“Miracle March” is about to begin for California, with several resorts expecting some proper snowfall this afternoon. Today marks just the beginning of what could be a deep and plentiful several few days, bringing high winds, cold temperatures, and up to 4 feet of snow to several mountain peaks.
According to the National Weather Service, the Greater Lake Tahoe area, including Stateline, South Lake Tahoe, Markleeville, Glenbrook, Truckee, Tahoe City, and Incline Village, should expect heavy snowfall through 11pm PDT on Thursday, March 13. Areas along the Sierra Crest are expecting 2 to 3 feet of snowfall, while the highest peaks could see above 4 feet. Sierra communities can expect 8 to 18 inches of snowfall.
At the same time, extremely high winds could slam the mountains, with ridge winds gusting as high as 110mph. On Lake Tahoe, wind gusts could reach up to 45mph with south-southwest winds of 20 to 25 mph.
The Mammoth Lakes area, home to Mammoth Mountain, is expecting similar blizzard conditions. Areas along U.S. 395 can expect 6 to 12 inches, while areas along the Sierra Crest will once again see 2 to 3 feet of snowfall with highest peaks reaching above 4 feet. Wind gusts could reach as high as 80 mph.
Specific resort forecasts are quite a thing to look at today. Palisades Tahoe, for example, is forecasting 4-6 inches throughout the day today and 13-19 inches throughout the night tonight. The storm doesn’t stop there, with Thursday potentially bringing up to 9 more inches and Friday potentially bringing another foot. Meanwhile Mammoth is expecting 3 to 7 inches throughout the day today and continued snowfall on Thursday and Friday.
If you’re not at the mountains today, you might be missing out entirely. Travel is likely to be extremely difficult to flat out impossible and should only be attempted if absolutely necessary. If you must travel, keep a flashlight, food, and water in your car in case of an emergency.
