What a brutal winter this has been for Mammoth Lakes. The snowfall has been relentless and plenty of it accumulating in Town at record levels. The Town of Mammoth Lakes recently issued an evacuation warning for snow damaged properties and a temporary shelter has been set up at the Mammoth Middle School for displaced residents. Snow storms and cold temperatures began in early November and just haven’t stopped almost 5 months later. The next few days show snow and unsettled weather followed by a break in the pattern and off and on snow until the end of the month. Let’s hope that March goes out like a lamb and April has a much-needed dry period. Mammoth has always been prepared for big winters in the past, but when the snow doesn’t have a chance to melt and snow has to be trucked out of town, this is when it becomes extremely costly, time consuming and a real hardship.
Many property owners are now uncovering layers of property damage all across Town from condo complexes to single family homes to commercial buildings. The sheer weight of the snow...
Snow, Snow, and More Snow
First and foremost, Happy New Year! Mammoth Lakes has been hit with a parade of storms over the past couple of weeks that have dropped more snow than the Town and Mountain know what to do with. The roads have been difficult to navigate with the intense crowds in town during such a powerful storm cycle. The ski area has had a hard time keeping up with digging out chairs, de-icing chairs and doing avalanche control. Most of the Mountain has been closed with only a limited number of lifts in operation over the past week. However, it is great news for the much-needed snow pack, which should alleviate some of the severe drought conditions California has been experiencing the past few years. As of today, January 10, 2023, Mammoth Mountain ski area now has a total of 310” for the season. A normal season could expect to see around 400” of snow. Keep in mind that last season the Mountain received only a total of 244.5” for the entire season in which half of that total was received during the big December 2021/January 2022 storm. So, we are way ahead for the season considering it is only early January. The highest snow total on record going back to the 1969/1970 season was during the 2016-2017 season with 617” of snow (51 feet of snow). After this current storm clears out tomorrow which is expected to drop another two feet by this evening, a few more small storms are on the horizon, but will be measured in inches, not feet. This will give Mammoth Lakes locals and homeowners a chance to dig out their properties and enjoy some of those great skiing conditions with upper mountain coverage that hasn’t been...
