Weird winter... certainly below normal on most aspects, but had a sustained period of winter with a lack of rain. Can easily see a winter with more snowfall but less retention and more rain mixed in there (can also just see big snowfall and big snowpack). Those active winters are what bring the snowfall totals up... can get front end WAA snow or back end upslope, even if it rains before or after the snowfall. It all counts. Might have a more variable up and down snowpack, but I'll take an active winter every time over long periods of boring. My love is for the meteorology in the mountains... how the wind flow at every level can effect precipitation, snow totals, cloud cover. Seeing how the fluid atmosphere interacts with the mountains and causes different outcomes on a very local level is a lot of fun. I'd imagine the ocean is very similar in being a cool environment with it's own local weather influence.