4ft at Mammoth this week

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socal

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INCLUDING THE CITY OF...MAMMOTH LAKES
639 PM PDT TUE OCT 13 2009

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM PDT
WEDNESDAY FOR AREAS ABOVE 7500 FEET...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8
AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR AREAS ABOVE 7500 FEET.

* TIMING: HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE PRE-DAWN HOURS ON
WEDNESDAY.

* TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 1 TO 2 FEET OF SNOW IS LIKELY BETWEEN
7500 AND 9000 FEET...WITH ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 4 FEET IN THE
HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

* WINDS: WIND GUSTS NEAR THE SIERRA CREST OF UP TO 140 MPH ARE
EXPECTED...WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. THIS
MAY LEAD TO LOCALIZED BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND NEAR-ZERO
VISIBILITY.

* SNOW LEVELS: SNOW LEVELS BETWEEN 7500 AND 8000 FEET ARE
EXPECTED WITH SOME FLUCTUATION POSSIBLE TONIGHT.

* HIGHER PASSES INCLUDING CONWAY SUMMIT AND DEVIL GATES SUMMIT
WILL BE SNOW COVERED AND HAZARDOUS. CHAIN CONTROLS WILL BE
LIKELY. ROADS LEADING INTO THE SIERRA INCLUDING THOSE OVER
SONORA AND TIOGA PASSES WILL LIKELY BE CLOSED.

* A COMBINATION OF FALL FOLIAGE...WET HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS
TONIGHT WILL RESULT IN DOWNED TREES AND BRANCHES.
Click to expand...

El Nino? It's been raining in LA all day. Will they be open this weekend?
 
Howard Scheckter thinks the snow level will be ~10,000 feet during the peak of the storm tonight. It is also supposed to get warmer by the weekend. They will not open the mountain unless Broadway is skiable, which sounds qestionable with the above prediction.

This storm is very similar to the one that hit about 2 weeks later last year. That one dropped 15 inches near Main Lodge and up to 4 feet on top. But they had about a week of snowmaking to reinforce the lower trails up to the deeper natural snow. Then there was a hot spell when I made my first trip viewtopic.php?t=7187.

At any rate, if the snow level prediction holds up skiing will be much more than WROD's once they get Broadway going. If the snow level spends more time at 8,000 and less at 10,000 than predicted we might have skiing very soon. Though not for me as long the Dodgers stay alive in postseason, as I have tickets to ~2/3 of the games.
 
Tony Crocker":2mvh6zkz said:
At any rate, if the snow level prediction holds up skiing will be much more than WROD's once they get Broadway going. If the snow level spends more time at 8,000 and less at 10,000 than predicted we might have skiing very soon. Though not for me as long the Dodgers stay alive in postseason, as I have tickets to ~2/3 of the games.
Click to expand...
You know, Friday's game starts at 1, if we left straight from there we'd be leaving town around 5...
 
I unfortunately have a schedule conflict for this Sunday. I'm also not sure how much will be open the first weekend, and we know anything fresh will be cement-like. The 2nd or 3rd weekends open are likely to be better IMHO.

Storm results are about what Scheckter predicted:
SOME TALLIES OF PRECIP SINCE 5:40AM:

MAMMOTH WEATHER.COM NEAR THE VILLAGE AT MAMMOTH RECEIVED 4.18 INCHES OF PRECIP WITH OVER A FOOT OF SNOW IN THAT. THE CURRENT TEMP WAS 38 DEGREES.

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN AT THE BASE LODGE SNOW PLOT 9000 FT HAS PICKED UP 6.13 INCHES OF WATER
WITH SNOW-PACK SETTLING FROM 21 INCHES EARLIER TO 15 INCHES.

THE TEMPERATURE AT THE TOP OF MAMMOTH MT HAS RISEN TO 32 DEGREES. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT
BETWEEN 4 TO 5 FEET OF FRESH SNOW HAS FALLEN ON THE UPPER SLOPES AND CREST ABOVE 10000 FEET.
Click to expand...
 
13574254.jpg

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

The reality is going to be a bit more difficult perhaps.
10-15-09Avyslideattop2.jpg


There are now a bunch of threads and pics on the Mammoth forum. All recent views of snow, even at the top have telltale rain runnels in them. There was also a mud puddle in front of Main Lodge. On the positive side they are grooming the lower runs intensively and will move snow out of the parking lots into the Main Lodge base area. So the Main Lodge runs should hold out for a few days until night snowmaking can start, probably Sunday night by forecasts.

Up top the locals say Cornice and Dave's look good. No word yet on upper mountain control work or lift openings. They will probably get Chair 3 first. Opening day Friday will be only Chair 1.
 
Only place in North America with 2000' vert available, no?
Click to expand...
That will be when the top opens. When I saw this pic I was glad Adam and I decided to hold off the opening weekend.
mmth-opening-16oct09-856am.jpg

This weekend is predicted windy. Off-trail skiing on snow that has been rained on to the top might not be worth 650 miles RT of driving + lodging. Patrick excepted of course. :wink:

No complaints overall here. There's a solid (in multiple respects) base and all it will take now is a modest storm to produce a nice surface on lots of interesting acreage.
 
Looks like he snow didn't hold up so well to the heat this weekend, just got an email from the mountain saying they're closing until they get more snow or the weaher allows for snowmaking. Oh well, I know it's a long shot but I'm crossing my fingers for a Halloween storm like some of the models are showing.
 
I don't think a storm will be necessary. Just enough cold temps to get good snowmaking coverage on Broadway. Snowman and other reports said natural cover on 3 and some of the top runs were fine.
 
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