It’s an endless winter in the West.
Snow from the barrage of storms that pounded the western mountains over the winter is still on the ground. Many mountains in the Rockies, Sierra and Cascades are packed with at least 8 feet of snow, the National Weather Service said, creating a dream summer for skiers and snowboarders.
The Mammoth Mountain ski area in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., is seeing its “best spring conditions in decades … and will be operating DAILY into August for one of our longest seasons in history,” the resort said on its website. “When will this endless winter end? We don’t have that answer yet, but we do know that the skiing and riding is all-time right now.”
The snowpack throughout the Sierra rivals, and in places exceeds, records set during the massive winter of 1982-83. As of June 6, the amount of snow on the ground in the central Sierra region was twice as much as usual, marking its biggest June snowpack in decades, the California Department of Water Resources said.
“We are in rare territory here with the winter we’ve had,” said Chris Smallcomb, a meteorologist with the weather service in Reno, Nev., the office that also covers the Sierra in California.
The snow can be a deadly hazard, though, for hikers or water enthusiasts. Snow-covered routes make walking difficult and falls on steep slopes can result in long, dangerous and uncontrolled slides. full story
