Mammoth reports 2-4 feet of snow as ‘March Miracle’ barrels into SoCal ski areas

“Getting buried here!” one Mammoth Lakes resident said in the midst of a three-day storm, perhaps the best of the season, that is barreling through the Sierra and into the mountains rimming Los Angeles.

The so-called March Miracle, which is expected to taper off Saturday morning, left 2-4 feet of snow on Mammoth Mountain as of Friday morning. Blizzard conditions continued with heavy snow and winds. A winter storm warning remains in effect until 4 p.m. Saturday.

The U.S. Highway 395 from the junction of State Route 203 to Bridgeport was closed Friday morning because of low visibility. Chains or snow tires are required from 17 miles north of Bishop to 15 miles south of the 203 junction.

California road condition hotline: (800) 427-7623.

Travelers were encouraged to take chains and emergency kits with extra food for trips during the next couple of days.

Lake Tahoe resorts reported much the same, with two to four feet of fresh stuff. Kirkwood in particular was getting blasted, with five feet of snow over the past week, atop a base of 59 inches.

Nearer Los Angeles, Mountain High, Big Bear and Snow Valley were hoping for a foot or more of fresh snow, atop bases of roughly two feet. It was snowing heavily Friday morning at Mountain High, as the brunt of the storm moved through. No snow yet at Snow Valley as of 10:30 a.m. Friday, but the resort canceled Friday night skiing in anticipation of the heavy weather.

In Mammoth, clear skies were predicted for Sunday and Monday, and highs were expected to be cool enough to maintain the pleasing powder, at least through the early part of the week.

The late-winter storm is a major boost for California ski regions, which had suffered from a dry, unproductive winter. The current storm is expected to dump up to five feet of fresh snow at Mammoth’s summit. As of Friday morning, the season total was 134 inches, far below the average of 400 inches over the last decade.

The season record is 669 inches in 2010-11.

At this time last year, Mammoth had accumulated 500 inches, in a season marked by consistent and generous storms. By the end of the ski year, Mammoth saw a total of 50 feet of snow. Parts of Lake Tahoe reported more than 60 feet of snow.

In fact, on March 1 of last season, Mammoth Lakes was forced to call out the National Guard to help cart the snow away when local removal crews had nowhere to plow it.

But March is off to a strong start this year, and will help California resorts extend their seasons into May and June.

travel@latimes.com

UPDATES:

11:15 a.m.: This article updated with details on local mountains.