Another Knockout Storm Hits Northstar at Tahoe!

Northstar picked up another 12 inches in the past 24 hours bringing the total for storm #1 to 14 inches. That is pretty much on forecast for storm #1 and storm #2 is moving in today.

This storm is much stronger than storm #1 and is also windier and colder. That will combine for a nice big storm over the next 24 hours, possibly one of the bigger ones of the season and most likely the LAST big one of the season.

Northstar at Tahoe
Visit Northstar at Tahoe for some of the best skiiing in years

Heavy precip is banking up along the crest this morning and will spill over soon. It is going to be a mess this afternoon with some models showing up to an inch of liquid in a 6 hour period between 11 a.m. & 5 p.m. That’s 2-4 inches an hour adding up to over a foot on the mountain in a short time period.

Another interesting thing this morning is that the temps dropped overnight into the teens above 8000 ft. and the 20’s at the base and are holding steady as the storm approaches. That is showing how cold this storm is going to be with snow ratios of 20:1 up on the mountain and 15:1 in the Village. Models are all different in the details of the storm over the next two days with amounts of precip and when but it looks like at least 1.5 inches of liquid by tomorrow morning. So let’s go 12-18 inches in the Village and 18-30 inches on the mountain.

Then there are more waves rotating in tomorrow that keep the snow going into Friday night. That drops another 6-12 inches in the Village and 12-18 inches on the mountain. By Saturday morning I’m expecting storm totals of 2-3 feet in the Village and 3-4 feet on the mountain.

Another storm moves in on Saturday but models are not in agreement on this one. Some want to bring in a nice little storm with 6-12 inches in the Village and 12-18 on the mountain, with clearing on Sunday. Others have the storm a little weaker on Saturday with another final storm moving through on Sunday. Either scenario we look to pick up several more inches over the weekend in the Village and a foot or more on the mountain to cap of an amazing 2 weeks of snowfall.

Powder hounds get on it this weekend because we have a flip next week in the pattern with a closing of the storm door as the ridge shifts to off our coast. Temps should be up into the 40’s by mid-week on the mountain and 50’s in the Village. It’s time for some spring skiing on the best base we have seen to start Aplril in at least 28 years.

I also recommend getting out your camera and taking shots around Tahoe of the amazing snowpack as who knows it could be another 16-28 years before we have this much snow again if we go by the law of averages. This won’t be the end of snow just the end of huge storm cycles, I’m pretty sure anyway. The pattern does look to stay fairly progressive long-range but the jetstream should be retreating North so we will get shots of colder weather and light-moderate snowfall with each quick hitting storm. That could start as early as next weekend. BA

Provided by the Weather Blog at Northstar at Tahoe.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *