Hello Winter. Where've you been?

Last weekend, the East Coast saw a welcome spat of snow, the first real accumulation of the New Year. Twenty inches dropped across Vermont resorts -- a perfect entre for the President's Day crowds hungry for some real skiing. Together with Shem Roose, I dipped into the trees for an inaugural few runs on a Powder Jet, rewarded with plenty of below-zero faceshots. Freezing rain blew up the scene by Tuesday, glazing over ski slopes and roads alike.

The West Coast followed right up on that trend, with a strong northern jet stream combining with arctic air, producing the year's first major weather event.

Over this past week, a major Pacific Northwest storm deposited 57 inches at Mount Baker (more than half January 2011's monthly total in one storm), blanketing urban areas like Seattle with snow before turning into a debilitating ice storm. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency as the ice knocked out power, and lead to suspended Amtrack service and temporary shut down Sea-Tac airport.

A few hours south, the storm caused flooding and evacuations in Oregon, conditions that Reuters reports were blamed for the death of a mother and son whose car was swept away by high waters. Up on Mount Hood, that precipitation has resulted in over five feet of snow in five days. With temperatures hovering around freezing, it isn't champagne snow, but the locals are used to that.

Recently, in the Rockies, Vail requested the aid of a the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of Colorado to get the snow going, and it looks like their dance is being heard, with meteorologists predicting a continuation of the current snowfall through February. Utah is getting theirs as well, with Snowbird reporting over a foot on new today, with more predicted to be on the way over the weekend, a late-stage snowfall on top of a minimal base that has some worried about increased avalanche dangers. Meanwhile, over 40 inches have landed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with 30 more inches said to be in the way. And snow is currently falling in Lake Tahoe, with Squaw Valley predicting five to seven feet by next week at their summit.

How will this all play out as winter continues? We've already missed the early winter storm totals of 2011-12, so Buchanan doubts there will be comparable snowfall. But the season is far from over, and she adds, "We still have February head of us."

Right now another low pressure is swirling around in the Pacific, promising to bring more precipitation. How much snow that will equal is hard to guess.

"When we did our winter outlook back in the fall, we said another La Nina winter across the United States," says Buchanan, "but arctic oscillation is the wild card and that is certainly bearing out."

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