What a difference a week can make in Tahoe.
“It went from dirt last Tuesday to enough snow to open almost the entire mountain at most of the ski resorts," said Bryan Allegretto, a California snow forecaster for the website OpenSnow. “The change in a week was insane.”
“We went from about 1% of average [accumulation] to 123% in a week” he said.
After a mostly dry November, some Tahoe resorts received about 7 feet of fresh powder at their highest elevations in the last 10 days, thanks to two storms that pounded the northern Sierra Nevada before and after Thanksgiving. By Saturday, all the major resorts will be almost fully operational, Allegretto said.
"No one was working a week ago. Now they're trying to catch up,” he said. “They gotta make sure they have the entire staff ready to roll.”
Kirkwood, southwest of Lake Tahoe, took the (frozen) cake, reporting more than 8 feet of new snow at its highest elevations since just before Thanksgiving.
Another storm is forecast to hit the region Friday night and continue through early Sunday, bringing an estimated 1-3 additional feet, with snow levels expected to drop as low as 4,000 feet by Saturday night.
“I wouldn't expect lifts to open until Sunday on the upper mountains,” said Allegretto, noting that the storm will bring ridge gusts of up to 90 mph. "By late Sunday it’s going to be midwinter conditions."
But for those Bay Area residents jumping at the bit to drive up after work on Friday, Allegretto strongly suggests waiting until the storm subsides. Road conditions will likely be treacherous, with chain controls in effect and a decent chance of temporary road closures near mountain passes.
“I've seen a lot of postings about people coming up," he said. "You’re going to have to drive really fast, because it's gonna be snowing by 6 p.m. and big trouble by Friday evening."
