Wet California winter is a boon for skiers and water supply. But it brings a threat: Wildfires.

[TexasTowelie]

MAMMOTH LAKES — This early June morning is Boyd Shepler's birthday, No. 66, and he is spending it in a classic California way: a few hours of skiing in a snowflake-filled morning, then a round of golf in the dry afternoon sun.

The snow here in the Sierra Nevada is epic, packed into a base that is more than double the historic average for early summer. Here on Mammoth Mountain, the ski lifts will be running into August. At lower altitudes, a spring of atmospheric rivers and hard rain has filled the state's once-languishing reservoirs.

"The coverage at the top is as good as I have seen it in 30 years," said Shepler, stoked after skiing Hangman's Hollow in June for the first time in years before trading his waterproof pants for a pair of shorts and flip-flops. "We live for these summers up here."

But the bounty of California's have-it-both-ways climate has evolved into a can't-win challenge, something former governor Jerry Brown called the "new abnormal."

Read more: https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/wet-california-winter-is-a-boon-for-skiers-and-water/article_4ce47939-9991-59ab-a92c-6ac66dcb6c2f.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. The heavy snow is a mixed blessing.

Lots of water to keep California green........until things heat up and then all that new foliage turns crispy.

I'd rather have the snow and resulting water anyway. At least we can rely on good water to drink and to grow the crops, at the very least.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Yup ... the water is better to have than not ...

I don't think that's arguable. I remember how depressing the reservoirs looked just a few short years ago, unsure if things would ever return to 'normal' (even though it's always been cyclical, in the past you could've felt sure droughts were temporary ... not this time ... glad it was ... at least ONE more time).