Lowest Snowfall Season on Record Virtually Assured

This season's meager late-season snowpack in Little Cottonwood Canyon

If I'm adding up the numbers right, the snowfall at Alta-Guard since November 1st now sits at 231 inches.  The all-time low in the instrumented record, which begins in 1945-1946, is 314.5 inches, set in 1976-77.  A record low snowfall season is virtually assured at this point, unless something truly remarkable happens late in the month.

Although this will be record low snowfall season, for skiing, 1976-77 was worse.  In that season, the resorts were either closed or open with very limited terrain well into the winter.  The snowfall in November and December was only 13.5 and 17 inches, respectively, compared with 59.5 and 73.5 inches this season.  Early snow is always more important for a quality ski season than late snow.  Plus for resort skiing, we now have snowmaking.

Yeah, it was a bad year, but things can only go up from here, right?