Alternative weather.
Via OC Register:
The storms are on their way out, and now it’s time to play.
Snow resorts across the state were hit hard by the latest round of storms, and while it caused some closures and chaos up on the mountains, the skies are clear and the mountains are prime with powder conditions.
Mammoth Mountain, Lake Tahoe and Big Bear Mountain Resort are all reporting a record-breaking month of snowfall, after consecutive storms dumped enough snow to cover cars and shut down operations – at the same time, leaving skiers and snowboarders salivating at the sight of new snow.
Mammoth Mountain reports “the snowiest month ever on record” there, with still a week left in January. The latest storm brought 58 inches of fresh snow, sending the month’s total to 241 inches, shattering the total for the previous snowiest month – 209 inches in December 2010.
“We’re already three feet over that,” said Mammoth Mountain spokesman Tim LeRoy. “It’s a record breaker by a pretty wide margin.”
Mammoth is also boasting the deepest snow pack of any resort in North America, with 345 inches for the season. Records at the resort date back to the 1969-70 season.
Big Bear Resort – which includes Snow Summit and Bear Mountain – received 36 inches of snow between Sunday and Tuesday morning and 70 inches since Jan. 19. Both are claiming the most snow of any January on record, at 110 inches.
Tahoe reports getting 20 feet of snow for the month, also breaking monthly snowfall records. And Snow Valley has recorded 28 inches of snow since Sunday.