Did Someone Say It Is Snowing?

Rumors are its snowing in the Wasatch.  I see about 6" since yesterday on the Collins Stake at Alta and Ski Utah's morning report advertises a max for the Wasatch resorts of 9" at Brighton.  

Peshaw!

Excuse me for being distracted, but my eye's gaze is drawn to the Sierra.

Other than a bit more of a bend and northward shift in the precipitation band, the radar over central California changed little overnight.  Heavy precipitation associated with an atmospheric river continues to have its crosshairs aimed at the Sierra Nevada.

The main change is the northward shift, which has allowed the Sierra around Lake Tahoe to get more snow overnight after a bit of a lull yesterday.

Here are some changes in total snow depth based on automated sensors in the Sierra Nevada from Squaw Valley to Mammoth Mountain from 1800 UTC (1000 PST) 26 January to 1200 UTC (0400 PST) 28 January:

Belmont-Squaw Valley (8000’): 25”
Roundhouse Bottom-Alpine Meadows (6950’): 21”
Caples Lake Near Kirkwood (8000’): 27”
Stanislaus Meadow (7750’): 35”
Deadman Creek (9250’): 35”
Slide Canyon (9500’): 46”
Mammoth Mountain Sesame (9014’): 47”

The change increases as you move southward, maximizing in the high eastern Sierra from Mono Lake to Mammoth Mountain.  I haven't looked further south yet to see if that's the maximum, but I suspect it is close to it as water equivalents from remote observing sites in the Sierra drop off quickly once you get a bit south of Mammoth.  

Below is snowfall data from the interval board at Mammoth's Sesame Snow Study Plot.  This board gets wiped from time to time, resulting in a reset of the snow depth back to zero.  You can see accumulations of 16", 18" and then 18" again before each wipe.  Sadly, the obs go haywire after that, but this is enough to indicate 52" of snow in about 26 hours.

While good for base, the problem with that much snow is resort operations will be difficult to impossible and the backcountry requires Herculean trail breaking through deep snow with slopes that might be steep enough to keep momentum going on too dangerous to ski.  In situations like this, instead of flocking to areas with the most snow, it's better to think about venturing to areas with lesser amounts in the "Goldilocks" range.

The good news is it will be there in the spring.