January 30th, 2024 @ 11 AM – Good morning; taking a look at this morning’s weather data, confidence is increasing that Mammoth Mountain will see a decent storm system with 1-2 feet of new snow over the lower mountain and possibly 2-3 feet over the upper mountain by midday on Friday.

Late on Wednesday, snow levels start around the 7000-7500-foot level. The snow levels will come down later Wednesday night into Thursday to around the 6000-6500 foot level and then down to around 4100 – 4600 feet on Friday. 

After that, there should be snow showers at times into early Sunday. By Sunday afternoon/evening, the next low-pressure system will start to affect the area, with more heavy snowfall down to Toms Place.

That second storm system is starting to look like it could possibly be a big-time snow producer, with heavy snow late Sunday into early Tuesday. The heavy snowfall would be followed by snow showers on Tuesday.

If you plan on traveling to Mammoth on Thursday, expect a slow go from Toms Place to Mammoth. The second system, if it comes in as shown on this morning’s data, could usher in a shutdown of 395 for a period of time on Monday.

If you’re out on the hill on Wednesday, I have issued a wind buff alert. Expect partly sunny skies with mid-day temperatures back down into the mid to upper 30s. The wind will be out of the southwest @ 25 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph on the lower and mid-mountain. Upper Mountain wind gusts will be in the 70-80+ MPH range by the afternoon.

On Thursday, expect to see 5-10 inches at sunrise from Wednesday night snowfall. During the hours the lifts are open, expect moderate to heavy snow at times, with 10 – 14 inches of possible new snowfall. Snowfall ratios on Thursday look to be in the 10-1 to 12-1 range.

It could be a decent rider of the storm day if we don’t get blown out. Winds as of now don’t look to be too bad, with a southwest wind at 25 to 30 mph decreasing to 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon with ma gusts in the 45-55 MPH range. That would allow crews to at least run chair 22 on Thursday for some Riders of the Storm action.