Snowfall Report
We have seen 1-3 inches of new snow so far from this system as of 6 AM Saturday morning, with snow showers continuing to fall.
Saturday Snow Showers:
A final band of snow moves through Saturday morning from east to west across the Tahoe basin. We could see an additional 1-2 inches of snow by midday as the band weakens and clears to the south. Morning temperatures are in the 20s and will warm into the 30s for highs Saturday as the skies clear into the afternoon and we see some sun.
The east winds will ramp up with ridgetop gusts up to 40-50+ mph by the afternoon. That will make it feel colder and could affect a few upper mountain lifts.
Sunday – Monday:
Sunday into Monday the weather will be dry with mostly sunny skies on both days. Highs warming into the 40s. Ridgetop winds from the east continue Sunday but with gusts only up to 30-40+ mph. Then turning to the west Monday.
The winds start out light on Monday but are forecast to ramp up significantly through the day as a strong cold front approaches the region from the north. Ridgetop gusts could be up to 70-80+ mph by the end of the day. That could close some upper mountain lifts before the end of the ski day on Monday.
Tuesday – Wednesday Cold Front:
A cold trough digs in from the north Monday night into Tuesday. We could see a few snow showers with the cold front later Monday night into Tuesday. Highs drop into the 20s Tuesday into Wednesday. The latest model runs show very light precip with the possible snow showers Tuesday.
We could see a dusting up to an inch or two of new snow with the snow showers. We will likely see a mix of sun and clouds Tuesday with scattered snow showers, and then mostly sunny and cold Wednesday. The winds become lighter Tuesday into Wednesday.
Long Range:
By Thursday weak high pressure is over CA with mostly sunny skies and highs into the 30s. Then by Friday, the long-range models agree that a splitting trough will dig down the West Coast. A cut-off low is forecast to form off the coast and to drop south far enough off the coast to keep us dry through President’s Weekend. We could see mostly sunny skies through Sunday the 19th with highs into the 30s.
By Day 10 the long-range models suggest that another cold trough could dig south into the West, and could possibly brush us with a few snow showers on President’s Day the 20th. Then another trough could dig south farther to the west over the West Coast around Wednesday the 22nd into Thursday the 23rd.
That trough could stay in place through the weekend of the 24th-27th, which could allow enough time for a wetter storm or two to dive into the trough and spin up off the coast picking up some Pacific moisture. That weekend is the World Cup at Palisades Tahoe, and we don’t want a big snowstorm for those events, so we’ll be watching the forecast closely.
BA
