Conditions Report
Report from Sunday, February 9, 2025
Of all the furry creatures that call Lake Tahoe home, the booming population of black bears are probably the most famous. More seldom seen is the badger, though sightings occur almost every year. This past weekend, a large group of Badger Chemists were spotted at Palisades Tahoe. Not surprisingly, Badger Chemists are found in the highest concentration on the campus of the University of Wisconsin – Madison, though their population ranges throughout the world. Some have even been known to downhill ski. This particular group of visiting Badger Chemists tested their mettle against the world-famous terrain of Palisades Tahoe.
Our day started with a chilly hike through town to catch the TART shuttle from downtown Truckee to the base area of Palisades Tahoe. Parking reservations were sold out on the day of our visit, and who wants to drive through uncertain traffic conditions anyways when we could all relax on the bus and finish off the coffee before hitting the slopes? Plus, the TART shuttle is available approximately once per hour for the low, low price of FREE!
After arriving at Palisades Tahoe, we jumped on the base-to-base gondola and zipped over to Alpine Meadows. There we found bluebird skies, beautiful vistas, and boisterous snow conditions. Though the forecasted atmospheric river event did not bring as much fresh snow to the area as initially expected, the snow off-piste was still reasonably soft.
A few laps in at Alpine Meadows, we found some great leftovers from the day before in some steep, tight trees off of the Sherwood Express chairlift. In between tree runs, expansive views of Lake Tahoe from the wide open groomers kept the day feeling wonderfully laid back.
We found our way over to the Alpine Bowl chair, which despite the fixedness of its grips, offered lift lines a tiny fraction of the size of other chairs at Alpine Valley. The classics never go out of style! We found a wide variety of terrain to choose from, including some tasty chutes to play in. These chutes turned out to be more slippery than they looked, and I almost accidentally glissaded one of them instead of skiing it, thanks to a snow snake lurking near the top.
Ready to rest our legs for a little bit, we boarded the base-to-base gondola for the trip back to the Olympic Valley side of the resort. Some of us got out at the top of KT-22 for some bump skiing, while others decided the bumps were best enjoyed from above. We were pleasantly surprised that many of the moguls had great snow on them.
From KT-22 we started the long trek towards the Granite Chief chairlift. The amount of chairlifts at Palisades Tahoe is mind-blowing, and I think we only repeated one chairlift all day. If you paid for all of them, might as well ski all of them right? Unfortunately, we found out Granite Chief was closed. However, this was after some great steep skiing on Headwall, Siberia, and Emigrant, so there was plenty to chose from.
Around what felt like the thousandth or so mogul, my legs began to tell me that maybe some actual french fries would be better than another french fry shaped rock chute, so we headed over to the tram to finish the day out with another scenic ride. Sure, we could have skied down, but none of us had ever been on the tram before! We found our sought after snacks at 22 Bistro and then caught the bus back to Truckee.
Thanks for a fantastic day, Palisades!
Photos
Snow Conditions
Base Depth: 108 inches
Season Snowfall: 209 inches
24 hour new snow: 2 inches
7 day new snow: 46 inches
Short term forecast (NOAA):
* Today-Tonight: We started off on the cold side this morning,
with low temperatures falling into the upper teens to low 20s
for most of western NV. Meanwhile, our colder Sierra valleys and
the northern portions of the district dropped to around zero
degrees. The brisk northerly winds made it feel much colder,
with windchills as low as -10 degrees for parts of northwest NV
and northeast CA. Currently, a weak trough is dropping through
the central Great Basin, giving us a reinforcing shot of cold
air. Low temperatures will be around 5 degrees colder tonight
with dangerous windchills as low as -10 to -15 degrees expected
in the Surprise Valley and northern Washoe.* The much advertised winter storm is still on track to impact the
region starting late Wednesday through Friday. This is a dynamic
system, and will likely cause significant travel impacts across
the Sierra and possibly into western NV. Snowfall totals and
liquid amounts have not significantly changed with the latest
blended guidance. We`re still expecting multiple feet of snow
throughout the eastern Sierra. We have a cold airmass in place,
so snow levels in the Tahoe basin will start below lake level
Wednesday night through Thursday morning. Snow levels rise
Thursday afternoon to around 6,000` before dropping again
Thursday night into Friday. For Mono County, snow levels will
start below 6,000` through Thursday morning, then increase to
around 6,500-7,000` by the afternoon. Snow levels will once
again fall by Thursday night. Snowfall rates during this event
will likely be between 1-3″/hr, with the highest snowfall rates
of 2-3″/hr late Thursday morning into the afternoon. There is a
low 10-15% chance for thunder along the crests on Thursday and
Friday, which will lead to locally heavier snowfall. In addition
to the heavy snow, wind gusts will be as high as 100 mph along
exposed ridges. The Winter Storm Watch has been upgraded to a
warning. For details on the warning and snow amounts, please
visit www.weather.gov/rev.* The most difficult part of this forecast is still for western
NV, where there still is the potential for a “boom/bust” snow
event, especially for the valley floors. Precipitation is likely
to start overnight Wednesday and continue into Thursday night.
Since we have a cold airmass in place, this will likely start
off as snow. By the afternoon, snow levels increase to around
6,000` then drop again Thursday night into Friday back to around
4,500-5,000`. One source of uncertainty is if cold air remains
in place and is not scoured out, precipitation will remain
frozen and will result in higher snow totals. However, there is
higher confidence that elevations above 5,000` will see
appreciable accumulations (such as Virginia City). As such, a
Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Thursday for the Sierra
front.* A drying trend begins this weekend with some lingering showers
on early Saturday. Another storm is still possible late Sunday
into Monday, but looks to be a weaker system. -McKellar
