Tahoe Weather Blog

Two strong high pressure ridges are headed our way. Golfers and warm weather lovers rejoice. The first builds in late Saturday into Sunday. The following image shows the ridge off the coast of California. Notice how all the stormy weather bounces off the ridge and moves around it: Eventually this ridge breaks down and moves on. However, almost immediately after that, another stronger ridge will build in almost the same spot. Here is a snapshot for a week from Saturday: For you warm weather lovers, this should bring some 80's to the region. Between these high pressure ridges, we will see some wind but nothing like we have seen for the last month. There is little or no chance of significant precipitation for at least the next 10 days as temperatures will warm, fall off slightly and then get even warmer. For you skiers and riders, today Scott and I went up to Alpine Meadows and caught fresh lines for at least 3 hours. Although the snow was variable and dependent on the elevati

Squaw Valley Could Exceed 150" in less than 30 days of Late March and April! You can literally read my last post which was last week and expect almost the same exact weather this week. It is truly amazing. The only difference is this storm is larger and it will be even colder. The models are in agreement that starting tomorrow morning the snows will begin in the Sierra and they should last through Wednesday when the cold front comes through and pulls in the real cold stuff. This is more of a Tahoe event than a Mammoth event. Some areas along the west short of Tahoe could pick up 4 inches of liquid precip. That could translate into 3-5 feet of snow. Our temperatures will begin to recover around next Saturday where there are some indications that we could see some stable weather with high pressure building in. That could last around a week and could bring us some 80's before the next series of storms arrives around the 10th of May. Man Made Global Warming Statement I h

Mt. Rose closed too early this year. A large storm is headed our way for this week and our weather will be stormy for about another week or more. I talked about this pattern in my last two posts and it is a typical spring pattern in an El Nino year. Here is a quick look at Tuesday morning. This should system should produce 1.5 to 3 inches of liquid precip. Translated that will be 1-3 feet of snow for the Sierra: I apologize for not posting this earlier, but I have been out of town. For those of you looking forward to more hospitable golf weather, there are indications that May might come in like a lamb after this very turbulent April. However, the real stable weather will not show up until well into June I expect.

The storm I talked about last weekend has arrived and is knocking on the door. It is currently located about 500 miles west of Oregon. It will continue to move east until it hits the coast and then head south down the coast until it swings inland Sunday into Monday. The models are not totally in agreement with this system. There is a chance it could split with the bulk of the energy going down to the south central Sierra. However I am going to go out on a limb and predict this storm holds together and comes into the Sierra somewhere between Tahoe and Mammoth. This is not a huge storm but will produce some pretty decent precipitation in the Sierra just in time for Nevada spring break. The Accumodel shows about 1-2 inches of liquid precip for the Tahoe Sierra, with some areas around Mammoth receiving 2+ inches: I believe the storm will move slightly north and bring about 1-2 feet of precip to the High Sierra with around a foot for Mt. Rose by late Monday. Here is what the GFS weather

Shortwave city. Imagine a giant up in BC throwing snowballs down the coast and hitting us. That is what is taking place. A huge area of low pressure is firing off short waves of cold air. They travel down the coast, suck up the warm ocean water, hit the Sierra, rise, condense and dump. Some of the best skiing/riding conditions in the last 3 years as April comes in like a lion. I may well have underestimated our current short wave when I guessed 18-24 inches at Rose. I was up there around noon. Here is a picture of my daughter and what the weather looked like: She is  a good sport as the wind was howling around 50+ mph and snowing heavily. It took about 1 hour for conditions to turn to all powder. However, very slow lift and at the top it was a little hairy. This is supposed to continue until about 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. After that the weather looks nice around mid week with light winds and much warmer temps. But don't get used to that because it aint going to last. Next we

A very large storm system that is centered well north of us continues to fire short wave patterns our way. The latest storm dumped nearly 30 inches at the top of Mt. Rose ski area. There is more coming. Tomorrow evening is shaping up for another bout of cold and snow, especially in the mountains. Should make for a great Saturday for the general public to get out. Here is a look at yesterday atop the mountain. The snow in the Mt. Rose Chutes ranged from 24 to perhaps 50 inches deep. A lot of snow blows in there and it was one of the better days of the year. This is Scott executing a heal turn and getting a face full: The steeps of Mt. Rose. I talked to the head avalanche forecaster for all of Tahoe and he claims that the chutes of Mt. Rose slide more frequently and violently than any other ski area in Tahoe. If you look closely, this next picture will show you why: The next short wave arrives Sunday. This is a larger system that could bring significant snow to the mountains and