Western Weather 2014-15

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EMSC":2mkm4h6k said:
Tony,

How much of Abasin's 338" YTD are you discounting as being 'out of season' from a skiing perspective?

http://arapahoebasin.blogspot.com/2015/06/ytd-snowfall-338-inches.html
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I was provided the following by A-Basin shortly after my visit there May 9:
Oct: 12 (I exclude, A-Basin was 6% open Nov. 15 so clearly irrelevant)
Nov: 63
Dec: 54
Jan: 23
Feb: 43
Mar: 34
Apr: 48.75
Al's Blog said 54 for May, so I didn't make a follow-up phone call.
Total of above is 319.75

I realize there's a 6 inch discrepancy, so maybe I should make that call. I'm fairly sure there has been no snow in June.

Form a statistical standpoint there's no question Alta had more snow than A-Basin in 2014-15. Alta had 16 inches during the May 15-16 storm alone to regain its lead if we were to count the same measuring periods. From a skier's perspective I'm not going to count May snow for areas that are never open more than a day or two in May, but to answer Fraser's question, "Who Got the Most Snow in North America" it doesn't seem that reasonable to count 7 months for one area vs. 6 for another.
 
Tony Crocker":9h9pd2br said:
Total of above is 319.75

I realize there's a 6 inch discrepancy, so maybe I should make that call. I'm fairly sure there has been no snow in June.
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So your 323" for Alta excludes May? Definitely no snow in June for Abasin, though several inches are in the forecast over the next few days which would work well for them as they re-open for Fri-Sun.

Tony Crocker":9h9pd2br said:
but to answer Fraser's question, "Who Got the Most Snow in North America" it doesn't seem that reasonable to count 7 months for one area vs. 6 for another.
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That's a subjective call, not an obvious call. If you are actually open for the 7th month it clearly counts to the skiers who are skiing there. That would be like saying that Killington has to stop counting snowfall April 1st if one of their main competitors stopped running lifts on March 31st every year (which Whiteface for example actually did for a long time per state fiscal year regulations). Not that I'm saying it's also definitive you should add a 7th month to Abasin in this case, but it's not at all clear cut. Another example would be say Taos vs Abasin. Just because Taos shuts down early April doesn't mean Abasin skiers get to ski less powder in April and May.
 
EMSC":k9zzspc1 said:
So your 323" for Alta excludes May?
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Yes, as it should IMHO.

My normal practice is to count Nov. 1 - Apr. 30 for everyone so remote areas like Taos are not penalized. Nonetheless I believe areas that are consistently open through May should count that snow, especially when it's significant, as it often is in A-Basin's microclimate. The number of areas where May is counted is very small, so surprise this is the first time it has entered the "most snow" conversation. When I sent Fraser my article, A-Basin's 7 month total was still short of Alta's 6 months. If I determine that it's more, I'll send him a clarification. But A-Basin is closed until Friday, so no surprise I haven't been able to find anyone there since this question came up.
 
Official numbers for A-Basin:
Sept: 2.5
Oct: 12 (I exclude, A-Basin was 6% open Nov. 15 so Sept/Oct are clearly irrelevant)
Nov: 63.25
Dec: 54.5
Jan: 23.25
Feb: 43.75
Mar: 34
Apr: 48.75
May: 55.25
Total of above is 322.75, still 3/4 of an inch short of Alta.

The earlier numbers I was given were truncated instead of rounded, and the blog post didn't get quite all of May. Add in Sept. and Oct. and you get 337.5 which was rounded up to the 338 press release number.
 
I saw that coming with Timberline. Snowfall was about the same as 2004-05 but much of that season's snow came on the back end in late March and April. Both seasons were plagued by midwinter rain.

Fortunately Patrick is headed to the Alps as in 2011 to keep the streak going this year. Even though I'll get August and September at Las Lenas this year, my northern season ended on May 9.
 
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