The I-70 corridor of Colorado had near record snowfall in the first half of November. After a dry month over most of the West, major storms hit the West Coast during the 3rd week of December and spread into much of the Rockies reduced intensity. Starting around Christmas the storm track finally moved north to help out many areas which had started the season very slowly. This January was one of the driest in history over most of the West, with many areas receiving less than half normal snow and only a handful with close to normal snowfall for the month. The first week of February finally broke the drought in Utah and also improved conditions in Colorado and the Northern Rockies. This past week's tropical storm drenched Southern California but produced some snow for the southern and central Rockies. Many regions have subpar conditions for this normally prime part of the season, but weather forecasts predict new snow and improved conditions in the West for the last half of February.
California: After 2-4 feet of snow in early November the Sierra received no snow at all for a month. During the 3rd week of December the Sierra got up to 10 feet of snow, setting up North America's best holiday ski conditions. There was another 2-4 feet of snow during the holiday period. Year-to-date snow totals are now below average only about 2 feet new snow since New Year's. Low elevations and sunny exposures turned to spring conditions in January but coverage remained solid on a 3-9+ foot base and the surface was refreshed by several inches new snow this week. Season snowfall is now 194 inches at Mammoth (88% of normal), 296 at the top of Kirkwood and 218 at Squaw 8,200 (78% of normal) and 101 at the base. See Current California Ski Conditions for more details on Southern California and Mammoth.
RSN December Snow: Northstar 133, Heavenly 125.
RSN January Snow: Northstar 10, Heavenly 8.
RSN February Snow: Heavenly 8.
Pacific Northwest: Normally the most reliable region by early December, the Northwest had a tough start this year, much drier and warmer than normal. Only Mt. Baker reached full operation in mid-December. Whistler was headed for its worst Christmas in over 20 years until Santa delivered 4.5 feet of snow December 24-25. Mt. Bachelor gradually accumulated snow through Christmas but had 6 feet of snow before New Year's to bring its base up to 8 feet. Only the Whistler alpine had close to normal snow in January, with excessive rain throught the region at lower elevations. Base depths are 5-6 feet at Mt. Baker, Mt. Bachelor and in the Whistler alpine but considerably lower elsewhere. With February being dry so far, hardpack and spring conditions are widespread throughout the region, and coverage remains marginal below 4,500 feet except where there is snowmaking.
RSN December Snow:Whistler 118, Mt. Bachelor 127.
RSN January Snow:Whistler 80, Mt. Bachelor 35.
RSN February Snow:Whistler 2, Mt. Bachelor 9
Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: This region had a very poor start but gradually accumulated a snow base since mid-December. Lake Louise (81 inches snowfall, 56% of normal) has snowmaking but the natural terrain is reported very rocky. Sunshine, Big White, Red and Fernie reached full operation by mid-January, but the latter two areas were hit by Northwest rain to 7,000 feet in late January. With little new snow since then, coverage and surface conditions are adequate in this region only above 5,000 feet, and even there far below normal standards.
RSN December Snow: Sunshine 32.
RSN January Snow: Fernie 50, Red Mt. 55, Sunshine 36.
RSN February Snow: Fernie 2, Red Mt. 4, Sunshine 5.
U. S. Northern Rockies: Jackson has had 246 inches of season snow (96% of normal), including about 7 feet since mid-January, a rare Western area to have consistently good skiing during this time. Targhee has been similarly blessed since mid-December in its usual drought-resistant mode. Big Sky and Bridger received only moderate snows in January, but a 3-4 foot storm in early February brought decent coverage to much of their expert terrain for the first time this season. Kootenay areas had a similar dry start to western Canada, with consistent snowfall commencing only in mid-December, and the same setback of the late January rain. Big Mountain (116 inches snow YTD, 54% of normal) has had a foot of new snow since, and is well-covered due to its base elevation near 5,000 feet. Schweitzer did not open until just before Christmas but has since been in full operation on a base now 5-8 feet. Sun Valley benefited from December storms moving northeast from California and has total snowfall of 120 inches, 94% of normal.
RSN December Snow: Big Sky 30.
RSN January Snow: Schweitzer 54, Big Sky 37, Targhee 93.
RSN February Snow: Schweitzer 2, Big Sky 37, Targhee 49.
Utah: Alta has had 194 inches of snow since November 1 (62% of normal), after 43 inches in October and currently reports a 72-inch base. With base depths in the 4-foot range, only Alta and Brighton likely had decent coverage with the holiday crowds. After equalling the previous driest January in the past 36 years, Utah finally was hit with a 2-4 foot dump in early February plus a few inches last week. I would still expect conditions in the Cottonwood Canyons to be much better than in the Park City region. Utah's total snow is still well below average, unusual when California and Colorado have done comparatively well.
RSN December Snow: Snowbird 43, Park City 36.
RSN January Snow: Snowbird 25, Park City 25.
RSN February Snow: Snowbird 48, Park City 28.
Northern and Central Colorado: After a few lean early seasons this region had near record snowfall in November. That snow got chewed up over the ensuing dry month but has been refreshed by about 1 foot new per week since mid-December. Still leading the region is Vail, with 226 inches snowfall (102% of normal) and 98% of its 5,100 acres open since before Thanksgiving. Winter Park has had 210.4 inches (95% of normal), Breckenridge 173 (101% of normal) and Steamboat 199.5 (87% of normal). Loveland is in full operation and Copper and Keystone 95+%. Most of these areas had more terrain open at Thanksgiving than they did at Christmas 3 of the past 4 years. Season snowfall is now close to average, but most of it came in November. Surface conditions have improved with up to 2 feet of new snow in February.
RSN December Snow: A-Basin 24, Copper 21, Keystone 19.
RSN January Snow: A-Basin 32, Copper 43, Keystone 19.
RSN February Snow: A-Basin 13, Copper 24, Keystone 9.
Southern and Western Colorado: Wolf Creek can claim another year as North America's early season leader. It reached full operation as of November 9 but its current 66-77 inch base is not much higher than then. It had 6 feet of snow in October but only 131 inches (60% of normal) since November 1. Elsewhere in the region Taos reports full operation on a 5-6 foot base, still less than ideal in its expert terrain. Aspen, Crested Butte, Durango and Telluride are in full operation on 4-5 foot bases. After the dry January, both season totals and base depths are below average in the region, but surface conditions are good as most areas have had 2 feet of snow in February, and this week's Southwest storm may continue over the weekend.
RSN December Snow: Aspen 22, Crested Butte 22, Durango 40, Telluride 34, Taos 19.
RSN January Snow: Aspen 24, Crested Butte 26, Durango 11, Telluride 18, Taos 34.
RSN February Snow: Aspen 29, Crested Butte 20, Durango 17, Telluride 17, Taos 24.
Northeast: Northern New England had a nice run of cold weather at the start of November plus over a foot of natural snow. As a result Killington was 30% open and Okemo 15% November 9, likely records for that early. After a one week thaw melted out half of that terrain, cold and snowy weather over the next month brought the major Vermont areas to 80+% open. Mid-December rain and variable weather degraded surface conditions between storms but did not reduce the number of open runs. From Christmas through mid-January there were several major storms in New England, with southern areas benefiting the most and January snowfall exceeding most of the West. Late January weather was mostly dry but very cold, and since then the northern areas have received 2-3 feet of new snow. Jay's season snowfall is 217 inches. I strongly recommend checking First Tracks Online Ski Magazine No-Bull Ski Reports for up to date information in this region, where both weather and surface conditions can change so rapidly.
RSN December Snow: Stowe 58, Killington 68, Stratton 53, Sugarloaf 7.
RSN January Snow: Stowe 65, Killington 59, Stratton 40, Sugarloaf 13, Snowshoe 54.
RSN February Snow: Stowe 38, Killington 11, Stratton 15, Sugarloaf 20, Snowshoe 22, Mt. St. Anne 20, Mt. Tremblant 22.