Sugar Bowl Resort in Tahoe reported over two feet of snow on Monday morning. Photo: Sugar Bowl/Judah Deck Webcam
On Sunday, as I was driving from San Francisco to Stinson Beach, white-knuckling my way across a Golden Gate Bridge that was literally howling in the wind. As my car crawled up a thoroughly soaked Highway 1, tree branches and mini rockslides were strewn about everywhere. I realized we haven’t seen this kind of weather in at least a couple of years. Sure, it’s rained (not that much mind you), but this was something else, the California equivalent of a hurricane making landfall on the East Coast.
As we head into the week and the “atmospheric river” storm settles, and we start figuring out how to capitalize on the leftover energy (be it snow or waves), here are some updates from the mountains and coastlines of California.
Mammoth’s Village cam showed a bit of snow coming down after a night of mostly rain. Photo: Mammoth Village Webcam
The Mountains
Whenever we see a storm like this, especially this early in the season, sure you can get stoked about the sheer amount of precipitation that’s coming down, but the real bellwether of how much snow will be produced is the temperatures and more specifically, “snow levels.” Or, at what elevation does the snow turn into rain? Well, Tahoe snow levels weren’t supposed to be anything too crazy (see low). But then they were. Open Snow reports that the snow levels were down to 7,000 feet by 10 p.m. last night, “3-6 hours faster than the models were showing,” and dropped as far as 5,000 feet, with high-desert towns like Reno getting snow. Sugar Bowl Resort reported over two feet of snow via Instagram this morning as they began to dig themselves out.
However, on the other side of the Sierras, things weren’t quite as awesome. Models were predicting Mammoth would be the real winner in this storm, garnering the lowest temps and lowest snow-level elevations. It was enough for Mammoth management to bump up opening day to this Friday, October 29. However, as of this a.m. in Mammoth Village (around 8,000 feet), it was still raining. It has since switched to snow in the village and it was definitely snowing most of the night at higher elevations (although it was probably pretty wet snow). Mammoth’s main website is currently reporting 7-10 inches of new snow as of this morning. All that being said, if we’re doing a Tahoe vs. Mammoth comparison (which we are), Tahoe’s two-feet-plus of new snow definitely won out.
In any case, the sheer amount of precipitation this storm carried is a massive win for California. The water levels of Lake Tahoe rose back to above the “natural rim,” which is listed at 6,223 feet of elevation. Last week, water levels dropped below that “natural rim” – not a groundbreaking event by any means, as it has happened a handful of times in recent history, but the frequency with which we’ve seen water levels drop below that critical line in recent years is a stark reminder of the changing climate that we’re living in. It’s good to see water levels heading in a positive direction, and we can only hope that we see plenty of rain (and snow) this winter to keep us above the natural rim this year.
Wild conditions persist on Monday at 11 a.m. along Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Photo: Lawton Surf Cam
The Coast
Even though the main swell had yet to hit yesterday, no one in their right mind was out surfing, at least here in the Bay Area. Lashing rain and powerful onshore winds made for some pretty dismal surf despite the sizeable swell in the water. Today, the swell went from “sizeable” to maxed out for all but the most sheltered of locations. This morning dawned with the storm still clearing up – no rain but leaden skies and pounding, messy surf along the coastline. However, as I’m writing this it looks like conditions are cleaning up. The sun has come out, and the wind may have actually switched to offshore (but don’t quote me on that). The first brave souls are beginning to paddle out at select, heavily sheltered spots, and it looks like we could have a fun afternoon of surf ahead of us if the current trends continue.
In other news, Mavericks has come to life for the 2021-2022 winter season, with local chargers taking on the big-wave destination via tow and paddle on Friday, October 22. As the gnarly post-storm conditions start to calm down and the massive 30-40-foot swell predicted for today begins to organize, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more action at the famous break, with plenty of mind-numbing footage from local photographers and the folks over at Mavericks Surf Awards.
Happy Monday!
