A study released by U.C. San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows the Sierra Nevada snowline will rise 1,600 feet by the end of the century. Photo: Jeremy Bishop//Unsplash
California’s snowpack set records this winter, accounting for 40 million acre-feet of snow at its peak in April. That stat, according to the LA Times, would provide enough water to fill one-third of Lake Tahoe. Groundwater from the region reportedly provides as much as four-million acre-feet of water to the Central Valley alone, which actually accounts for just about 10 percent of the agricultural area’s water supply each year. But that number may change quite a bit throughout the course of this particular year, as the California Department of Water Resources is reporting that the Central and Southern Sierras still hold 1,000 percent of the average snowpack for this time of year.
On the fun side of that coin, the exceptional amount of snow still sitting at high elevations has now led to Mammoth Mountain, for example, staying open into August. In spite of Florida seeing its ocean water reach record highs and much of the country enduring summer heat waves, skiers and snowboarders in California can still get some turns in. It’s just the third time in the resort’s 69 years it’s been open this late – with 1995 and 2017 being the only other times Mammoth has operated into August.
“Following our historic and record-breaking season, we are stoked to announce that we’re staying OPEN for skiing and riding daily through Sunday, August 6,” Mammoth announced on social media. “Conditions are changing daily. Operations and terrain will be limited, we will continue to update you on what will be open in the final days of the season.”
The hottest month on Earth in 120,000 years. El Niño. Heat waves. Hundred-degree ocean water. And ski resorts staying open halfway through summer. This planet is wild.
