Another foot of snow dropped Friday at several Lake Tahoe ski resorts, adding to the already staggering snow totals at ski resorts that have been bombarded with snow since January.
There’s plenty of snow for President’s Day weekend travelers, but the two primary corridors to Lake Tahoe – Interstate 80 and Highway 50 – have been cleared of troubling mudslides and hopefully will stay that way for a while.
Road conditions
The roads to South Lake Tahoe for the holiday weekend are open in all directions. With the recent mudslides along Echo Summit/Highway 50 and fallen rocks at Cave Rock/Highway 50, both Caltrans and Nevada Department of Transportation worked tirelessly to reopen the highway. Travelers should expect minor delays and officials encourage drivers to check road conditions before and during travel as conditions may change with the incoming storm – http://tahoesouth.com/.
I-80 westbound was closed for a day or more, starting with a mudslide Monday afternoon that made it difficult for skiers and riders to return home from a trip to North Lake Tahoe.
“We commend both Caltrans and NDOT for their efforts with extremely challenging circumstances this past week,” said Carol Chaplin, president and CEO of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. “With the record amount of snowfall we’ve received this winter we appreciate their diligence to ensure safe traveling over mountain passes, especially leading into a major holiday weekend.”
Motorists should check conditions with Caltrans www.dot.ca.gov and Nevada Department of Transportation http://nvroads.com for current conditions.
Tahoe resorts already exceeding yearly snow totals
The three Vail Resorts in Lake Tahoe – Northstar California, Heavenly Mountain, Kirkwood Mountain – and Sugar Bowl ski resort have all exceeded their season totals by mid-February.
Sugar Bowl: Located off Interstate 89 at the Norden exit, the historic ski resort is reporting 558 inches of snow this season, and the forecast is calling for more snow through much of weekend and into next week. Sugar Bowl received a record-amount of snowfall in the 1983-84 season when it received 829 inches.
Northstar California: The ski resort off Highway 267 in Truckee is coming off its snowiest month ever in January when it received 285 inches of snow, nearly 24 feet. The year-to-date (as of Feb. 15) total is 468 inches, exceeding its average annual total of 350 inches.
The current total is the deepest snowpack in 22 years.
Heavenly Mountain: The iconic South Lake Tahoe ski resort was reporting season totals of 464 inches on Feb. 15. That surpasses the yearly average of 350 inches. Like other Lake Tahoe ski resorts, January was a huge month for Heavenly when a series of storms resulted in 304 inches. Thus far, 82 inches had fallen by Feb. 15.
Kirkwood Mountain: Storms kept arriving at the ski resort off Highway 88, resulting in numerous January powder days. Kirkwood has received 501 inches and is far ahead of its season average of 365 inches. Prior to the recent drought, Kirkwood was typically getting 500-plus inches a year, but the total was considerably less the past few years. The January total this year for Kirkwood was 295 inches and the resort is reporting this month’s totals were 99 inches as of Feb. 15.
Friday Snow Totals
- Squaw Valley: 12 inches
- Alpine Meadows: 12 inches
- Sugar Bowl: 12 inches
- Kirkwood: 9 inches
- Homewood: 8 inches
- Northstar: 7 inches
