This weekend, heavy snowfall in the Sierras brought much-needed relief to the mountain range and helped provide ski resorts with a nice cushion as they open for the winter season.
“Mount Rose and Boreal on the north shore have both opened up and got underway; certainly limited by rain, but happy to have the doors open, and people up on the slopes,” Incline Village CEO Andrew Chapman told local CBS affiliate KCBS in San Francisco.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Mount Rose opened at 9 a.m., while Boreal Mountain Resort is scheduled to open at noon. On Wednesday, Heavenly Lake Tahoe and Northstar are scheduled to begin the ski season.
KSCBS notes that the weekend storms could drop up to 16 inches of snow on the slopes, and caused drivers to put chains around their tires in order to drive through nature’s bounty. The wet weather is expected to continue through Thanksgiving.
Last year, the Sierras also experienced snowfall much earlier than expected, which resulted in several of California’s 27 ski resorts opening way ahead of schedule.
The good news followed four winters of drought that severely impacted the resorts’ business operations.
As the Golden State prepares to enter its sixth year of drought, the winter forecast for Southern California has been less optimistic. In October, the Long Beach, California-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its winter climate predictions forecasting a dry, hot January, February and March for Southern California.
These months are usually the wettest for the Golden State.
Photo: file
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