Following a dry spell since the beginning of the month, snow will return over the next week at Tahoe ski resorts.
Not only will it snow, it could snow big time starting by the middle of next week. Although there is no definitive forecast at this time, one weather model shows a huge storm that would be measured in feet, while another forecast is less impressive. The more optimistic forecast says the midweek snowfall could be measured in feet – not inches!
According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno, the snow on Tahoe ski resorts is forecast on multiple days – starting today (Jan. 22) – and going through the end of January for the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The largest of the three storms should arrive Wednesday and last through Thursday.
“It has the potential to be the best storm of the winter so far,” says National Weather Service meteorologist Shane Snyder. “The storms are getting progressively stronger between Friday and next Thursday. There are three waves in there.”
Thus far, it’s been an unusually dry January. The last significant snowfall took place the first few days of the month. The new storms will provide a break from dry, warm conditions that have lingered in the region.
Although most Tahoe ski resorts are offering good overall snow coverage and have many lifts operating on a daily basis, it’s been a disappointing season for snowfall. That was evident in early January when the first snowpack survey of the season took place prior near South Lake Tahoe.
The statewide snowpack was at 52% of median, but California Department of Water Resources officials at Phillips Station near Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort measured it to be 93% in that location. Surveys have been conducted at Phillips Station since 1941.
The Friday snow started overnight at Tahoe ski resorts and scattered snow showers could linger through tonight (Jan. 22). The system, which is expected to subside later this evening, should yield between 1-3 inches to Tahoe ski resorts.
SUNDAY-MONDAY SYSTEM: According to Bryan Allegretto, California Snow Forecaster for OpenSnow.com, there should be light snow starting Sunday afternoon, with snow showers moving in across the Tahoe basin through the evening.
“This is another cold system dropping down the coast with not a lot of moisture,” writes Allegretto. “The southern Sierra is likely favored for the highest snowfall. The snow showers should linger through Monday and possibly a few into Monday night before we clear out by Tuesday morning.”
The forecasted snow is anyone’s guess. There could be anywhere between 4-10 inches for the mountains through Tuesday morning (Jan. 26), which coincides with the NWS calling for up to a foot of “fluffy” snow.
BIG STORM AHEAD? According to Allegretto, another possible big system arrives Wednesday. He says if this system can pick up significant moisture, sit near the coast and direct the moisture to the Tahoe region, and snow levels stay low, it has the ingredients for sizable snow totals.
“It’s picking up a lot of moisture off the Pacific,” Snyder said. “That one has the chance to produce a lot more and the potential to drop several feet of snow in the Sierra.”
