NOAA has upgraded the Winter Weather Advisory for California to a Winter Storm Warning on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains and Sierra crest with up to 16″ of snow forecast by 10pm today.  A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for the east slope of the Sierras including the Lake Tahoe Basin with up to 12″ of snow forecast today.

A WEATHER SYSTEM FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL BRING ANOTHER
ROUND OF SNOW INTO THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND SOUTHERN
CASCADE MOUNTAIN RANGES TODAY. - NOAA Reno, NV today

NOAA is forecasting very heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1-3″ of snow per hour today at times today before 1pm.

LOW VISIBILITIES POSSIBLE IN HEAVY SNOWFALL. THERE COULD BE SNOWFALL 
RATES OF 1-2 INCHES PER HOUR AT TIMES. - NOAA Reno NV today

NOAA’s Winter Storm Warning is calling for 4-8″ of snow above 5,000-feet on the west slope and 8-16″ of snow on the Sierra crest today.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 8 INCHES ABOVE 5000 FEET WITH 8 TO 12
  INCHES AND LOCALLY 16 INCHES AT THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. - NOAA Reno, NV today

NOAA’s Winter Weather Advisory is calling for 3-8″ of snow in the Tahoe Basin with 6-12″ above 7,000-feet.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 6 TO 12 INCHES ABOVE 7000 FEET...WITH 10 TO
  14 INCHES POSSIBLE ALONG THE SIERRA CREST. BELOW 7000 FEET...3
  TO 6 INCHES WITH 4 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE ALONG AND WEST OF
  HIGHWAY 89. - NOAA RENO, NV today

Snow levels are forecast to start out around 5,000-feet before dropping down to around 4,000 this evening.

* SNOW LEVELS...STARTING AROUND 5000 FEET...LOWERING TO 4000 TO
  5000 FEET. - NOAA Reno, NV today

The scary news is that there may be no storms on the horizon for potentially up to two weeks in California as blocking high pressure settles in off the coast.

The ridge of high pressure in the East Pacific blocking storms the next 2 weeks may begin to break down by the end of the month.” – Bryan Allegretto/Opensnow.com

The Lake Tahoe region should experience its first ski resort powder days this week as Tahoe will have 7 ski resorts open this weekend.  It’s been a long time since Tahoe has had this many ski resorts open this early in the season.

(Alpine Meadows, CA Conditions Report from this weekend)

3-day liquid precipitation totals for California showing up to 1.3″ of liquid in Tahoe which could translate to around 16″ of snow.

THE 2 SNOW ADVISORIES FOR CALIFORNIA TODAY:

***

WINTER STORM WARNING for CALIFORNIA TODAY:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
457 AM PST SUN NOV 15 2015

...SNOW EXPECTED OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA AND SOUTHERN CASCADES
TODAY AND TONIGHT...

.A WEATHER SYSTEM FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL BRING ANOTHER
ROUND OF SNOW INTO THE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND SOUTHERN
CASCADE MOUNTAIN RANGES TODAY. SNOW WILL BEGIN THIS MORNING
AROUND 5000 FEET...THEN LOWER TO BETWEEN 4000 AND 5000 FEET
THROUGH THE DAY. HAZARDOUS MOUNTAIN TRAVEL IS EXPECTED WITH
TRAVEL DELAYS AND CHAIN CONTROLS LIKELY.

WESTERN PLUMAS COUNTY/LASSEN PARK-
WEST SLOPE NORTHERN SIERRA NEVADA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CHESTER...QUINCY...BLUE CANYON

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING...

* MAIN IMPACT...SLIPPERY ROADS...TRAVEL DELAYS...AND CHAIN
  CONTROLS.

* TIMING...SNOW BEGINNING THIS MORNING AND CONTINUING INTO THE
  NIGHT. HEAVIEST EXPECTED LATE MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

* LOCATIONS...LASSEN NATIONAL PARK...AND PARTS OF HIGHWAYS 36...
  44...AND 89. BLUE CANYON AND DONNER SUMMIT ON INTERSTATE 80...
  ECHO SUMMIT ON HIGHWAY 50...AND CARSON PASS ON HIGHWAY 88.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 8 INCHES ABOVE 5000 FEET WITH 8 TO 12
  INCHES AND LOCALLY 16 INCHES AT THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS.

* SNOW LEVELS...STARTING AROUND 5000 FEET...LOWERING TO 4000 TO
  5000 FEET.

* OTHER IMPACTS...LOW VISIBILITIES POSSIBLE IN HEAVY SNOWFALL.
  THERE COULD BE SNOWFALL RATES OF 1-2 INCHES PER HOUR AT TIMES.

***
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY for CALIFORNIA:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
354 AM PST SUN NOV 15 2015

CAZ072-NVZ002-160000-
/O.CON.KREV.WW.Y.0011.151115T1200Z-151116T0600Z/
GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SOUTH LAKE TAHOE...TAHOE CITY...
TRUCKEE...MARKLEEVILLE...GLENBROOK...INCLINE VILLAGE
354 AM PST SUN NOV 15 2015

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS
EVENING.

* TIMING: SNOW WILL INCREASE BY LATE MORNING AND BECOME HEAVY AT
  TIMES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 6 TO 12 INCHES ABOVE 7000 FEET...WITH 10 TO
  14 INCHES POSSIBLE ALONG THE SIERRA CREST. BELOW 7000 FEET...3
  TO 6 INCHES WITH 4 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE ALONG AND WEST OF
  HIGHWAY 89.

* WINDS: SOUTHWEST 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH. SIERRA
  RIDGE GUSTS UP TO 95 MPH.

* IMPACTS: TRAVEL DELAYS DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY AND SNOW COVERED
  ROADS FOR DONNER SUMMIT...ECHO SUMMIT...CARSON PASS...SPOONER
  SUMMIT AND DAGGET PASS. SLICK ROADS AROUND THE TAHOE BASIN
  INCLUDING HIGHWAYS 28...89 AND 50.