The ski gods couldn’t script it better; now they just have to perform.
Just as the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area prepares for the 2025/2026 season opener, tentatively planned for Friday, Nov. 14, a significant weather change will bring a snowstorm to the Eastern Sierra.
The mountain in the Sierra Nevada Mountains — which is 300-plus miles or about a five-to-six-hour drive north along Highway 395 from Los Angeles — sits at 11,053 feet and has more than 3,500 acres of skiable terrain.
A strong Pacific low-pressure system will bring rain and snow to the area, with about one to two feet of snow predicted for elevations over 9,000 feet. The weather change is expected to come from a strong Pacific trough of low pressure that is expected to hit California late this week. This system carries a healthy moisture plume and solid jet support, setting up a well-organized Sierra storm.
The resort, which opens its 72nd year, received some snow in October, but meteorologists with the National Weather Service say the snowfall expected this week could be “decently robust,” dropping between 15 inches and 2 feet of snow at higher elevations.
“There is a 90% potential for the upper mountain to get 1 foot of snow,” said Chris Johnston, a meteorologist. “It looks pretty good.”
The weather is expected to change on Wednesday, Nov. 12, and strong winds are expected on Thursday, Nov. 13, with upper elevations getting some fluffy stuff starting that night.
Mammoth Mountain draws more than 1.3 million skiers and snowboarders annually — most come from Southern California — and the mountain last year had a total of 286 inches, with February at the most with 74 inches. The total is below average for the year. That season — 2024/25 — started with just three inches in October.
This year, the mountain has already gotten 16 inches.
Joani Lynch, who is vice president of marketing and sales for Mammoth Mountain, said she is rooting for the National Weather Service forecast to hold, adding that opening day will depend on the storm’s timing.
“If we can’t make it Friday, we will aim for the first day there is enough snow on the ground,” Lynch said, adding that the past few weeks have been warmer. “However, Mother Nature looks like she will give us a helping hand with precipitation and temperatures as we get into the second half of the week.”
In all, she said, the resort needs a base of 12 to 18 inches, which is more once it’s compacted.
“We’re hoping for colder temperatures to add natural snowfall with manmade,” she said.
On opening day, all the open chairlifts and runs will be based out of Main Lodge.
“We’ll expand that as quickly as possible,” she added.
In Southern California, precipitation will come as rain, with the San Bernardino Mountains expected to see their first snow accumulations of at least a couple of inches, said Kyle Wheeler, a National Weather Service forecaster.
And, in the San Gabriel Mountains, forecasters said snow showers could come on Thursday and Friday, with likely less than an inch of accumulation in areas like Mount Baldy.