snowpack

The Sierra Avalanche Center in Truckee has issued a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the Greater Lake Tahoe area through 7:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 5.

The affected area is the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains between Yuba Pass (Hwy 49) on the north and Ebbetts Pass (Hwy 4) on the south, including the greater Lake Tahoe area.

Avalanche Danger...HIGH avalanche danger exists today and tonight in the mountains.

With California off to a dry start for the water year, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced Tuesday an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation of 10 percent of requested supplies for the 2021 water year.

Initial allocations are based on conservative assumptions regarding hydrology and factors such as reservoir storage. Allocations are reviewed monthly and may change based on snowpack and runoff information. They are typically finalized by May.


On April 18, 2017 the South Lake Tahoe City Council unanimously passed a resolution to: 1) Power the South Lake Tahoe community with electricity provided from 100 percent renewable sources by 2032 and 2) Reduce community carbon emissions from baseline by at least 80 percent by 2040, and reduce municipal emissions by 50 percent by 2030.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - This week's Drought Monitor shows much of the West in some level of drought. Lake Tahoe, the Sierra, and Western Nevada are all in a "moderate drought" stage with no end in the immediate future.

The 90-day outlook shows higher than average temperatures and lower than average precipitation, neither of which is good to break out of a drought.

Following below-average precipitation most of the winter, May storms delivered 181 percent of average in the Northern Sierra for this time of year, but the results aren't showing enough to remove the area from drought.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The precipitation of March did not do enough to boost the snowpack in the Sierra to high figures, but it did give surveyors better figures than the 47 percent of average one month ago. The manual measurement of the snowpack at Phillips Station near Sierra-at-Tahoe showed the snow depth was 43.5 inches with a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 16.5 inches. This is 66 percent of the April 1 average at that location southwest of Lake Tahoe.

After a gangbuster start to the winter season, a lot of us in Tahoe are wondering where all the snow has gone. Sitting here at the end of February with snowpack numbers dwindling, snow lovers are chomping at the bit, waiting to see the storm track shift back our way.

Still, the mountains have been buzzing with activity as skiers and snowboarders race to the mountains to enjoy what natural snow we’ve received and are ever thankful for the assist from local resorts’ snowmaking operations.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the second manual snow survey of the season at Phillips Station Thursday, and they found 40.5 inches of snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) of 14.5 inches. The snowpack at this location is 79 percent of the February average, with the rest of the state measuring in at 73 percent of average.

The Phillips Station total is 58 percent of the seasonal average.

"It's decent but below average," said Sean de Guzman, chief of DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Section.

October 1, 2019 marks the first day of the 2020 Water Year and reservoirs in the state are still full from the epic snow year of 2018-19. California began a new water year today with significantly more water in storage than the previous year thanks to above-average snow and precipitation.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Temperatures will become very warm with highs near 80s in Lake Tahoe and above 90 degrees for most lower elevations Monday through Wednesday. Dry conditions are expected through Tuesday, then isolated afternoon and evening thunderstorms will be possible from Wednesday through next weekend.

PHILLIPS STATION, Calif. - In a final reading of the Sierra snowpack at Phillips Station west of Lake Tahoe, officials from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) found it to be 188 percent of average with 47 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 27.5 inches.

Statewide, California’s snowpack sits at 31 inches of SWE, which is 144 percent of average for this time of year. Snow water equivalent is the depth of water that theoretically would result if the entire snowpack melted instantaneously.

At a price tag of $150 million, the California legislature is considering a bill that, if approved, would change the way the Sierra snowpack is measured each year.

For 90 years the snowpack has been measured at several locations including Phillips, just west of Lake Tahoe. Normally performed in front of media, staff from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) snowshoe into a spot where they stick a pole into the snow to measure the depth and water content of the snow.

Between 12,000 and 14,000 small lakes are scattered throughout the Sierra Nevada. How is climate change affecting these remote mountain lakes?

Recent research provides insight into the climate sensitivity of these water bodies and the influence of warming temperatures and a shrinking spring snowpack. Join Dr. Adrianne Smits on Thursday, April 25 as she discusses how lakes across the Sierra Nevada are expected to change and what that change could mean for the surrounding ecosystems.

Good Morning Lake Tahoe Skiers & Riders!

Beautiful Spring Like Day… Temps will warm up on the Slopes, but plenty of Machine Groomed & Skier Rider Packed Powder… Doesn’t Get Any Better! Use the Sunscreen today… Ski & Ride with Care & Be Safe!

PHILLIPS, Calif. - The numbers weren't much of a surprise Thursday as the Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the third Phillips Station snow survey of 2019.

What they found in the spot they've been using to measure since 1941 was good news.

The manual measurement recorded 113 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 43.5 inches, which is more than double what was recorded last month at this location.

Statewide, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is 153 percent of average for this date, thanks to several atmospheric rivers during February.

Good Morning Lake Tahoe Skiers & Riders…

Just returning from my annual road trip… My Road Trip to ReHab… I skied 10 different resorts in Utah & Colorado, while Lake Tahoe Got Hammered with big snows… Great to be back! Fresh Snow reported at all resorts, but Winter Strom Warning in effect thru 10 pm Thursday. Lifts are on Hold at many resorts. Call ahead…

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - While the snowpack isn't epic in measurement (yet), it rose above normal with this past two week's storms that brought five feet of snow to the upper elevations.

During the January 3, 2019 monthly measurement of the snow and its water content at Phillips near Sierra-at-Tahoe, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) found the snow to be at 80 percent of normal. The prior year at the same time was a dismal three percent of normal.

PHILLIPS, Calif. - It was a much different picture of the Sierra snowpack today than what there was a year ago when the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted their first monthly measurement of the snow and water content at Phillips Station, ten miles west of Lake Tahoe.

As of January 3, 2019, DWR measured the snow at 25.5 inches deep, which means the Sierra snowpack is 80 percent of normal with a snow water equivalent (SWE) of nine inches. These figures are 36 percent of the April 1 average, the date used as the maximum snowpack that will be received in the mountains.

On April 18, 2017 the South Lake Tahoe City Council unanimously passed a resolution to do two things: Power the South Lake Tahoe community with electricity provided from 100 percent renewable sources by 2032; and reduce community carbon emissions from baseline by at least 80 percent by 2040. The 100% Renewable Committee was formed to help the City accomplish these tasks.

PHILLIPS STATION, CALIF. - In 2017, the water content on March 1 at Phillips Station was measured at 185 percent of normal. One year later it is a different story, but much better than just a week ago.

The water content of the snow measured at Phillips Station on March 5, 2018 is 39 percent of the historical average with the 41.1" snow at the measuring spot 14 miles west of Lake Tahoe containing a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 9.4".

The SWE is the amount of water that would come out of the snow if melted all at once.

Even with the recent snowfall, the monthly measurement of the snowpack at Phillip Station west of Lake Tahoe was just 14 percent of the historical average. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) manual snow survey found little snowpack there, two months into what is typically California’s wettest three months.

Measurements at Phillips Station revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 2.6 inches at Phillips as measured there since 1964. SWE is the depth of water that theoretically would result if the entire snowpack melted instantaneously.

With the Sierra snowpack at three percent of normal at Echo Summit, and 84 percent of normal at top of Mt. Rose, snow is needed not only on the slopes, but at upper elevations to keep reservoirs full of water for summer.

The weather pattern remains unsettled into the weekend in Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe. A warm and relatively weak system Friday evening into Saturday will bring
additional rain and high elevation snow to the region. A brief break is expected Sunday before a stronger and wetter system is forecast to impact the region Monday and Tuesday.

The fog was socked in around Lake Tahoe Wednesday morning, but its starting to recede and retreat and should be all clear by noon.

It isn't often when the temperature of the lake is warmer than the air, but that is what happens when fog is created. The cold air mass condensates into clouds and sits low over the lake and South Lake Tahoe. The ski resorts were sitting above the fog and had a very sunny morning.

After a historic winter that saw more than 60 feet of snow fall on the slopes, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows has made another notch in the history books with staying open until July 15, the latest date in their history.

They were open 200 days during the 2016/17 season, more than a month more than the average of 174 days.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is planning to more than double their current cloud seeding program over the American River watershed from the current 190 square miles to 444 square miles.

Since 1968, SMUD has been involved in the practice of cloud seeding in El Dorado, Amador, and Placer counties to benefit electricity generation in the Upper American River Project (UARP) in Eldorado National Forest.