People living 11,000 feet above sea level have enjoyed snow recently while portions of the Western United States have been baking. It is the snow that Mammoth Mountain in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada still has on the ground after a remarkable season there.
The resort stated on Instagram that the first weekend in August would be the last time it would be open for skiing until its typical reopening in November.
Only three times in history has Mammoth Mountain continued operations this far into the year. Only two previous occasions were in 1995 and 2017.
The cause? Between October 2022 and June 2023, there will be a record snowfall. Near its main lodge, the resort recorded 715 inches of powder, or about 60 feet, of snowfall. The resort website shows the peak received nearly 900 inches of snow.
This past winter, however, there weren’t many opportunities closer to home.
Snowshoe Mountain, where more than 100 inches of snowfall on average each winter, only received 55 inches of snow during the 2022–2023 winter.
How come?
For what seemed like months at a time, the pattern seemed fixed, particularly in January and February.
Foot after foot of snow would accumulate in California’s Sierra Nevada due to persistent dips and troughs in the jet stream, forcing air up the mountain range.
Permanent rises/ridges in the jet stream cause less snow and more warmth on the other side of the country.
All of this was brought on by La Nia’s third consecutive winter.
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The global trend displays a new side as we approach the winter of 2023–2024.
We are entering an El Nio. This explains why the Western and Southern United States have experienced excessive heat while the East has experienced more storms this summer.
According to historical statistics, southwest and central Virginia has above-average snowfall over half the time during El Nio winters.
There is more to a winter prediction than just this part, but throughout the following two months, we’ll be looking over the data.
In late November, we usually release our yearly winter outlook. Remain tuned!
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