Here we go again :stir:
In a few past discussions I've noted that we have not had an across-the-board bad snow year in North America since 1991-92, fairly impressive since there were 4 of them in the 16 years through that season. 2011-12 does not make the cut on an equal region rated basis either mainly because 2 regions (Pacific Northwest and western Canada) had excellent seasons well above average. 1980-81, 1986-87 and 1991-92 stand out because no regions were above average, similar to 1981-82 and 2010-11 being the only seasons with no regions being below average.
1976-77 is still prominent despite being a huge season in the East because it was so extreme in the West. All 7 western regions were bad and for 5 of them it was the lowest overall season in 40+ years.
Unlike last year 2011-12 comes out differently if you weight by skier visits (I'm using 15 million for the natural snowfall relevant Northeast). The 2 highest regions for visits (the other being Front Range Colorado) are also the 2 with the worst snowfall. So by skier visit weighting 2011-12 comes out similar to 1986-87 and 1991-92 with only 1980-81 and 1976-77 being worse.
Details on the low snow regions:
Northeast
Only 1979-80 was as low for snowfall, and given the March meltdown I think there's a case for 2011-12 being qualitatively the worst ever season for the Northeast.
Northern and Central Colorado
By snowfall 2011-12 is the worst, but there are a lot more areas with complete season data now than in 1976-77 and 1980-81. There's quite of bit of monthly data for those seasons, and comparing those I would say that 2011-12 was about the same as 1980-81 with 1976-77 being not quite as bad. During the latter 2 seasons the early season drought persisted through most of January but March snowfall was actually above average compared to the record low this year.
California
With Sierra volatility there have been 7 lower snow years than 2011-12. But since half the snow came in March qualitatively it was the 3rd worst behind 1976-77 and 1990-91 (more total snow but 3/4 of it in March).
Utah
1976-77 was clearly the worst but 2011-12 is similar to about 6 other seasons next in line. For slowest start through mid-January 2011-12 was probably 3rd worst behind only 1980-81 also.
Southern and Western Colorado
3 seasons were much worse and another 3 similar to 2011-12. The Southwest was the only region with decent December snow in 2011, so qualitatively those areas may have had better overall skiing than the raw numbers would indicate. I include Aspen and Crested Butte in this region but they were much worse than the areas farther south and more comparable to the areas farther east along I-70.
The U.S. Northern Rockies were overall close to average, though most areas were below average offset by a few near the Canadian border that were far above average.
In a few past discussions I've noted that we have not had an across-the-board bad snow year in North America since 1991-92, fairly impressive since there were 4 of them in the 16 years through that season. 2011-12 does not make the cut on an equal region rated basis either mainly because 2 regions (Pacific Northwest and western Canada) had excellent seasons well above average. 1980-81, 1986-87 and 1991-92 stand out because no regions were above average, similar to 1981-82 and 2010-11 being the only seasons with no regions being below average.
1976-77 is still prominent despite being a huge season in the East because it was so extreme in the West. All 7 western regions were bad and for 5 of them it was the lowest overall season in 40+ years.
Unlike last year 2011-12 comes out differently if you weight by skier visits (I'm using 15 million for the natural snowfall relevant Northeast). The 2 highest regions for visits (the other being Front Range Colorado) are also the 2 with the worst snowfall. So by skier visit weighting 2011-12 comes out similar to 1986-87 and 1991-92 with only 1980-81 and 1976-77 being worse.
Details on the low snow regions:
Northeast
Only 1979-80 was as low for snowfall, and given the March meltdown I think there's a case for 2011-12 being qualitatively the worst ever season for the Northeast.
Northern and Central Colorado
By snowfall 2011-12 is the worst, but there are a lot more areas with complete season data now than in 1976-77 and 1980-81. There's quite of bit of monthly data for those seasons, and comparing those I would say that 2011-12 was about the same as 1980-81 with 1976-77 being not quite as bad. During the latter 2 seasons the early season drought persisted through most of January but March snowfall was actually above average compared to the record low this year.
California
With Sierra volatility there have been 7 lower snow years than 2011-12. But since half the snow came in March qualitatively it was the 3rd worst behind 1976-77 and 1990-91 (more total snow but 3/4 of it in March).
Utah
1976-77 was clearly the worst but 2011-12 is similar to about 6 other seasons next in line. For slowest start through mid-January 2011-12 was probably 3rd worst behind only 1980-81 also.
Southern and Western Colorado
3 seasons were much worse and another 3 similar to 2011-12. The Southwest was the only region with decent December snow in 2011, so qualitatively those areas may have had better overall skiing than the raw numbers would indicate. I include Aspen and Crested Butte in this region but they were much worse than the areas farther south and more comparable to the areas farther east along I-70.
The U.S. Northern Rockies were overall close to average, though most areas were below average offset by a few near the Canadian border that were far above average.
it could have been done much better