The first major snow at Lake Tahoe ski resorts arrived Friday. Although the snow totals in Lake Tahoe weren’t as substantial as anticipated, the change in conditions did signal that winter weather has indeed hit the region.
Two Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts that typically get the most snow each season – Sugar Bowl and Kirkwood Mountain – both got 8 inches of snow overnight. In South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort was reporting 3 inches of new snow.
In North Lake Tahoe, both Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows received 4 inches of snow. Northstar California had 2 inches of snow overnight and got another 2 inches by 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, according to Northstar spokesperson Rachael Woods.
“It’s a winter wonderland right now at Northstar,” Woods said. “It’s snowing right now, 22 degrees, and we have 2 more inches of snow this morning. There’s a lot of happy people at Northstar right now.”
Among the Vail Resorts in Lake Tahoe, both Heavenly and Northstar have scheduled a Friday, Nov. 21 opening, while Kirkwood will open one day later (Nov. 22). All three resorts have their snowmaking machines operating.
Squaw is slated to open on Wednesday, Nov. 26, running lifts for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Alpine Meadows is scheduled to open Friday, Dec. 12. Sugar Bowl has not announced its planned opening yet.
As of Saturday morning, there was no announcement from Boreal Mountain, which is annually the first Lake Tahoe ski resort to open for the season.
Sierra-at-Tahoe received as much as six inches of snow in the base area near the new Solstice Plaza overnight. Early-season snowfall is a reminder that winter and the ski and snowboard season is right around the corner.
Snow hit last night in the Lake Tahoe region, creating some havoc with chain controls on both Interstate 80 and Highway 50. A blanket of snow was covering elevations above 5,000 feet, and snow was still falling as of 10:30 a.m. today.
Blue Canyon received about four to six inches of snow. Chain controls were in effect Saturday morning for Highway 88, Highway 4 at Cottage Springs and Highway 50 at Kyburz. All chain controls have been lifted on Interstate 80.
Occasional snow showers are in the forecast for the late afternoon and could add 1-3 inches of additional snow.
