Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Sierra Snow

Can anyone comment on the amount of snow in the Sierra? I see Mammoth appears to be getting quite a bit of snow this year, yet talk of drought is everywhere.

I realize that Mammoth generally gets more snow than other parts of the Sierra due to that gap in the range (west of Mammoth). However, sometimes I wonder if Mammoth is actually inflating their snow reports.

What's up (from Oregon)?

A ski area inflate their numbers? Shocking allegations!

I sometimes wonder if the ski areas report what is on the ground, or what fell before it settled.

This link may help:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/PAGE6

The WEQ summary is very handy.

anout 80% of normal for the date right now - can all change with a few more storms

From the Weather Links page:   California Snow Water Content

Thanks guys!

Mammoth exaggerates? Oh, my!! I'm shocked and appalled!!!

Ok, not really but...they do report snowfall, not water content like the CA water sites. They also report their "base" which is compacted, not fluff.

Like most things, their reports are most useful for season-to-season comparisons. During my extended series of attempts on Mt. Ritter, I regularly used the Mammoth Mountain ski site to keep track of snowfall in that part of the Sierra. My journal of that was quite helpful when planning the annual assault on "my" mountain. I still track it to be able to answer questions about the Ritter/Banner area and have found that the year-on-year information is consistent at least in a relative sense.

There is definitely more snow at Mammoth Mtn. this year compared to last year. I was skiing there last week. I'd figure there's about 80 inches more this year. Take a look at this recent photo (taken 21 Feb.) of the 20 ft tall summit sign. I have a photo of the very same sign last year taken around the same time of the year with me standing by it. I'm almost 6 ft tall and the top of the sign is above my head. This year standing by the sign its top is below my head by at least a foot.


hiiker

Good information can be found here: NOAA Snow Analyses for the Sierras