How much snow did the storm bring to Southern California mountains?

At local mountains, where snowfall was plentiful at the start of the week, raindrops started falling from the sky Thursday.

It’s not the best news for those planning on hitting the slopes, as the rain turns the snow to mush.

But there’s a bright side to all this wet stuff: For lakes that have suffered from low levels in recent years, it means reservoirs are filling up. Around the state, snowpacks are near normal levels and local rain totals have surpassed what’s expected this time of year.

And when the rainstorms move out and blue skies replace the clouds starting Friday, it could be a great weekend for a snowy holiday getaway.

“The good news is, whatever snow we did get is a great base,” said John McColly, director of marketing for Mountain High in Wrightwood.

Rain and snow

By the time Thursday’s storm clears, some areas of Southern California will be at 100 percent or higher of rainfall averages expected for this time, according to Miguel Miller, forecaster for the National Weather Service in San Diego.

John Wayne Airport, Long Beach and areas of Los Angeles, were within 130 to 140 percent of normal  by midweek, and by the storm’s end could be 175 percent of normal so far for this wet season, which started on Oct. 1, he said.

“It’s definitely helpful to get this rain this year to fill some of Southern California reservoirs and the Sierra snowpack,” Miller said. “It all helps, that’s for sure.”

Statewide, snowpack levels are three percent above average. Chris Orrock, public affairs officer for the California Department of Water, said the recent run of storms has brought some good snow, so far, to the Sierras. Some areas got up to 8 feet of snow.

“This was a good storm, but it’s still early in the season,” Orrock said.

There’s still three months to go in the wet season, through April 1, and levels are at 50 percent of average for the entire season, he said.

“It’s a pretty good, telling number. It’s good for this snapshot in time, but we never know going forward. California climate is variable,” he said. “The only thing constant is it’s never constant.”

What Orrock does know is that the next two weeks are heading into a dry spell — so it’s anyone’s guess how the season will play out.

“The technology is not there,” he said. “We can only really forecast 7 to 10 days out.”

Heading to the slopes?

As a member of the volunteer ski patrol at Big Bear Mountain Resort, Richard Dunbar said last weekend had some of the best snow conditions he’s seen at local mountains in a long time.

“It was beautiful,” he said.

He’s not too worried about the shot of rain that came down Thursday. Whatever precipitation comes down, the town needs it.

“It all flows back to the lake, which is good,” Dunbar said.

Justin Kanton, spokesman for Big Bear Mountain Resort, said storms earlier this week brought 3 to 6 inches of new snow, and the base is now 30 to 47 inches for the season with 100 percent of the mountain open.

Snow Summit and Bear Mountain resorts have already surpassed last year’s total of 30 inches of natural snow for the entire season. An average season sees about 100 inches of natural snow.

“Overall, compared to last year, it’s night and day,” he said. “We’re really happy with how the season has gone so far – it should be clear this weekend; it should be a really good time for people if they are coming for the holiday weekend.”

Thursday rain

One perk of the rain is that it will help get snow off the roads for those driving up for the holiday, Kanton said, noting that people should always check road reports before coming up the mountain.

McColly said he got more powder days at Mountain High this week than he did all last season, until the storm moved in. The Wrightwood resort got about a foot of new snow early in the week.

Mountain High shut down its lifts on Thursday to wait until the rain system passed.  Mammoth Mountain also temporarily suspended operations Thursday during the storm, which brought heavy snowfall, extreme winds and thunder and lighting.

The storm total for the week: 4 to 6 feet of snow, bringing the season total to more than 200 inches.