First significant storm of season brings cautious optimism of China Peak Mountain Resort
At China Peak, job fairs are underway to build up staff and management says everyone is staying cautiously optimistic.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The first storm of the season is bringing cautious optimism for one local ski resort.
The first significant weather-maker of the season moved across Central California Tuesday afternoon.
"First of all, it's fantastic news. That's the good news, and it's also super super early," said China Peak Mountain Resort Partner and General Manager Tim Cohee.
Cohee says the slopes are ready to be covered in fresh powder.
Last year, the first major storm they had was on November 4th.
They kicked on their snowmakers and that helped set them up for a successful season. So, now, they're planning to do it again.
"We're going to go, we're not going to wait. We're going to probably start tonight, we may go for the next 48-72 hours and see how far we can get," Cohee said.
Cohee says this method isn't a guarantee because there's always a risk that temperatures will warm back up and melt the snow.
Meteorologist Daniel Harty with the National Weather Service in Hanford says the mountains will see heavier rain than the Valley, and places like China Peak could get four to eight inches of snow.
Harty called this a moderate storm, but says a Winter Storm Warning was issued in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in preparation.
"Based on the fact that we haven't seen anything for several months now, we wanted to raise people's awareness that there's definitely a change in the weather," Harty said.
As for the upcoming winter season, Harty says we have a La Niña pattern which tends to mean a drier winter, but that's not set in stone.
"There is potential for yet another system after this, later this weekend and into early next week. Not a major storm either, but anything that we get, it'd be nice," Harty said.
At China Peak, job fairs are underway to build up staff and Cohee says everyone is staying cautiously optimistic.
"All I can say is stay tuned because it can happen pretty fast if we get a big enough break here," Cohee said.
China Peak is holding job fairs throughout on November 4th and 5th, 11th and 12th, and 18th and 19th.
The California Highway Patrol is also reminding drivers that now is a good time to check the tread on your tires and replace your windshield wipers before more storms roll in.
