The 1998-99 season may be regarded negatively by many skiers due to difficult weather in the Northeast and the early season drought in most of Colorado and Utah. However, the real story has been the record-breaking snowfall in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, as exemplified by Mt. Baker's new world record snowfall of 1,096 inches from November 1 to April 30. Comprehensive snow statistics are finally available and shown in the 1998-99 Ski Season Summary.

California: Sierra snowfall was above average in late November and early December, followed by total drought from Dec. 20 to Jan. 15. Conditions were good before Christmas, chewed up during the big holiday week, and thus only fair the first half of January. There were major dumps in the second half of January and throughout February, creating a deep snowpack for the rest of the season. After a warm spell in mid-March, the Sierra had over double normal snow in April, ensuring an excellent spring season. Southern California and Arizona had severe drought, with 50% or less of normal snow through March, and just few quality natural snow days from the 3-5 feet which fell in April. See 1998-99 California Detail for more details on Southern California and Mammoth. The table shows the clear trend of decreasing snow as one moves from north to south.

Pacific Northwest: This region had its highest snowfall in at least 25 years, with nearly all areas which I track likely to post the highest numbers I have seen. Oregon was pounded first in mid-November, with Washington and B.C. getting the biggest dumps in early December. January snowfall was merely above average, while it snowed nearly every day in February. March saw a few sunny breaks from the Seattle area south, but it continued to dump in the north. Rain incidence was lower than normal, with a couple of downpours in December and just a few minor episodes later in the season. Alaska, which does not necessarily correlate to the Pac NW areas, also had record snow with almost no rain this season. The Northwest Ski Reports contain numerous ecstatic accounts of the many epic powder days this season. In the table below, record highs are marked with an * and world records are marked with an **.

This was the 3rd highest season in my 33 years of data for Mt. Rainier, exceeded only by 1971-72 and 1973-74. The maximum base in the Whistler alpine was 183 inches this year vs. 197 in 1974. 1973-74 was likely much colder, as evidenced by over 400 inches snowfall at the Whistler base. Snowfall info for the Whistler alpine is incomplete for 1971-72 and 1973-74.

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Canadian Rockies and Interior B.C.: Like coastal B.C., these areas got hammered with far above normal snow from early December onwards. Usually Pacific Northwest storms move inland along the U.S.-Canada border and hit the Kootenay areas the hardest. This season, more of the storms moved northeast, bringing record snowfall to the Okanagan and outstanding conditions to the Banff region also. In the table below, record highs are marked with an *.

This was the 2nd highest season in my 29 years of data for Sunshine. I have only 14 years for Big White, but this year exceeds the previous high by 17%.

U. S. Northern Rockies: The Idaho panhandle enjoyed a record snow year like its Washington state neighbors. The northeast track of the December storms left Wyoming and Montana very dry until Christmas. However, snowfall was nearly continuous from Christmas until the end of February. Jackson was in good shape by New Year's, and Big Sky opened Lone Peak the second week of January. Most March and April storms tracked north or south of the region. In the table below, record highs are marked with an *.

Utah: Utah had major dumps in late October and early November, but then suffered through a 2-month stretch with less than half normal snow, resulting in a poor holiday season. Normal or better snow returned to the region in late January and February, and after a warm March Utah finished with abundant snowfall in April.

Northern and Central Colorado: With barely half normal snowfall in November and December, this region had its worst holiday season since 1980-81. Relief came to Steamboat at Christmas and to the rest of the region with well above normal snow in January. Most of Vail's back bowls opened in mid-January and almost all expert terrain in the region was open by mid-February. With the still below average base depths, spring was threatened by two warm mid-March weeks. However, late March and April brought heavy snow to the region and most areas remained in good shape to their late April or early May closing dates. The exception was Vail, which closed the back bowls April 5 to start rebuilding Two Elk restaurant.

Colorado ski areas suffered economically from the poor early start, as vacation bookings dropped for the rest of the season. I have always tried to editorialize that most Colorado areas are far from slam-dunk reliable in the early season, but are extremely reliable for mid and late season skiing. Few skiers would have been disappointed from mid-January onwards, and most of them probably enjoyed the lower crowds and bargain package deals which resulted from overreaction to the December conditions.

Southern and Western Colorado: Aspen and Crested Butte (Gothic is between the two and gets much more snow than either) had the same early season problems as northern and central Colorado, with drought relief coming in January. Crested Butte opened most of the North Face February 1, and most of Snowmass' expert terrain opened in February. The southwest areas (Purgatory, Taos, Wolf Creek) had major dumps in late October and early November, similar to Utah. The core of the southwest ski season was unusually dry, but the whole region was hit with 3-5 feet of new snow in late March and early April, right before the areas closed. Telluride caught the northern edge of the November storms and the southern edge of the January storms, but shared the southwest drought in the other winter months.

Skiing at Taos was not as bad as the above figures might imply. The early storms were unusually high in water content, so the base held up pretty well, particularly in the low traffic hiking areas above the lifts.

Northeast: November temperatures were above freezing as often as below, and Thanksgiving weekend brought the first significant (6-12 inches) natural snow to the northern areas. Skiing was almost reduced to square one by the warm spell of early December but snowmaking was nearly continuous for the rest of the month. The first half of January brought the first big storms to New England, with some Vermont areas getting 4 feet or more. Most New England areas reached full operation, including natural snow areas like Mad River Glen. A week of thaw and freezing rain closed many runs, but most areas were 80-90% open again by late January. February snow was below average, but most areas maintained their coverage on variable surfaces with snowmaking. March brought up to 5 feet of snowfall and the best conditions of the season to New England. Base depths remained slightly below normal due to the poor early season. Most areas closed in early April, but a few of the major northern ones were in limited operation to late April or early May.