Measuring Snow in Feet

The first in a series of winter storms is about to impact Southern California. This is very typical of an El Nino winter. The storms will bring significant rainfall to the area with mountain snows measured in feet. In fact, areas above 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) will see up to 10 feet (3 meters) of snowfall out of just this first storm! The weather service is advising those who plan to ride out the storm to have at least 1 weeks worth of food and water! I'd love to have to live through that. As long as I was prepared.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
158 PM PST SUN JAN 17 2010

...POWERFUL WINTER STORMS WILL BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW AND HIGH WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS...

.A SERIES OF POWERFUL WINTER STORMS IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS DURING THE UPCOMING WEEK. THE FIRST STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING SOME LIGHT SNOW TONIGHT...WITH SNOW COVERAGE AND INTENSITY EXPECTED TO INCREASE ON MONDAY. THE HEAVIEST SNOW AND STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE LOS ANGELES AND VENTURA COUNTY MOUNTAINS MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY NIGHT...WHEN SOUTHERLY WINDS COULD GUST AS HIGH AS 75 MPH.
* OTHER IMPACTS: THIS WILL BE A LONG DURATION STORM...AND IT IS LIKELY TO PERSIST WELL INTO THE WEEK...POSSIBLY INTO NEXT WEEKEND. TOTAL SNOWFALL THROUGH FRIDAY COULD BE AS MUCH AS 10 FEET ABOVE 6000 TO 7000 FEET. SNOW LEVELS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WILL LOWER TO 4000 TO 4500.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS THAT SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. THESE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. IF YOU LIVE ABOVE 6000 FEET AND PLAN ON RIDING THIS STORM OUT...YOU WILL NEED AT LEAST A WEEK/S WORTH OF WATER AND FOOD. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.