All-time Record February Snowfalls in California

Several ski resorts in California have reported they’ve reached all-time record February snowfall totals with the month only just past halfway through.

“How buried are we? #FEBRUBURIED. We smashed our February snowfall record of 196″ (498cm) last night. We now have more than 205″ (519cm) of snow, and it’s still coming down,” said a spokesperson for Squaw Valley.

The resort, which currently has the second deepest base in North America, currently has teams hand-digging out chairlift routes up the mountain so that the lifts can operate.

Mammoth Mountain, which recently announced it was extending its 2019 opening to at least US Independence Day, July 34th, also says it has had record snowfall in February.

“With almost 15 feet (4.5 metres) of snow at Main Lodge (175”) and 22+ feet (6.6 metres) at the summit this month, we’ve officially passed 1986 as the snowiest February on record,” a resort spokesperson said.

At Sugar Bowl, pictured above, they’re reporting an average of almost a foot/30cm of snow a day every day so far this month.

The volume of snow, accompanied by other extremes of weather at times including 100mph winds and lightning strikes is of course causing logistical issues and safety concerns. Some ski areas in the region have closed temporarily, others are opening later in the morning and can only safely open limited terrain, but as the storm eases it is a rapidly improving picture. Resorts are inevitably warning about avalanche danger along with deep tree wells developing however.

But they also say the snow quality is good,

” The snow is light and cold out there and should make for some incredible powder turns this morning on the lower mountain,” the Mammoth spokesperson confirmed.