By Megan Michelson, Powder

In terms of snow, this winter brought the best of times and the worst of times, depending on which coast you’re talking about.

On the West Coast, a much-welcomed El Niño delivered ample snowfall to help ski resorts in California and Nevada recover from the last four years of lackluster winters and drought conditions. Those storms also brought a boost to the economy, with skier visits and ticket sales up and money trickling down to local businesses like hotels and restaurants.

Snowfall data for California hit about average for this season—with resorts like Squaw Valley scoring the most in the Tahoe area with 463 inches, just above the resort’s annual average of 450 inches (last year, by comparison, Squaw got just 223 inches). Mammoth Mountain collected 342 inches of snow, just below their 400-inch average, while Heavenly got 341 inches for the season, hovering around their 360-inch average.

Most snow science experts say that while this year’s average snowpack in the Sierra will certainly help California’s water shortage, it’s not enough to end the drought.

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