass, Crystal Mountain and the Summit at Snoqualmie

Even British Columbia's Whistler-Blackcomb, which many local skiers count on for snow, has less than usual, said Darlene Small, senior public-relations officer.

"We're getting lots of calls from Seattle and Vancouver because usually when it's raining there, it means we're getting a lot of snow," Small said. "But today it hasn't meant that."

Mt. Baker Ski Area was having a pretty good year, until Monday. The resort, with a reputation for huge snowfalls, sold around 2,000 annual ski passes, 10 percent more than last year.

But after it lost eight to 10 inches of its snowpack, general manager Duncan Howat decided to shut down yesterday through tomorrow. Around 200 employees got three unexpected days off. Only 20 people in accounting and administration remained at work.

"This is a critical time of year because all the ski schools are starting," Howat said. "This is the time of year when our business really gets going."

At Stevens Pass, ski lifts were stopped around 10:30 a.m. Monday after ice built up on the lines. The resort was shut down by early afternoon, and 400 rain checks were given to skiers. The resort closed yesterday and is to be closed today, idling about 160 employees.

"We need to have the snow come back if we're going to have a decent year," said Chet Marler, director of planning at Stevens Pass.

The ski area opened Dec. 28. It normally opens in late November and sees around 200,000 skiers by now. This year, it has had fewer than 100,000 visitors. Around 700 people work at Stevens when the resort and night skiing are open and busy; only 40 are working this week.

The Summit at Snoqualmie was closed Monday and will remain closed at least through today. No one from the Summit returned calls yesterday, and its Web site did not say when it might reopen.

Crystal Mountain was the only local ski resort open yesterday, but with just two lifts operating. Ticket prices were reduced to $30 (from the usual $45) and the resort scaled back to a minimum of 80 employees, said Stacy Schuster Lyon, Crystal's sales and marketing director. On weekends, Crystal usually has around 300 workers staffing lifts, retail shops and lodges.

Ski shops and schools are feeling the pinch, too.

"We're crying as much as it's raining outside," said Tracy Gibbons, general manager at Sturtevant's Sports, Ski Mart and Boarderline shops in Bellevue and Puyallup.

While December sales were off more than 25 percent, January sales were "a tiny bit up" from last year, Gibbons said.

"A fair amount of our business hasn't gone away because we have a fair amount of clientele who travel to places where there is a lot of snow, like Sun Peaks, Bend and Sun Valley," Gibbons said.

Chris Lewis expected his 1,800 ski racers at the Summit at Snoqualmie to be well into their season by now. But after postponing the weekly amateur league's start date twice, he's just hoping he'll be able to get his nine leagues on the slopes by February.

"My racing gear is in my garage, waiting to be loaded," said Lewis, the founder and director of CityLeague Sports in Seattle. "This is the latest we've had to start."

Kristina Shevory: 206-464-2039 or kshevory@seattletimes.com