Squaw Valley’s thin snowpack 1/28/12. photo: kevin quinn
There is no point in continuing to discuss Tahoe’s lack of snow. No one wants to hear about it. We all know about it, it dominates our thoughts, it’s abrasively grating against of faces everyday, and it’s not changing. Yet, hearing the numbers on exactly how this year stacks up against a normal year is still interesting.
I had the privilege of speaking with Randal Osterhuber of the UC Berkeley Snow Laboratory at Donner Summer yesterday. I asked him for the percentages of normal-to-date. I knew they’d be a bit shocking. Here they are:
AS OF FEBRUARY 1ST, 2012 @ DONNER SUMMIT, CA:
- 26% of normal-to-date snow depth
- 44% of normal-to-date snowfall
- 59% of normal-to-date precipitation
Low snow on Squaw Valley’s Headwall. 1/28/12. photo: kevin quinn
These are good numbers to know. When people wanna talk about Tahoe’s lack of snow, all you have to say is
“No sh#t it’s a bad year, we’ve only got 26% of normal snowpack and it’s February. What other horribly depressing topic would you like to discuss now?”
Special thanks to Randal & the UC Berkeley Snow Lab for all their assistance over the past two years.
For a look at how Tahoe is looking from the air, check out our post “Tahoe Tour by Air” from Jan. 28th, 2012.
fuck me
best ski area in the world baby
It’s not March yet so stop your whining.
90-91 All we got was red dog and squaw creek on man made snow. Finally March arrives and the mountain opens.
Start praying for a miracle
How does this year compare to other low snow years? How many other years have been this bad?
I agree. Stop comparing it to the best snow years. We all know thats NOT going to happen this season. How about you make us feel a little better and show that this season could be the worst of the worst
at least we would be number 1
Cripes!!
time to start thinking about a road trip! come to grand targhee until the snow starts falling over tahoe – lots of great snow and squaw, alpine, kirkwood, you name it… passholders ski for free!
passholders ski free? any info on this? ill be in the area around pres day weekend
eh.. with lodging
Yep – pack a room full with friends and all the passholders in the room ski free. Pretty darn good deal… if you’re seriously interested, look into the vacation rentals for the biggest bang for your buck!
Sun Valley and Jackson are the places to ski right now !
it’s a thin year, this shit happens. Looking at the bc report from yesterday it seems at least some Tahoe people are getting after it. I guess it’s bitch and cry or just go ski whats out there….I had fun on Jakes today, 26%, 10%, 200%, skiing is fun, bros, brahs, go try it
it is universal balance. last year was epic so this sucks. It will be a nice spring and summer though. The best thing about Tahoe is there is always something to do in the mountains or by the lake.