News

UPDATE: The meeting has been rescheduled due to a conflict with the South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting. It will now be held on Wednesday, January 24 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Attendees can join the meeting at:
https://cadot.webex.com/cadot/j.php?MTID=m15985a73b37c20cb1512af24f53df68e

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Snow is in the forecast for the Lake Tahoe Basin, but most of it will be falling above lake level. Storms begin to push into the Sierra on Friday night, with periods of rain, high-elevation snow, and gusty winds persisting into early next week. With daytime highs in the 40s in South Lake Tahoe, more rain will be seen but expect heavy snow above the lake.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno has issued a Winter Weather Advisory and Winter Storm Watch:

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - The approval of a ban on short-term vacation rentals north of Cave Rock in the Douglas County portion of Lake Tahoe has brought forward a petition for judicial review to be filed in the Ninth Judicial District Court of Nevada. Several residents and Glenbrook property manager Kevin Kjer filed the petition to reverse the Douglas County Board of Commissioner's December vote to ban the 13 vacation home rentals (VHRs) in that region starting January 1, 2025.

The homeowner's group is represented by Alling and Jillson.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Members of the Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT) will continue prescribed fire operations this week at Lake Tahoe, conditions and weather permitting. Smoke may be present throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding areas. View smoke management tips and the current air quality index at AirNow and the U.S.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Among the new laws that started with the new year, consumers will pay a little more in California Redemption Value (CRV) fees.

Fruit juice containers of 46 ounces or more and vegetable juice containers of over 16 ounces have been added to the program. Also added are beverage containers that are boxes, bladders, or pouches containing wine, distilled spirits, wine coolers, or distilled spirit coolers.

These changes make it easier for the public to do their part for the planet while putting some money back in their pockets.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The storm door will keep opening, but the big storms aren't making it down to lake level, yet. This week we'll see warmer temperatures, with a break from any system through Tuesday before a series of systems will start heading to Lake Tahoe.

A quick system comes late Tuesday into Wednesday brings valley rain and mountain snow, gusty ridges, and Sierra travel impacts possible.

The Sierra Avalanche Center has issued a "high avalanche danger" warning for the backcountry for Saturday and Sunday. Their warning is in effect from 7 a.m. Saturday until 6 p.m. Sunday.

The warning is for the central Sierra Nevada between Yuba Pass (Hwy 49) on the north and Ebbetts Pass (Hwy 4) on the south, including the greater Lake Tahoe area. This does not include ski areas and highways where avalanche mitigation programs exist.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The National Weather Service (NWS) has upgraded its previous Winter Storm Watch and issued a Winter Storm Warning for Lake Tahoe from 1 a.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday. Even though the "watch" starts at 1 a.m., snow could start before then.

Those traveling to the Sierra for the Martin Luther King weekend should watch conditions and travel accordingly. Sunday should be mostly clear, and sunny on the "getaway" day on Monday.

UPDATE: All repairs have been made, testing is complete and the gondola will re-open for the public on Friday, Jan. 12, weather permitting.

"We are so grateful for the commitment and expertise of our incredible lift maintenance team and cannot thank them enough for the work they have done to make the necessary repairs and get this machine operating again," said a Heavenly spokesperson.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Lake Tahoe will be able to have onsite consumption lounges in the City's cannabis retail businesses after the Council voted 3-1 to allow them during its Tuesday meeting.

It took three meetings to get to this vote. Mayor Pro Tem John Friedrich said the Council was split before on allowing consumption options, and he thought it was time to bring back the topic with "current knowledge" for consideration.

Mayor Cody Bass must recuse himself from voting since he is the owner of Tahoe Wellness Center, one of the cannabis businesses in South Lake Tahoe.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Heavenly Ski Resort gondola could be in operation by the weekend if repairs go as planned. Once it was announced on January 4 that the gondola would be down "indefinitely," due to mechanical issues, parts were ordered and sent from Europe overnight.

To make up for the loss of a major access point to the mountain, Heavenly operations teams worked to double the skiable acreage and added shuttles. Mother Nature helped with almost a foot of fresh snow.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno has issued a Lake Wind Advisory and Winter Storm Warning for the next system heading to Lake Tahoe.

The Lake Wind Advisory is in effect from 7 a.m. Tuesday to 4 a.m. Wednesday for Lake Tahoe. Expect southwest winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph and waves of 2 to 4 feet.

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday to protect a rare plant called the Carson Valley monkeyflower under the Endangered Species Act.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It is another very cold night in Western Nevada and around Lake Tahoe. It will be coldest by daybreak with the valleys seeing below-zero temperatures, again. South Lake Tahoe will be single digits, but it won't be the only time this week to see that number.

Expect a brief warmup, strong gusty winds, and a few showers on Tuesday, followed by another cold storm Wednesday through early Thursday. There will be widespread wind and snow impacts at all elevations, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A dangerous message was distributed through South Lake Tahoe on January 3, giving the wrong message about bear safety and spreading the narrative that bears need to be fed through garbage and composting.

Local urbanized black bear expert Toogee Sielsch was informed of the flyers and spent two hours Wednesday morning removing them from the poles along US50 from Lodi Avenue to Wildwood Avenue.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The historic Camp Richardson is about to enter a new era under a new concessionaire. For over 100 years, guests have been welcomed to the resort, and now ExplorUS will be assuming operations starting January 6.

With the recent closure of the popular lakefront Beacon restaurant at the resort, many wondered what would happen to the building. The restaurant will reopen in early 2024 with a full renovation planned for the building in the coming years.

On Wednesday, icy roads around Heavenly Valley Ski Resort caught drivers off guard, leading to one pileup on Tramway Drive off of Kingsbury Grade and crashes on Needle Peak and Keller roads in South Lake Tahoe.

There was a total of 16 cars involved in the Tramway Drive incident near Bonnie Dr. where vehicles coming down the hill all lost control and slid into the cars already stuck at the bottom. One of those vehicles involved was a Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) deputy. There were no injuries reported.

UPDATE 11PM Thursday: Well, that didn't last long. NWS Reno has changed the situation to Winter Storm Warning. The warning is in effect from 7 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday. Expect heavy snow with accumulations of 5 to 10 inches for Lake Tahoe communities such as Truckee and South Lake Tahoe with 10 to 20 inches above 7000 feet, highest west of Highway 89. Winds gusting as high as 50 mph in lower elevations and 80 to 100 mph over Sierra Ridges. Wave heights on Lake Tahoe are expected to be 2 to 4 feet. 3-7" of snow during the day on Saturday, and another 3-7" during the night.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - A 26-year-old woman from West Sacramento was arrested Thursday after allegedly causing two collisions while intoxicated on US50 near the 34 mile-marker in Kyburz.

At 10:25 a.m. on January 4, the report of a hit-and-run was made after a westbound 2004 Toyota Corolla sideswiped a Dodge Ram truck and left the scene. About three miles later, the Corolla was involved in a head-on collision with an eastbound Subaru.

The driver of the Corolla, Jennie Gomez, fled the scene and was caught a short distance away.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The 2024 Point In Time (PIT) Count in El Dorado County is scheduled for Thursday, January 25. The count will take place on the Western Slope from 6:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m., and in the South Lake Tahoe Basin from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Volunteers are being recruited in both South Lake Tahoe and on the West Slope in the undertaking of counting those experiencing homelessness in the community.

Overall, the New Year's crowds on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe were well behaved and there were no major issues for law enforcement on either side of the state line with a total of 24 arrests by those agencies over the weekend.

Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley said the crowd at Stateline was bigger this year than in the past two years. He attributed that to the new Tahoe Blue Event Center show as well as the nice weather.

South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) Lt. Scott Crivelli said that even with a large number of people in town, the crowds were well-behaved.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The United States has successfully obtained a temporary restraining order against an alleged fraud network that steals money from consumers and uses deceptive tactics to conceal illicit activity from financial institutions, thereby allowing that illicit activity to continue, the U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

The charges involve a South Lake Tahoe man.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - As anyone paying attention to the snow in the Sierra Nevada already knows, the snowpack is well below average. There has been a slow start to winter. In its first monthly snow course measurement of the year at Phillips Station on Tuesday, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) measured the snowpack at 30 percent of average with a snow depth of 7.5 inches. There is a snow-water equivalent of 3 inches.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - A bear that wandered onto the I-580 freeway near Fairview Drive in Carson City was struck and killed by a vehicle Sunday night.

The driver and passenger, a mother with her young son aboard, were not injured.

The collision was reported to dispatch at 8:47 p.m., December 31. Airbags were deployed. According to a Carson City Fire Department battalion chief, the vehicle clipped the bear on the passenger's side.