Huge Snowfall Continues On Pacific Coast
Huge Snowfall Continues On Pacific Coast
Published : 22-Dec-2015 08:32
Whilst much of the skiing world continues to have a 'slow' start to the season in terms of snowfall, North America's Pacific Coast is enjoying incredible snowfalls after a near five year drought.
The snow started falling in late October and has been fairly constant for nearly two months now, with some ski areas nearing 5m (17 feet) of snowfall to date. Revelstoke in BC, Western Canada currently has the season running as its second snowiest ever on its historical snowfall graph.
Last week saw reports of four feet of fresh snow at Snowbird in Utah, three feet at steamboat in Colorado and at least two feet at most other areas. A foot of fresh snow overnight has become a normal event at many areas:
http://www.revelstokemountainresort.com/conditions/historical-snowfall
"This is our Avalanche Control Director who is 6'3". He just called in 21" (53cm) since 5pm last night and it's still snowing!" a Squaw Valley spokesperson said=, describing the picture above, taken yesterday.
The snowy deluge is being credited to the 'strong El Nino' weather system in the Pacific, which some have said is the strongest in 50 years, branding it the 'Godzilla El Nino'
There is a distinct line across North America where the 'El Nino Effect' turns from positive to negative for ski resorts. Areas in the mid-West and on the East Coast as far as Quebec and Ontario in Canada have been struggling to open, with no natural snow and temperatures too warm for snowmaking when they would normally be double digit below zero.
Some in Vermont have had a few inches of fresh snow in the past few days but others like Intrawest resort Blue Mountain in Ontario have reverted to summer operations for Christmas with zero snow cover.
In the autumn British tabloids decided this weather system would somehow cross the Atlantic bringing a severe winter to Europe, particularly Britain, and especially London, but so far that hasn't happened. If anything the reverse has been true, so far.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/613168/UK-long-range-winter-weather-forecast-2015-snow
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