Snowfall has been scant thus far in the 2011-12 ski season, but Lake Tahoe ski resorts are far from pushing panic buttons.

Instead, resorts are ramping up their snow making operations, while hoping the long-term forecast calls for precipitation.

“This year is more typical for early season conditions,” said Heather Graziano, marketing coordinator for Sugar Bowl Resort. “Last year was the exception.”

Spokeswoman for Squaw Valley Amelia Richmond agreed.

“Snow is always a blessing this early in the season, but we have still had good turnouts,” she said. “Obviously, we need some help for the holiday season, but looking at some long-range forecasts it seems like it's in the cards.”

Richmond said the runs that are open have been groomed meticulously to afford skiers some early season practice runs.

“Last year, because of the early season snow, there was a tendency to go too big too fast,” she said. “This year, people can get into shape before the snow hits.”

Bill Rock, chief operating officer at Northstar, said consistently low temperatures and improvements to the resort's snowmaking infrastructure has led to quality conditions on the mountain.

“Thanks to the commitment by our snowmaking and grooming teams, and the improvements to our snowmaking system, we've been able to provide our guests with the most consistent, reliable conditions in the region,” he said. “We've already made significant progress on other parts of the mountain, and as temperatures continue to cooperate, skiers and riders can expect us to open more terrain soon.”

Let it snow

Winter outdoor enthusiasts were ecstatic in the beginning of October, when an early-season snow storm seemed to indicate another winter of deep powder on the slopes.

However, that has so far proven to be incorrect.

Despite it being a La Niņa year, like last year, this year is more in concert with the weather event, according to the National Weather Service.

“I've had a number of calls from people wondering when they're going to be able to ski more than one run,” said Scott McGuire, the weather service meteorologist in Reno. “This weather is definitely indicative of a more typical La Niņa pattern. Last year was not normal.”

Due to a high-pressure system sitting over the Pacific, California is unlikely to see much precipitation for at least a couple of weeks. Through November, the Lake Tahoe region stood at less than half of the average precipitation for that month.

Though forecasts for the next week are sunny and cold, the storm-blocking high pressure system will dissipate or move eventually and the snow will coming rolling in, McGuire said.

“It's hard to imagine that the overall pattern like this will persist all the way through winter,” he said.

Storms on their way south from Alaska need to connect with the Pacific Jet Stream for the Lake Tahoe Basin to get a pounding like last year's December.

The high pressure system has pushed the storms inland farther north, bringing large amounts of precipitation to the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.

An updated long-range forecast from Accuweather.com still calls for average or above average snowfall for the area for the year, but it's unclear when it will kick in.

“There's a couple of storms that look like they could bring a couple of inches to that area,” said Mike Pigot, a meteorologist with Accuweather.com. “But you're probably not looking at more than 6 inches at least until Christmas.”

To contact Staff Writer Matthew Renda, e-mail mrenda@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4239.

Dylan Silver from the Tahoe Daily Tribune contributed to this report.