Ok, the storm is here and so is the Hype. In Tahoe, we fear the storm hype because we’ve all seen these things downgraded to almost nothing in the past. Personally, I don’t see that happening this time. So, lets HYPE IT UP! Why, not? We might as well have some fun with it, right?
First off, lets look at what all our official current sources are saying:
* TIMING: SNOW WILL BEGIN WEST OF HIGHWAY 89 LATE THIS
AFTERNOON...INCREASING IN INTENSITY AND SPREADING INTO THE REST
OF THE TAHOE BASIN TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 1 TO 2 FEET AT LAKE LEVEL WITH 3 TO 5
FEET ABOVE 7000 FEET. THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS WILL BE ON THE
WEST SIDE OF THE LAKE.
5 day totals could be around 2-3+ feet at lake level with 3-5 feet above 7000 ft., and 5-7 feet along the crest. This is going to be very light and powdery snow so you may want to break out the snorkels.
Tonight there will be a six or seven hour period of very heavy snow and high winds — probably white-out conditions across much of Tahoe. Snow will continue into Wednesday before tapering to showers. Temperatures will plunge behind the front on Wednesday, with highs in the low 20s at 7000 feet. By Wednesday night we should have at least two feet of snow at 7000 feet and more than that — up to four feet total — at the higher elevations.
| For 8000-9000 ft: | |||
| Today: | Tonight: | Tomorrow: | |
| Weather: | Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. | Snow. Temperatures falling through the night. | Snow |
| Temperatures: | 26-30 deg. F. | 18-22 deg. F. | 10-15 deg. F. |
| Wind direction: | Southwest | Southwest | Southwest |
| Wind speed: | 55-75 mph with gusts to 100 mph increasing to 120 mph in the afternoon | 55-75 mph with gusts to 120 mph decreasing to 100 mph after midnight | 50-70 mph with gusts to 90 mph decreasing to 35-45 mph with gusts to 60 mph in the afternoon |
| Expected snowfall: | 0-1 in. | 12-24 in. | 10-18 in. |
I’m now feeling bold enough to say that this is going to be one ass kicking storm. The worst it’s gonna be sounds to be about 2 feet. The best sounds like it could be over 5. Either way, I’m a happy camper. AND it looks like this isn’t the end of it.
TahoeWeatherForecast.com offers us this hope for the future:
Take a deep breathe because unlike November and December the fun is going to last longer than a week. Next week the storms look smaller and cold as the ridge is a little closer and the storms come down the coast with less over water trajectory to pick up moisture. Then the following week going into the first week of March the pattern points to a possible redevelopment of the ridge further West. That would allow them to dig again and pick up more moisture. It looks like the storm door should stay open into the beginning of March.
Ah, yes. Life is looking very good. Very, very good. It’s great to be from Lake Tahoe, once again.