Oregon is starting the year with more snow than normal.
The state’s snowpack jumped to 166% of normal , compared to the last 30 years, after a parade of storms and just enough cool air brought a deep layer of white across the Cascade Mountains.
Snowpack in the Mount Hood area and Central Cascades is 112% to 133% of normal, while it’s even snowier in the southern and eastern parts of the state.
The snow arrived early in the mountains this year, allowing many ski areas to open at their earliest dates in a decade or more , and that trend has continued over a blustery holiday break.
Climatologists predicted it might be a snowier winter in Oregon’s mountains due to a weak La Nina weather pattern often associated with cooler weather. However, the weather hasn’t actually been very cool over the past few weeks as an active atmospheric river pattern has brought lots of moisture but has kept snow levels fairly high. Snow levels have mostly stayed above 3,500 to 4,000 feet with the heaviest snow falling in the high mountains. There has been almost no chance for snow in the Willamette Valley.