In true, dramatic California fashion, the state’s Sierra Mountains region is on pace to break a 40-year-record for snowfall, turning an area once stricken by drought into a place of excess.
And more snow is on the way, with weather experts saying the wet pattern will continue this month and possibly into April with rain.
The snow brought avalanche evacuations, major interstate closures and overwhelmed ski resorts that ironically had to shutter access in some areas because there was just too much of a good thing.
It’s overwhelming to say the least, and the visuals tell it all about the storms and the extent of their magnitude.
The storms in some areas have been relentless this year, with the California Snow Survey of the Natural Resources Conservation Service reporting that the Lake Tahoe Basin received 230% of what is considered normal precipitation for the month of January alone.
Mammoth Mountain has about 700 inches of snow. That’s 58.4 feet. Most other ski resorts have surpassed 500 inches, according to ABC10.
Utah resorts
California is not the only region in the West impacted by these wet patterns. Deer Valley is reporting 400 inches of snow,
At one point in January, Utah ski resorts had the most snow of any resort in the country.
All of Utah’s basins recorded by the Utah Snow Survey are in the triple digits for snowpack — well above average — with some receiving twice what they normally get.
Southwestern Utah, which in recent years has been left out to dry when it comes to moisture, has 216% of average snowpack, according to the Utah Snow Survey.
The state is not done yet, either.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City said more snow is on the way this weekend, and there is a chance more wet weather could descend next week.
While the overwhelming majority of Utah remains abnormally dry or in some type of drought, the U.S. Drought Monitor in an update released this week said only 3% of the state remains in extreme drought.
Colorado River impacts
Utah’s neighbor to the east, Colorado, is also getting generous amounts of snowpack.
The Yampa and White Basin is at 136% of normal, while the basin of the Upper Colorado River Headwaters is at 122% of normal, according to the snow survey in Colorado.
That state, too, is expecting more storms.