By Jerry Rice

Three storms are lined up to drop snow — lots of it, in some places — in the California mountains during the next few days.

The top of Mammoth Mountain may get a total of 4 to 5 feet of fresh snowfall by Sunday night, according to http://mammothweather.com.

In the Lake Tahoe area, the National Weather Service was predicting heavy snow Friday (with accumulation up to 20 inches), Saturday and Sunday. It may add up to 7 feet of new powder by the time the weekend is over.

But resorts in Southern California weren’t expected to fare as well when it comes to the white stuff. The snow level was forecast to only drop down to 8,000 feet, which means Bear Mountain was in the best position to take advantage. Its four mountain peaks range from 8,000 to 8,805 feet.

With that, here’s a look at the latest conditions at resorts throughout the state:

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Bear Mountain
Open today
Lifts: 1 and 7 are operating
Open runs: Inspiration (beginner), The Gulch (low intermediate), Expressway (intermediate)
Base depth: 8-18 inches
Conditions: Good on the open runs

Mountain High
Closed today; looking to reopen this weekend

Mount Baldy
Closed today; scheduled to open Saturday and Sunday for sight-seeing rides to the Notch restaurant and snow tubing in the tubing park

Snow Summit
Closed today; reopening date to be announced
Base depth: 8-18 inches

Snow Valley
Closed today; no opening date announced

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

Badger Pass
Scheduled to open Dec. 14

Mammoth Mountain
Open today
Lifts: Up to 10 are operating
Open runs/areas: 82, including Broadway, Coyote, Lodgepole, Phantom’s Escape, Secret Spot, Sesame Street, White Bark Ridge and Woolly’s Woods
Base depth: 34-44 inches (season to date: 69 inches)
Conditions: Fresh powder, packed powder (with 8 inches of new snow in the last 72 hours)

LAKE TAHOE

Alpine Meadows
Scheduled to open Dec. 7
Base depth: 10 inches lower mountain, 14 inches upper mountain
Conditions: 1-3 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Bear Valley
Scheduled to open mid-December
Base depth: 21 inches at mid-mountain
Conditions: 6 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Boreal
Open today
Lifts: Castle Peak Quad and Nugget Chair are operating
Base depth: 24-36 inches
Conditions: 3 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Diamond Peak
Scheduled to open Dec. 13
Base depth: 5 inches at 6,700 feet, 14 inches at 8,500 feet

Dodge Ridge
Closed today
Base depth: 5-7 inches
Conditions: Trace amounts of new snow in the last 24 hours

Donner Ski Ranch
Closed today

Heavenly
Closed today due to strong winds
Base depth: 18-24 inches (season to date: 42-54 inches)

Conditions: Powder, machine-made and machine-groomed, with 6 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Homewood
Closed today
Base depth: 30 inches on the upper mountain

Kirkwood
Open today
Lifts: SnowKirk, Solitude, Cornice Express, Wagon Wheel “The Wall” and The Reut are operating
Open runs: 12
Base depth: 26-36 inches (season to date: 76-90 inches)
Conditions: 6-8 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe
Closed today due to high winds
Base depth: 13-22 inches (season to date: 40-55 inches)
Conditions: Open powder and machine groomed packed powder, with 4-6 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Northstar
Open today
Lifts: 6 are operating
Open runs: 24 trails, with 13 of them groomed
Base depth: 18-36 inches (season to date: 35 inches at 6,900 feet, 81 inches at 8,300 feet)
Conditions: 7 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Sierra-at-Tahoe
Open today
Lifts: 4 lifts and the Broadway Terrain Park are open
Open runs: 9, all of them groomed
Base depth: 33 inches at the summit, 8 inches at the base
Conditions: 7 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours

Soda Springs
Closed today; no opening date announced

Squaw Valley
Open today
Lifts: Murphy, Tucker and Wylee are operating, and 1 terrain park with 14 features is open
Base depth: 6-28 inches (season to date: 31 inches at 6,200 feet, 37 inches at 8,200 feet)
Conditions: Powder, groomed, with 6 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours

Sugar Bowl
Closed today; scheduled to reopen on Saturday
Base depth: 12 inches
Conditions: 4-6 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours

Tahoe Donner
Scheduled to open Dec. 7