More than 17 feet of new snow dropped on the Lake Tahoe region over the past two weeks. The amount is the largest two-week snow total in the past 35 years in Lake Tahoe.
According to the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory near Donner Summit, this is the largest measured amount since 1982 when 15.5 feet of snow hit the Lake Tahoe region from March 27 to April 8.
While the nasty weather, that included blizzard conditions, created significant problems for Tahoe and beyond, what it also created was incredible snow conditions for the upcoming Martin Luther King weekend. With the severe weather conditions finally subsiding by Friday, skiers and snowboarders were showing up in big numbers today at several Lake Tahoe ski resorts.
Benefitting the most from the storm of any Lake Tahoe ski resort was Boreal Mountain, which reported a four-day total of 157 inches – more than 13 feet.
“The first two weeks of January will be one for the record books,” said Mike Pierce, Director of Marketing for Mt. Rose ski resort. “With 378 inches having fell so far this season, we’ve already surpassed our average season snow totals. Typically, Mt. Rose will see 350 inches over the course of the season. January has been off to an incredible start.”
Mt. Rose received more than 10 feet of new snow over three days this week, and reopened Friday following the clearing of the highway and continued efforts to dig out buried chairlifts.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for mostly sunny skies this weekend, with a slight chance of snow showers Sunday before the sun returns on Monday. Forecasters at Opensnow predict another significant winter storm could move through the region Wednesday and Thursday next week, bringing multiple feet of additional snow to the mountains, with accumulation down to lake level
At around 12:30 p.m. today, Sugar Bowl posted on Twitter that “Parking has reached capacity. We do anticipate spaces to open for afternoon skiing & riding.”
Like many of Lake Tahoe’s ski resorts, Sugar Bowl had been closed for several days due to the severe conditions and also the closure of Interstate-80. Located off I-80 at the Norden exit, Sugar Bowl has received 103 inches of snow from the storm.
“With the highway reopening and the current break in the weather, skiers and riders are definitely excited about all of the snow we received this week,” Sugar Bowl spokesperson Jon Slaughter said. “Our team was able to dig out and open the majority of the mountain today, with Lincoln (lift) opening this afternoon. We anticipate Saturday being the busiest day of the season so far. And there will be more snowfall next week as another system is set to move into the region.”
Northstar California was also enjoying a busy Friday as skiers and riders were rejoicing over the powder conditions. Northstar opened Friday morning with 65 trails and ended with 89.
“It was an incredible day at Northstar. We had a lot of happy guests enjoying the 105 inches we received in this storm,” said Northstar spokesperson Marcie Bradley. “Our team is working around the clock to safely open as much terrain for MLK weekend! It’s a great year to be on skis.”
