Unseasonably warm March forces early closures at Sierra ski resorts

By Conor McGill

A stretch of unusually warm weather this March is rapidly melting snow across the Sierra Nevada, forcing several ski resorts to cut their seasons short and scale back operations.

At Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort, conditions look dramatically different from just a few weeks ago. Slopes that were once blanketed in deep snow are now showing large patches of bare ground, with only limited terrain still skiable.

Visitors say the change has been striking.

“You come one day and it’s like so much snow, and you come the next day and it’s all gone,” said Roxy Lux, who traveled from Castro Valley. “Then you’re like, where did it all go?”

The rapid shift comes after a powerful February storm brought more than nine feet of snow in just five days, one of the snowiest stretches in over 40 years. But much of that snowfall has already melted due to warmer-than-normal temperatures this month.

As a result, resorts across the region are being forced to adapt quickly.

Homewood Mountain Resort has already closed for the season, while Sierra-at-Tahoe plans to shut down operations this Sunday.

“We’ve had less precipitation, less snowfall than we wanted, and we’ve also had a very quick melt-off, much more quick than anticipated,” said Jake Stern, communications manager at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

Other major resorts, including Palisades Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Northstar California Resort, and Boreal Mountain Resort, plan to remain open for now, but with limited operations.

Resort leaders say increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are forcing them to adjust to changing climate conditions. At Sierra-at-Tahoe, upgrades to automated snowmaking systems have helped extend the season, allowing machines to produce snow whenever temperatures dip below freezing.

Still, the natural snowpack remains a concern statewide.

According to the California Department of Water Resources, California’s snowpack is currently at just 37% of the April 1 average, a benchmark used to estimate water supply. State climatologist Michael Anderson noted that level mirrors conditions seen in 1976, during one of California’s most severe drought years.

“You know, at 37%, that’s the same we had in 1976, that first year of extreme drought,” Anderson said. “Definitely not the snowpack we wanted.”

Despite the disappointing conditions, many visitors are making the most of a shortened season.

“Definitely hoping that next season we get a little bit more powder,” said Angie Lux. “Could’ve used a few more powder days, but again, making the most of what we got.”

Resort officials say they are now taking conditions day by day, as the Sierra snowpack continues to shrink by roughly 1% daily.