By the time Monday morning arrives, some Tahoe ski resorts could be looking at 4 feet of fresh snow.
A winter storm packing heavy snow and powerful winds made its way into the Tahoe region by early Saturday morning. Weather officials say the nasty storm could drop as much as 2 to 4 feet of snow at upper elevations around Lake Tahoe this weekend. The snow is expected to drop to 1,800-foot level off Interstate 80 in mountainous regions.
As much as 18 to 28 inches of snow is forecast through the weekend at lake level, and up to 4 feet at elevations above 7,000 feet. Winds could be around 50 mph with gusts of more than 100 mph.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning going into effect at 4 a.m. Saturday and lasting until 4 a.m. Monday for areas above 3,500 feet in elevation.
At around 3:45 pm Saturday, I-80 westbound was closed at the Nevada State line and eastbound is closed at Colfax due to multiple spin outs and whiteout conditions.
Driving conditions have been deteriorating over Donner Summit and will only get worse tonight.
Although driving conditions were treacherous, Highway 50 heading in and out of Lake Tahoe remained open through early Saturday evening. A stretch of Highway 89 also was closed due to heavy snow between Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe.
“We have a classic Sierra storm brewing, which promises to drop feet of snow this weekend,” a Sugar Bowl press release said. “Monday looks to be an extraordinary powder day once the skies clear. “To celebrate, we have decided to keep the Hotel open an extra night (Sunday), so you can easily go from pillow to powder.”
The “Dragon Storm” – as it’s been named by Lake Tahoe snow forecaster Bryan Allegretto – is expected to bring large amounts of precipitation to the Sierra, all the way up to Mount Shasta and the northwest corner of the state, as well as the coastline into Southern California.
“It’s just so much snow so fast,” Allegretto said. “It’ll be snowing 1 to 3 inches (on the mountains) per hour Saturday night. It’s the perfect set-up just for huge amounts of snow, even down at lake level. Travel won’t be fun until Monday afternoon.”
Ski resorts could see closures Saturday. With travel limited and wind gusts nearing triple digits, ski lifts could be too dangerous to operate, even on wind-protected mountains.
“It’s going to be windy and cold and miserable. It will be snowing really hard and that snow is going to be slapping you in the face,” Allegretto said. “It’s not going to be very enjoyable no matter where you go. I’m sure some mountains will have some sort of (trails) open down low, but some of them will close. You’ll probably have delayed openings on Sunday.”
Due to a possible lightning storm, Heavenly ski resort in South Lake Tahoe cleared its mountain and remained closed for the rest of the day. Several other Tahoe ski resorts closed early as well.
Caltrans suggests staying off the roads completely. The priority during the weekend weather event will be semi-trucks that don’t have a choice but to drive. Near-whiteout conditions could cause road closures and chain controls, according to the weather service.
“That’s why we’re telling people not to travel unless they absolutely have to because the trucks are such an important part of commerce and business. All it takes is one spinout and things can get really chaotic,” Caltrans spokesperson John O’Connell said.
TAHOE SKI RESORT OPENING DATES
- Mt. Rose: Open Nov. 11
- Boreal: Open Nov. 11
- Northstar: Open Nov. 12
- Heavenly: Open Nov. 12
- Kirkwood: Open Nov. 12
- Palisades: Open Nov. 18
- Sugar Bowl: Open Nov. 25
- Soda Springs: Open Nov. 25
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: Open Dec. 3
- Diamond Peak: Open Dec. 3
- Tahoe Donner: Open Dec. 9
- Homewood: Dec. 16
- Granlibakken: Dec. 18
