The National Weather Service warned of “very difficult to impossible” travel conditions in the Lake Tahoe area from Sunday evening through Wednesday evening as a cold, long-lasting storm was forecast to drop feet of snow Presidents Day weekend.
A winter storm warning was issued for the entire Tahoe basin from 10 p.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Wednesday. Tahoe ski resorts above 7,000 feet were forecast to receive up to 5 feet of snow through, with wind gusts up to 100 mph. Communities along the shoreline of Lake Tahoe were predicted to receive 2 to 3 feet of snow and wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph. The Highway 89 corridor was expected to be hit hardest, including Tahoe City, Homewood, South Lake Tahoe, Carnelian Bay, Hope Valley and Markleeville.
Forecasters warned of even heavier snow along the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, including Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, where 4 to 8 feet was expected. Highway 50 was also predicted to receive similar amounts, making travel conditions dangerous. Chain controls and highway closures were possible, the weather service said.
Heavy snow and strong wind gusts could create “periods of whiteout conditions,” the weather service said. The heaviest snow was anticipated late Monday afternoon through Tuesday evening.
“It is going to be a gorgeous weekend, but the problem is getting home. … Conditions are going to rapidly deteriorate Monday evening,” said Dawn Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the weather service office in Reno. “That’s what we want people to be prepared for.”
Johnson said it was anticipated to be “the biggest storm we’ve had since Christmas,” and the coldest so far this season.
The rain-snow line was forecast to drop as low as 2,000 feet Tuesday night, meaning chain controls are possible near foothill communities like Pollock Pines along Highway 50 and between Auburn and Colfax along I-80. Snow could fly as low as 1,500 feet along I-5 between Redding and the Oregon border, making travel dangerous around Mount Shasta, too.
Heavy snow also was forecast in Yosemite National Park, where 1 to 2 feet was possible in the valley with 5 to 7 feet in the upper elevations of the park. A winter storm warning was also in effect there from Sunday evening through Wednesday evening.
Another storm was expected to follow Thursday. Tahoe ski resorts could pick up an additional foot of snow from that system.
“Even though snowfall rates are less likely to reach the intensity compared to Monday-Tuesday, any new snow that falls will readily stick to most surfaces and produce slick and icy conditions, especially at night,” the weather service office in Reno wrote in an online forecast.
