Overheated world update: Allegedly powerful blanket of CO2 fails to prevent over 17-foot snow depth in Sierra Nevadas

Ski and snowboard news | information and updates 

The US continues to enjoy an excellent season on both East and West coasts. Although Mammoth [Sierra Nevada mountain range] still leads the world for snow depth with more than 5.4m (17 feet) lying following the huge storms at the end of last year. In the past week Colorado has stolen the thunder though as consistent winter storms have brought incredible powder to skiers and snowboarders. Vail has received more than a metre of snow in the past week and reports more than 6.8 metres of snow has fallen at mid-mountain this season to date. So far this is the fourth best season-to-date snowfall in Vail's history (records exist back to the 1963-1964 season) and snowfall this season to date is at more than 50 percent - or nearly 2.5 metres - above Vail's 47 year average at the top of the mountain and more than double what it was at this time last year at mid-mountain.

Feb 2009: Steven Chu's Wake Up Call

In a worst case, Chu said, up to 90% of the Sierra snowpack could disappear, all but eliminating a natural storage system for water vital to agriculture.