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Lake Tahoe weather: Blizzard warning in effect; 10 feet of snow now possible

Kevin MacMillan
A blizzard warning will be in effect all day Tuesday for Lake Tahoe.
Courtesy NWS Reno
4 feet of snow so far!

As of Tuesday morning Northstar California is reporting a total 36 inches of snow the past 24 hours at upper mountain, while Squaw Valley is reporting 27 inches.

On the South Shore, Heavenly Mountain Resort is reporting a whopping 48 inches over the past day — that's 4 feet of snow in 24 hours.

Due to the blizzard conditions, avalanche danger and highway closures, many regional resorts are staying closed Tuesday for a third consecutive day. Please check with your favorite resort to ensure closures.

"Due to the I-80 closure, high winds and low visibility, Sugar Bowl will remain closed today, Tuesday(1/10/17)," the Donner Summit resort reporting on its Facebook page. "Sorry about this, dare I say there is such a thing (as) too much snow. We will try again tomorrow."

Look for more snow and weather updates at SierraSun.com.

TRUCKEE, Calif. — The extremely wintry start to 2017 continues Tuesday with blizzard conditions and increased snow potential.

According to the National Weather Service in Reno, a blizzard warning is in effect all day Tuesday until 10 a.m. Wednesday for the greater Tahoe-Truckee region.

Meanwhile, a winter storm warning that began Monday will be on tap from 10 a.m. Wednesday through 10 a.m. Thursday.



Originally, NWS had forecast up to 4 to 8 feet of snow above 7,000 feet, with 2 to 5 feet at lake level by Thursday morning.



As of 4 a.m. Tuesday, however, the forecast has been upgraded to 5 to 10 feet above 7,000 feet, and 3 to 7 feet at lake level.

All schools across the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, as well as Incline Village schools and regional schools at South Lake Tahoe and Zephyr Cove, are closed Tuesday due to the storm.

On Tuesday, “dangerous blizzard conditions due to heavy snow and strong winds will continue,” according to NWS, and periods of heavy snow will continue through Wednesday night. Wind gusts of 60 mph are expected Tuesday at lake level, with Sierra ridge gusts topping 100 mph.

“Dangerous life-threatening blizzard conditions with near zero visibility will exist for travel and outdoor activities, with heavy snow accumulation on all Sierra roads,” according to NWS.

An avalanche warning remains in effect for the greater Lake Tahoe area through 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to NWS. Visit http://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/ to stay up to date with warnings and slide potential.

Mother Nature has wrought havoc on the Sierra and Northern Nevada since early last week, bringing feet of snow before several inches of rain, the latter of which has caused flooding in some areas.

According to NWS, Lake Tahoe’s water level has increased nearly 1 foot since Jan. 1 due to all the precipitation.

Volume increased 103,200 acre-feet — which is roughly 33.6 billion gallons of water, according to NWS. The lake’s level is at 6,224.31 feet as of Tuesday morning (the natural rim is 6,223).

Travel has been frequently interrupted on all major Sierra highways and passes since last week due to avalanches, mud slides and other weather-related closures.

Check out Caltrans’ “QuickMap” for road conditions and chain requirements at http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov.

Power outages have been common with the most recent set of storms and are likely to occur this week. Visit http://https://california.libertyutilities.com/truckee/residential to follow updates from Liberty Utilities. Visit http://web.tdpud.org/Dashboards/OutageCenter/rdPage.aspx for updates from the Truckee Donner PUD.


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