Big-Snow year in Sierras?

[MarkBC]

Somebody posted this photo on Weather Underground today:


with the caption:
"It has been 15 years since the UP rotaries have been called out to clear Donner Summit of snow"

I guess I haven't been paying attention...so, -- you CA/Sierra guys -- has it been a record or near-record snow year or something like that?

 

[Ted]

One ski area on the news the other night said they had 600 inches so far this season. A coworker of mine has a cabin near Soda Springs. His driveway is cleared and the wall of snow on either side is 12' tall. He has pictures looking out his second floor windows and there is snow covering them.
Don't know if it is a record or not, but it is a sh--load of snow. The waterfalls should be awesome this year.

 

[Greatbasinguide]

I read where this is the biggest winter since 1969.

50 feet of snow has fallen around Truckee and the lake.

 

[rotti]

Please let some of it blow on east!
We're on fire here.

 

[fish more]

It's going to be awhile before any camping above 5000' is done. Early spring fishing with the camper is out of the question for the upper Sierras, may have to look into a Snocat with a pick-up box ! But the great thing is all the lakes will be full !!

 

[ski3pin]

Thus far this has been a really good year, but not a record breaker. The last snow survey will be this week. Here's the latest release from water resources:
DWR's Fourth Snow Survey
of 2010-2011 Season Set for Next Week
SACRAMENTO -- The Department of Water Resources (DWR) will conduct its
fourth manual snow survey, Wednesday, March 30, at 11 a.m. near Echo Summit
off Highway 50.
"We are looking at a good water supply year as we prepare for this summer's peak
demand period," said DWR Director Mark Cowin. "This is great news so long as we
can control floodwaters. Our up-and-down cycles -- drought followed by flood
threats -- remind us that assuring an adequate water supply in California is always a
juggling act, and we can't afford to forget the lessons of conservation even in brief
periods of plenty."
Today's electronic readings from sensors up and down California's mountain ranges
indicate that snowpack water content is 159 percent of the April 1, full season
average. April 1 is when snowpack water content normally is at its peak before the
spring and summer runoff.
Following six dry weeks in January and February, a series of storms has been
sweeping across the state, with wet weather expected to continue through this
weekend.
Manual surveys are conducted up and down the state's mountain ranges on or
about the first of the month from January to May. The manual surveys supplement
and check the accuracy of real-time electronic readings as the snowpack builds,
then melts in spring and summer.

 

[pvstoy]

It's looking like one of those years that I won't bother getting a backpacking permit for the 4th of July this year. Unless we have a hot windy spring and it evaporates and melts off. But I hope it does not come off fast and causes flooding!

We had 5 inches overnight at my house in CC.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

A coworker of mine has a cabin near Soda Springs. His driveway is cleared and the wall of snow on either side is 12' tall. He has pictures looking out his second floor windows and there is snow covering them.
Don't know if it is a record or not, but it is a sh--load of snow.


Yes, my friend Ted, Soda Springs gets plenty of snow. I lived there the winter of 82/83 when I could ski over the roof of my cabin--the peak was 35 ft off the ground! The telephone and power lines were under drifts in places and the walls of snow created by the snowblowers were 15 or so feet high along the roads.

A friend at the Central Sierra Snow Lab, who was also there in 82/83, reported this morning that the records of that year have been broken.

 

[K6ON]

Soda Springs Post Office from this morning's Sacramento Bee...

 

[ski3pin]

......woke to another foot this morning.........foot of snow that is.

 

[MarkBC]

Soda Springs Post Office from this morning's Sacramento Bee...

Yikes!

 

[Greatbasinguide]

This is the parking lot at Boreal Ridge, sometime in the late 90's

 

[DLN]

This is the most snow we've had here since 92-93 and by far the most we've had in the 13 years I've been keeping snow fall stats. As of the last snow survey at the end of February we already had 108% of the entire season total. Snow totals thus far in March have been 25% higher then the previous high for the month in the records I have. Most people around here have had more then enough of the snow and can't wait for it to end. On Friday Sugar Bowl didn't open due to closed roads but also due to too much snow over night for them to deal with. Right now we're hoping the long range weather forecast is correct and we'll get a break next week, maybe see the sun and melt some of this white crap.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Soda Springs Post Office from this morning's Sacramento Bee...


Ha, ha. That's about what Soda Springs PO looked like when I used to get my mail there!

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

This is the most snow we've had here since 92-93 and by far the most we've had in the 13 years I've been keeping snow fall stats. As of the last snow survey at the end of February we already had 108% of the entire season total. Snow totals thus far in March have been 25% higher then the previous high for the month in the records I have. Most people around here have had more then enough of the snow and can't wait for it to end. On Friday Sugar Bowl didn't open due to closed roads but also due to too much snow over night for them to deal with. Right now we're hoping the long range weather forecast is correct and we'll get a break next week, maybe see the sun and melt some of this white crap.


DLN, I guess the world famous Donner Ski Ranch has also been closed, eh?

 

[DLN]

Stew, don't know about Donner Ski Ranch. We have passes and a locker at Sugar Bowl so we're always up on it's operation, just can't get there enough, especially now.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

R Osterhuber at the Central Sierra Snow Lab in Soda Springs, CA reports:

We haven't broken records for precip or snowfall yet, but as of today we have the 4th greatest snow depth (5.70 m) ever on our study site at the Snow Lab. For all my tenure here, I've never seen 5 m snowpacks. The early 80s winters all peaked at just over 4 m. The summit has gone from fat to deep to epic to dangerous. Even the giant machinery is stuggling to find (snow) storage space. It's still snowing hard today, so stay tuned.

Snowfall and snowpack info from Donner Pass:

 

[MarkBC]

R Osterhuber at the Central Sierra Snow Lab in Soda Springs, CA reports:

We haven't broken records for precip or snowfall yet, but as of today we have the 4th greatest snow depth (5.70 m) ever on our study site at the Snow Lab. For all my tenure here, I've never seen 5 m snowpacks. The early 80s winters all peaked at just over 4 m. The summit has gone from fat to deep to epic to dangerous. Even the giant machinery is stuggling to find (snow) storage space. It's still snowing hard today, so stay tuned.

Snowfall and snowpack info from Donner Pass:

View attachment 11558

Great stuff, Stew and others who've posted photos. I'm glad I started this thread -- I luv weather/climate stuff!

Especially luv actual records of historical data -- and photos are data, too. Over the years, I've watched -- and sometimes recorded -- weather data at my house (uploaded as this station at Wunderground for several years). One thing I've noticed when locals talk about how "we used to get more snow in Bend" or "it used to get colder here": People don't remember averages, they remember extremes. This includes me, of course. I tend to remember the winter of '93/'94 when the ground in Bend was continuously snow-covered for 90 days (which beat the previous record by 30 days!)...and a couple of years in the late-70's/early-80's when it got down into the negative-teens regularly and it never got above freezing for an entire month...but those were extremes, not typical.

Data R gud!

 

[BillM]

Yep, we're getting pounded. The sad thing is we've done less backcountry skiing than usual because the avalanche risk has been so high. Hoping for a good spring, warm sunny days and below freezing nights, so we can ski into July.

 

[mtn-high]

It's been a strange Winter here in the Vail Valley. More moisture in the snowpack overall and lotsa snow up high (above average snowpack..135% last i heard)...but here in the valley @ 7250 we are seeing grass (OK, MUD) whereas on past years (2008) comes to mind) at the same time of the year we had a good couple of feet on the ground. We've seen a lot of days where it will snow 10 inches on the hill and only an inch here at the house.

And to the folks who say "Move South"..... I say wait a few months! Summa is comin', my mountain dwelling friends!

mtn