South Lake Tahoe ski, snowboard and weather report for Thursday

The following is the ski, snowboard and weather report for Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2015 for South Lake Tahoe brought to you by Lake Tahoe SkiBum.

Weather - Winter storm warning until 10 p.m. with periods of moderate to heavy snowfall at times through the day until 4 p.m. South Lake Tahoe will have a high of 25 and a low of 11. Today: Snow showers. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 25. Breezy, with a southwest wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible. Tonight: Snow showers, mainly before 10pm. Low around 11. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Heavenly - Trace of New Snow (by 4 am when they measure). Winds could affect operations today. 83% of their terrain is now open which means 4000 acres, 25 lifts and 93 runs are open. It is snowing this morning. The base depth is 52". Lift status. Snow showers. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 14. Very windy, with a west wind around 55 mph, with gusts as high as 80 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

Message from Heavenly: We received 36" of new snow over the past 48 hours, and some drifts in excess of 3 feet! Forecast is calling for a cold, and windy day with gusts that will likely impact our lifts. Our team is currently assessing operations, but we do expect some delays and possible holds this morning as our team is digging out and getting the mountain ready for opening after all this new snow. Please stay tuned for any updates. Weather permitting; we will have 25 lifts spinning from 8:30am-4:00pm giving access to 92 runs. Our groomers suggest Ridge Run in CA, and Orion in NV as their trail picks of the day and I recommend checking these runs out asap! With the cold temps, and strong winds, don't forget to bundle up today to protect yourself from the elements.

Sierra-at-Tahoe - Powder/packed powder. 12 lifts are open. Burton Progressive and Upper Snowshoe pipes are open. 1" of new snow in last 24 hours, measured at 4 am. Base depth is 42". Lift status. Snow. Temperature falling to around 15 by 3pm. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 23 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Kirkwood - Trace of new snow at 4 am. 100% of the mountain terrain is open with 2300 acres, 10 of 15 lifts and 86 of 86 runs. Delayed opening on the backside lifts this morning. Ski Patrol will continue to work on snow safety for Chairs 3 & 4, The winds are pretty gusty over the ridge of Chair 4 so both are on wind hold. Trace new snow in the last 24 hours. Lift status. The base depth is 53". Snow. Temperature falling to around 15 by 3pm. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 24 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches possible.

Facebook Message from Kirkwood: Variable, wind affected and quite possibly a little crusty off-piste again today…We are scheduled for a full mountain opening today with a slight delayed opening on our Backside lifts (3&4) this morning. I cannot give you an exact time, but I would assume around a 10a time for opening chairs 3 & 4…Now all of this is truly up to ‪#‎MotherNature‬ as the system begins to settle in… Snow will continue to ramp up through the morning, becoming heavy after 9 am. Heavy snow then looks to continue through about 5pm. During this period of heavy snow we are expecting snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour.