Photos: @austinpask//@shivooly13
Mammoth Mountain saw fresh snowflakes on Monday afternoon. It wasn’t much. Fall dustings never are. But it was a surprise for locals who’d seen no snow in the forecast ahead of the new week, and just as important, it was that fun, and always welcome reminder that winter is closing in fast.
The resort posted a short video from the McCoy Station (elevation 9,360 feet) with the fresh flakes covering the ground, noting that there is just a month and a half until the planned opening. If Mother Nature allows, the November 13 Opening Day at Mammoth will be the first in California by a week (Heavenly and Northstar are set to open on November 20).
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Of course, all that snow was gone by Tuesday morning. There was also no sign at the summit (11,053 feet) Tuesday morning that it had snowed the day before. But snow is snow when you’re crossing days off the calendar until lifts start spinning and a real storm drops into the forecast.
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The folks at Visit Mammoth also shared images and short videos during the storm on Monday, calling it “a little Snowliage Magic.” There’s no telling when more measurable base-building snowfall will come to the Eastern Sierra just yet. El Niño has a stubborn habit of keeping warmer temperatures around later in the fall and into winter, meaning early-season storms in October and November can bring more rain instead of snow at high elevations.
The previous El Niño year (’23-’24) saw no measurable snow in October and barely scratched two feet combined through November and December. But the slow start didn’t completely dampen Mammoth’s winter that year, with the resort recording 133″ in February alone. The El Niño winter in 2015-2016 was consistent with that trend, finally bringing more than 100 inches in January and 85 inches in March.
