A nordic groomer works on a trail beside Anthony Lake on Sunday, Dec. 12. The ski area could open for the season on Saturday, Dec. 18.

BAKER CITY — Winter remains more of a rumor than reality in Baker City, but a weekend storm fulfilled its forecast in the mountains.

And although city dwellers will have to wait to construct the season’s first snowman, skiers and snowboarders are getting close to making their first runs at Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort.

The potent storm was a perfect illustration of the rain shadow phenomenon, although in this case the precipitation was generally frozen rather than liquid.

With winds in the upper atmosphere coming from the southwest, the mountains, notably the Elkhorns, intercepted most of the moisture, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow showers fell periodically in Baker City on Saturday, Dec. 11, but almost none accumulated.

Yet just 10 miles or so to the southwest, on the other windward side of a shoulder of the Elkhorns, the storm dropped a few inches of snow.

And higher in the mountains, much more snow piled up.

Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort reported 13 inches of new snow during the weekend, with a snow base of 18 inches on Monday morning, Dec. 13.

If the weather forecast for the rest of this week proves close to accurate, with snow likely most days, there’s a “very, very good chance” that the ski area will open for the season on Saturday, Dec. 18, said Chelsea Judy, Anthony Lakes marketing director.

“We’re very optimistic,” Judy said on Monday morning, Dec. 13.

An automated snow-measuring station near Bourne, about six miles north of Sumpter, reported 15 inches of new snow, with 16 inches on the ground Monday morning.

Another station, at Eilertson Meadow along Rock Creek on the east side of the Elkhorns, about 14 inches of snow fell during the weekend. There was only one inch of snow there before the storm.

At Schneider Meadows, in the southern Wallowas north of Halfway, about 22 inches of snow fell during the weekend, bringing the total to 31 inches.

The chance for sticking snow in Baker City and other valleys of Baker County will increase this week after a cold front swept through Monday night, ushering in colder air and changing the upper air pattern to northwest, which reduces the rain shadow effect.

The National Weather Service predicts snow to continue in the mountains, with a foot or more during the week in the Anthony Lakes area.