This last series of storms–which prompted a local state of emergency given the dumping of five feet of snow–has now been ranked as comparable to the legendary winter of 1969, though resources in 2010 have allowed the Big Bear Valley to be better equipped to deal with such extreme circumstances. But, in terms of snow totals, it should be noted that for an average year, snow accumulation tends to amount to 62” (or just over five feet) for an entire winter season, with a to-date average of about 32”, per KBHR’s weatherman Ben Brissey. Given the additional two inches or so of snow we received on Tuesday, our annual total is now at roughly 88” this season! An average January snowfall tends to be about 14”, whereas January 2010 will surely make history with 57” of snow—so far. Lake levels for Big Bear Lake have come up nearly a foot since our series of storms began on January 17. To view a number of storm photos submitted by KBHR listeners, visit our “Big Bear’s Epic Snow Storm” collage on YouTube.
