by: Marc Sternfield, The Associated Press contributed to this report
Published: December 30, 2022 / 5:01 PM PST
Updated: December 30, 2022 / 6:13 PM PST
An atmospheric river storm, a long, wide plume of moisture pulled from the Pacific, began sweeping across northern California Friday and was expected to bring more rain through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
In the Sierra Nevada, up to another 5 feet (1.5 meters) of snow is possible in the mountains above Lake Tahoe, where a winter storm warning extends through Sunday morning.
The series of storms spanning late fall into early winter produced stellar conditions at some of California’s ski resorts.
Mammoth Mountain reported a base depth of 85″ at the main lodge and 125″ at the summit on Friday, according to onthesnow.com. Further north in the Lake Tahoe area, Boreal Mountain Resort reported a base of 80″ with seven inches of fresh snow in the last 24 hours and Soda Springs had a base of 75″.
Although it might be too early to discuss the records, the resorts hope that Mother Nature will continue to deliver in the new year.
“The amount of snow expected from the next Atmospheric River event in early January certainly has the chance to threaten some records, but we’ll see how the model develops,” said Mammoth Mountain spokesman Tim LeRoy.
The news is also encouraging when it comes to the impact on the drought situation in California. Surveys show that snowpack is running well above average for this time of year in the north, center and south of the state.
According to the California Department of Water Resources, the Southern Sierra region is 184% of normal after receiving 13.7 inches of “snow water equivalent” to date.
California Ski Report for December 30, 2022
Maps, Radar and Other Data
Surf Report (Stats by Solspot)
Los Angeles Virtual Doppler
Southwest Doppler Radar
California Satellite Radar
Los Angeles Basin Radar
Orange County Radar
Inland Empire Radar
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