Ski resorts in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains have announced this week that they will extend their 2023 seasons — through July 4 weekend at Lake Tahoe, and through at least the end of July at Mammoth Mountain.

The prospect of summertime skiing is the result of massive snowfall across California over the last three months — defying the predictions of a third straight winter of relatively dry conditions and prolonged drought.

On Thursday, the total snowfall for the 2022-2023 season at Mammoth Mountain stood at 664 inches — just four inches shy of the record, which was almost certainly surpassed during a snowstorm in the early afternoon. (Update: The storm added two inches, meaning there are still two more inches to go for a new record.)

MAMMOTH LAKES, March 23, 2023 — 20-foot-high walls of snow line the streets of Mammoth Lakes, California, burying street signs, in the first week of spring after a winter season of record snowfall. (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)

The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

With the Sierra Nevada buried in historic snows and the flakes still falling, Tahoe area ski resorts are extending their seasons – with at least one welcoming skiers and snowboarders until July 4.

Palisades Tahoe announced on Thursday that it would keep the Alpine portion of its resort open until the July 4 weekend. According to its website, the resort will keep both the Alpine and Palisades areas open daily through April 30 with the base to base gondola operating.

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And in July, Palisades Tahoe plans a big end of the season weekend with Alpine’s slopes open from July 1-4.

Mammoth Mountain has recorded over 800 inches at its summit, which is reportedly the deepest snowpack at any ski resort in the world at the moment. While the snow is a boon for skiers and snowboarders, many locals are already tired of dealing with the snow. Shovelers can earn $100 per hour to clear roads and driveways. The snow is occasionally deadly: over a dozen people died in recent blizzards in the San Bernadino mountains.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.