NOAA: 8-12″ of Snow Forecast for Lake Tahoe Sun-Tues

Finally, some good news for the California drought situation.  Lake Tahoe is expecting snow.  Early forecasts from NOAA are saying 8-12 inches of snow is possible in the Donner Summit area beginning Sunday and ending Tuesday.  This storm will come in two waves with the second wave on Tuesday being the stronger wave.

There isn’t much snow left at Squaw/Alpine, but this storm will certainly make the Palisades and Mainline Pocket spicy again.

Don’t forget:  Alpine closes this Sunday and Squaw closes on April 12th.  Get up here and have some fun before it’s all over.  It’s going to be a long summer this year.

California’s Sierra Nevada is experiencing a record low snowpack at 6% of average right now.  Echo Summit in South Lake Tahoe’s lowest ever snowpack was recorded this week at 0.00″ of snow for April 1st.

NOAA’s FORECAST DISCUSSION:

CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING IN A MUCH COLDER PATTERN SETTING UP FOR THE
END OF THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK ALONG WITH SEVERAL CHANCES OF
PRECIPITATION. MODEL AGREEMENT IS STILL DECENT IN TWO MAIN SYSTEMS
IMPACTING THE REGION, THE FIRST BEING SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT
FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER SYSTEM TUESDAY. THESE WILL BE COLD SYSTEMS AND
SNOW LEVELS COULD DROP AROUND 4000-5000 FEET WITH TRAVEL IMPACTS
LIKELY. IF YOU HAVE TRAVEL PLANS, ESPECIALLY IN THE SIERRA, SUNDAY
THROUGH TUESDAY NEXT WEEK CHECK BACK FOR THE LATEST FORECAST
DETAILS.

SNOW COULD BEGIN FALLING IN THE SIERRA AS EARLY AS SUNDAY MORNING,
WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW LIKELY TO BE DURING THE DAY BASED ON CURRENT
PROGS. THERE IS NOT A MAJOR MOISTURE TAP INTO THE SYSTEM, HOWEVER IT
IS VERY DYNAMIC WHICH WILL HELP TO MAXIMIZE PRECIP EFFICIENCY. HAVE
RAISED CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION WITH LIQUID TOTALS OVER THE SIERRA
CREST BETWEEN A QUARTER AND HALF OF AN INCH. THERE IS NOT MUCH OF A
SPILLOVER SIGNATURE INTO WESTERN NEVADA WITH PRECIPITATION TOTALS
GENERALLY A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS. 700 MB TEMPS IN THE -10C TO
-12C RANGE WOULD TRANSLATE TO SNOW LEVELS POTENTIALLY DIPPING BELOW
4000 FEET. TRAVEL IMPACTS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY, BUT THE APRIL SUN
ANGLE WILL HELP TO WARM ROADS AND MAY HELP LIMIT ROADWAY
ACCUMULATIONS.

SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BE STRONG AND GUSTY SUNDAY DUE TO THE LARGE
THERMAL GRADIENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM. THIS WILL CAUSE
DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR BOATERS ON AREA LAKES, CROSSWIND IMPACTS TO
HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES, AND TURBULENCE FOR AVIATION. IN ADDITION,
HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL DROP 12 TO 18 DEGREES FROM SATURDAY TO
SUNDAY, WITH HIGHS ONLY REACHING INTO THE MID 40S TO LOW 50S IN
WESTERN NEVADA AND IN THE 30S IN THE SIERRA. THE WIND WILL ONLY MAKE
THESE TEMPERATURES FEEL COLDER AND WILL BE A DEFINITE SHOCK COMPARED
TO THE WARMTH OF LATE MARCH.

SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH BY MONDAY MORNING WITH A BRIEF BREAK BEFORE
THE NEXT SYSTEM, THOUGH THE BELOW TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN. THE
SYSTEM FOR TUESDAY ONCE AGAIN DOES NOT HAVE A BIG MOISTURE TAP, BUT
IS FAIRLY WELL ORGANIZED WITH AN ADDITIONAL HALF INCH OR MORE OF
LIQUID ALONG THE SIERRA POSSIBLE. THIS SYSTEM ALSO HAS BETTER
SPILLOVER POTENTIAL INTO WESTERN NEVADA AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
SWINGS THROUGH THE REGION. THE SYSTEM WILL BE COLD, BUT LIKELY NOT
AS COLD AS SUNDAY`S STORM. SNOW LEVELS LOOK TO BE AROUND OR JUST
ABOVE 5000 FEET, WHICH COULD ONCE AGAIN PRESENT TRAVEL IMPACTS.