A Special Weather Statement has been issued by NOAA for Lake Tahoe Region. 8-12″ of snow are forecasted for tonight and into Friday.
NOAA’s SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT:
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV 221 PM PDT WED APR 23 2014 ...A BRIEF RETURN TO WINTER FOR THE SIERRA THIS WEEK... ANOTHER STRONG COLD FRONT WILL DROP THROUGH THE REGION THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. AHEAD OF THIS FRONT GUSTY WINDS WILL DEVELOP THURSDAY NIGHT. WHILE NOT AS STRONG AS THE MOST RECENT SYSTEM, WIND GUSTS OF UP TO 45 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN THE LEE OF THE SIERRA THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. MORE SIGNIFICANTLY, LIGHT RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA THURSDAY EVENING AND SPREAD SOUTH THROUGH THE SIERRA ON FRIDAY. WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW FALL MOVING THROUGH THE TAHOE BASIN DURING THE DAY, COMBINED WITH WARM GROUND TEMPERATURES, ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE LIMITED TO AREAS ABOVE 7000 FEET FRIDAY IN THE TAHOE BASIN. TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. FARTHER SOUTH INTO MONO COUNTY, THE HEAVIEST SNOW IS LIKELY FROM LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY EVENING. THE LATER START TO THE HEAVIEST SNOW COULD LEAD TO MORE WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATING SNOW FROM SONORA PASS TO THE SOUTH, ESPECIALLY ABOVE 7500 FEET. THIS COULD CAUSE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON HIGHWAY 395 THROUGH CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MONO COUNTY FRIDAY NIGHT. IN WESTERN NEVADA RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE LESS WIDESPREAD WITH THIS SYSTEM, BUT SNOW LEVELS COULD FALL TO NEAR 5000 FEET BY FRIDAY NIGHT. DUE TO UNCERTAINTIES WITHIN THE FORECAST, THE EXACT AMOUNT AND TIMING OF ANY PRECIPITATION COULD CHANGE BEFORE FRIDAY MORNING. HIGH ELEVATION SNOW ADVISORIES MAY BE NEEDED FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING, BUT HAVE NOT BEEN ISSUED AS YET. CONTINUE TO CHECK THE FORECAST OFTEN AS THIS LATE SEASON WINTER WEATHER DEVELOPS.