Snow-starved California ski resorts delay openings despite powerful recent storms
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- Some California ski resorts have delayed their season openings despite recent storms, as unusually mild temperatures have prevented adequate snowfall.
- Climate change is contributing to boom-and-bust cycles of extremely dry and heavy snow years, making it tough for resorts to plan ahead.
It may have felt like the recent rain would never end in Los Angeles, but the record-breaking precipitation in Southern California has failed to translate into a much-desired dumping of snow at ski resorts across the state.
While Friday was originally set as the opening date of the Heavenly and Northstar ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area, officials said mild weather and stubbornly insufficient flurries have delayed those plans.
Vail Resorts, which owns both resorts, has yet to announce an updated opening date. But the forecast ahead does not look promising.
“A dry forecast is in store for the next week through Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” Open Snow wrote in its Tahoe area forecast Friday. “We could see a change in the pattern the weekend of the 29th with colder air moving in and maybe some snow. Overall, through the long-range, there are no big storms showing up, but hopefully that changes as we go deeper into December.”
Mammoth Mountain, California’s highest-elevation ski resort, was also recently forced to delay the start of its season.
Climate change will push snow higher in California’s Sierra Nevada by the second half of the century, bringing more winter rain and faster mountain runoff.
The Sierra Nevada resort had initially announced a Nov. 14 opening date, but pushed it off as an atmospheric river storm swept across the state. While forecasters hoped the low-pressure system would blanket the slopes in Mammoth, mountainside temperatures remained too warm for serious snow.
Disappointed skiers and snowboarders took to social media to share videos of the muddy slopes.
Fortunately, thanks to a moderate storm earlier this week and robust use of snow machines, Mammoth was able to open for the season Thursday with around one-third of its lifts running. Nevertheless, season snowfall totals remain below average.
Other major Golden State ski resorts are eyeing late November and early December openings. Palisades Tahoe is scheduled to open on Wednesday, just in time for Thanksgiving. Kirkwood resort, located south of Lake Tahoe, is hoping to open on Dec. 5.
Scattered rains could continue into Saturday as the last in a series of storms moved out of Southern California.
Those seeking to hit the slopes closer to Los Angeles will have to have patience. Big Bear Mountain Resort in San Bernardino County has yet to set an opening date and currently has just 1 to 2 inches of snow on the ground.
Climate change has made the art of predicting and managing snowfall at California’s ski resorts much more challenging.
Recent years have been characterized by extreme boom and bust cycles, going from alarmingly low-snow winters in 2020 and 2021 to extreme accumulations in the 2022-23 season, when Mammoth Mountain received a record-breaking snowfall of more than 700 inches at its main lodge.
“We’re going through this climate whiplash of extreme drought years to extreme wet years — there are just no average years anymore,” Doug Obegi, a senior attorney at the National Resources Defense Council, said in a statement on 2023’s record-breaking season. “And we’re seeing that we are not prepared for either of those extremes.”
Overall, snow seasons are expected to trend warmer and drier. Researchers predict that from the 2050s to 2100, rising temperatures could push average snowlines 1,300 feet to 1,600 feet higher across the Sierra Nevada compared to a century earlier.
And extreme snow years, while welcomed by snowsport enthusiasts, come with their own challenges.
When snow falls in extreme storms as opposed to steadily over the course of the season, it increases the risk of avalanches and can force resorts to stop running lifts due to safety concerns. Then in the spring, deep snowpacks melt faster than normal, which can lead to dangerous flooding and even worsen the upcoming fire season.
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