SeeCalifornia.com

It’s happened–two weeks of rain and snow has graced California from the mountains to the sea. And what that means is snow lovers are having their way. The mountain resorts usually try to wait till Mother Nature gives a boost with some natural white stuff, though snow-making equipment has made it possible to begin the season earlier than nature intends. That’s less consolation for vacationers hoping to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in snow conditions, but this year things are looking up. Here’s what some of the most popular ski resorts report as of November 18, 2012:

• BEAR VALLEY  (bearvalley.com)  Temp: 31F, Base Depth: 15″. Picked up 3″ and more is on it’s way. The subtropical moisture tap is now forming a bit better for decent snow fall over the area. With the temps rising and falling all over the place we could pick-up 9-17″ of new snow by late Sunday evening. Although not the COLD POW POW we would like, this wetter cycle will set up the base nicely for next wave of systems progged to move thru the area over the next few weeks.
• BIG BEAR LAKE   Snow Summit (snowsummit.com) Chair 1 is open accessing Miracle Mile top-to-bottom and Chair 8 accessing the Bear Bottom Beginner Area is also open. Rentals and snowsports lessons are available for those who want to get an early start to the season.
• KIRKWOOD (kirkwood.com)  Kirkwood at Tahoe is open. An upper level trough centered near Lake Tahoe will continue to provide the region with periods of rain & snow as snow levels remain above lake level locations. As this system weakens, a new cold front will begin impacting the North Coast. This cold front will lower snow levels returning widespread snow across the region while southwesterly winds become very breezy. By Tuesday afternoon, a front is forecast to begin sliding further inland and bring a better chance of some rain & snow to the region, especially for northern areas. Showers are likely Wednesday morning until the system dissipates midday over the North State. Snow levels look to remain near or a little above lake level locations. Forecast models are leaning towards dry conditions for Thanksgiving & Black Friday.
• MAMMOTH LAKES   (mammothmountain.com) Base: 20-25 in. Surface: Fresh Powder. Fresh Snow – 72 hours: 14″. The front is expected to move very slowly and basically dissipate over Mono County during the day Sunday as the upper level support pushes off to the east. The Cold front will drop the snow level down to between 7000 and 6500 feet by Sunday. However by Sunday, most of the precip will be over. Accumulation’s of snow will be light over the lower elevations of town by Sunday morning with a few inches. At Elevations above 8000 expect about 5 to 7 inches by Sunday AM.
• SOUTH LAKE TAHOE   Heavenly Mountain Resort (skiheavenly.com) Thanks to Heavenly having the highest elevation in Tahoe, it is snowing on the mountain! We’ve received an inch of snow already and anywhere from 6″-18″+ of snow is predicted for today into tomorrow. Packed powder, machine-made and machine-groomed snow…  Base Depth 18-24 ” and Season Total 33-40 inches.
• SQUAW VALLEY  (squaw.com) With over 2 feet of snow and snowmaking well underway, Squaw is open for business!
• TRUCKEE  North Star at Tahoe (northstarattahoe.com) With over 2 feet of snow and snowmaking well underway, opening day was November 16, 2012! Passes on sale through Nov. 18.