SnowOdds

Sierra Nevada

Lake Tahoe and Mammoth: huge storms followed by Californian sunshine.

North America
Painting: Sierra Nevada

When the snow comes

Average odds across 11 resorts. The most reliable weeks:

  1. 1–7 Mar65%
  2. 21–27 Dec57%
  3. 7–13 Dec54%
  1. 2–8 Nov, 21% avg oddsNov2–8 Nov: 21% average odds
  2. 9–15 Nov (this week), 35% avg odds9–15 Nov: 35% average odds
  3. 16–22 Nov, 39% avg odds16–22 Nov: 39% average odds
  4. 23–29 Nov, 45% avg odds23–29 Nov: 45% average odds
  5. 30 Nov – 6 Dec, 44% avg oddsDec30 Nov – 6 Dec: 44% average odds
  6. 7–13 Dec, 54% avg odds7–13 Dec: 54% average odds
  7. 14–20 Dec, 52% avg odds14–20 Dec: 52% average odds
  8. 21–27 Dec, 57% avg odds21–27 Dec: 57% average odds
  9. 4–10 Jan, 49% avg oddsJan4–10 Jan: 49% average odds
  10. 11–17 Jan, 38% avg odds11–17 Jan: 38% average odds
  11. 18–24 Jan, 43% avg odds18–24 Jan: 43% average odds
  12. 25–31 Jan, 43% avg odds25–31 Jan: 43% average odds
  13. 1–7 Feb, 40% avg oddsFeb1–7 Feb: 40% average odds
  14. 8–14 Feb, 44% avg odds8–14 Feb: 44% average odds
  15. 15–21 Feb, 52% avg odds15–21 Feb: 52% average odds
  16. 22–28 Feb, 50% avg odds22–28 Feb: 50% average odds
  17. 1–7 Mar, 65% avg oddsMar1–7 Mar: 65% average odds
  18. 8–14 Mar, 42% avg odds8–14 Mar: 42% average odds
  19. 15–21 Mar, 40% avg odds15–21 Mar: 40% average odds
  20. 22–28 Mar, 49% avg odds22–28 Mar: 49% average odds
  21. 29 Mar – 4 Apr, 45% avg oddsApr29 Mar – 4 Apr: 45% average odds
  22. 5–11 Apr, 44% avg odds5–11 Apr: 44% average odds
  23. 12–18 Apr, 39% avg odds12–18 Apr: 39% average odds
  24. 19–25 Apr, 27% avg odds19–25 Apr: 27% average odds
  25. 26 Apr – 2 May, 23% avg odds26 Apr – 2 May: 23% average odds

Outlined: the three most reliable weeks. Hover a bar for its dates.

Where to go

Best all season

Highest score across the whole season

  1. 1Kirkwood Mountain ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar53
  2. 2Heavenly Mountain ResortNevada, best 1–7 Mar50
  3. 3Mammoth MountainCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar50
  4. 4Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar50
  5. 5China Peak Mountain ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar49
  6. 6Palisades Tahoe Olympic ValleyCalifornia, best 22–28 Feb49
  7. 7Sugar Bowl ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar49
  8. 8Northstar at Tahoe ResortCalifornia, best 25–31 Jan47
  9. 9Bear ValleyCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar46
  10. 10June MountainCalifornia, best 22–28 Feb46

Best early season

First six weeks of the season

  1. 1Kirkwood Mountain ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar40
  2. 2Palisades Tahoe Olympic ValleyCalifornia, best 22–28 Feb37
  3. 3Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar37
  4. 4Sugar Bowl ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar37
  5. 5China Peak Mountain ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar36

Best late season

Last six weeks of the season

  1. 1Kirkwood Mountain ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar54
  2. 2China Peak Mountain ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar53
  3. 3Heavenly Mountain ResortNevada, best 1–7 Mar50
  4. 4Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar50
  5. 5Mammoth MountainCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar49

Hidden gems

Smaller ski areas with a big score

  1. 1Mammoth MountainCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar50
  2. 2Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski ResortCalifornia, best 1–7 Mar50

Numbers are the average SnowOdds score out of 100 per week over the period shown: the odds of 10 cm4 in or more of fresh snow at the summit count most, then base, sun, rain and wind.

All 11 resorts in the Sierra Nevada