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OK, now it's time to grab your snow gear By PAUL FATTIG Winter has finally plopped down on the Southern Oregon mountains. After a late start that saw precious little snow accumulating in the high elevations, the mountains ringing the Rogue Basin got dumped on Monday. "We've gotten a foot of new snow since this time yesterday," said Bruce Meek, mountain manager for Ski Ashland, late Monday afternoon from the ski area on Mount Ashland. "It's still snowing, and it's supposed to keep snowing," he added. There was at least 25 inches of snow at the lodge and about 48 inches on top of the mountain by late Monday afternoon, he reported. With the snow level expected to drop below mountain passes overnight, authorities are urging drivers to use extreme caution if they have to drive in the mountains today. At Crater Lake National Park, heavy snow temporarily closed the south entrance to the park, where 15 inches of new snow was reported Monday morning. The base at the park headquarters is now 69 inches. More than a foot of additional snow was expected to be piled on by this morning. At the end of December, the high mountain snowpack throughout the Rogue-Umpqua basin was just 64 percent of average, according to surveys collected by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Another survey won't be taken until the end of January. The mountain snowpack is important because water from melting snow feeds streams and rivers during the summer, when there is little rain. Snow also provides recreational opportunities during the winter. Weather forecasters had been predicting colder, wetter than normal weather in January and February because of La Nina, a huge area of colder-than-normal water in the Pacific Ocean. Weather scientists have credited La Nina with creating wet weather cycles in the Pacific Northwest. The effects of La Nina will continue to soak and chill the region through March, predicted state climatologist George Taylor. Meanwhile, National Weather Service forecasters at the Medford airport are calling for snow levels to drop to 3,000 feet above sea level today, with snow expected to fall in the higher elevations through the end of the week. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA