Mt. Rose reported 2 feet of weekend snow by Monday morning. But like all Tahoe ski resorts, the conditions have not been ideal during President’s Day weekend at the Nevada-based ski resort.
Located off the Mt. Rose Highway and approximately 10 miles from Incline Village in North Lake Tahoe and 25 miles from Reno, Mt. Rose announced even before opening Monday that several lifts were closed for the day and so was the Winters Creek Lodge. The resort had 10 inches of snow Saturday and added 14 more by Monday morning.
SEE TAHOE SNOW REPORT BELOW
Although Monday (Feb. 19) is a POW day throughout the Lake Tahoe region, it will also be a challenging one for skiers and snowboarders. Winds could gust to as high as 80 mph, bands of heavier snow are expected to arrive early afternoon along with lulls in the precipitation, and it could be raining at some base elevations.
The snow is arriving at an ideal time with tons of people hitting the slopes due to President’s Day weekend, Ski Week, and the Stifel Palisades Tahoe World Cup at Palisades Tahoe, scheduled for Feb. 23-25.
The weather will be quite challenging to start the week. But let’s stick to the positive – snowfall. Nine Tahoe ski resorts received 10 or more inches of new snow during the weekend. And multiple area ski resorts could receive a foot or more of new snow Monday when the snowfall ramps up during the day and continues into the evening.
“This storm came in with a fierce entrance late Sunday night and snow totals are hard to gauge when gale winds are swirling things around,” a Sugar Bowl blog stated this morning. “As much as we all want to ride upper mountain lifts, the winds and weather have their own plan for the day, and we are just along for the ride.”
Due to the high winds, many Tahoe ski resorts could be impacted at higher elevations where lifts may not be operating. Kirkwood, which had 22 inches of new snow (18 on Sunday) this weekend, but started Monday with all its lifts on hold. However, several lifts were open by around 9:30 am.
It was snowing hard Sunday evening at Sugar Bowl and the result was 17 inches by Monday morning. After getting a disappointing 2 inches of snow Saturday, Heavenly got hit hard Sunday with 16 inches. Sierra-at-Tahoe also got a considerable amount of snow Sunday, reporting 15 inches by Monday morning.
SEASON SNOW TOTALS: There are now five Tahoe ski resorts with 200 or more inches of snow for the 2023-24 season. Considering the snow totals were extremely low heading into the new year, getting over the 200-inch mark is no minor feat.
Sugar Bowl got 14 inches over the weekend and continues to have the most snow among Tahoe ski resorts with 248 inches. Both Boreal and Mt. Rose have recorded 215 inches this season, while Kirkwood has 215 and Palisades Tahoe has 209.
WEATHER FORECAST: According to weather forecaster Bryan Allegretto of OpenSnow.com, throughout Monday expect some rain to mix in near the base areas and some wet heavier snow at higher elevations.
Allegretto believes ridgetop winds will be strong Monday with gusts up to 70-80 mph for much of the day. Snow levels could start as high as 7,000 feet and drop to 6,000 feet during the day. He expects heavier bands of snow moving through Monday night when the snow levels could drop to 5,000 feet.
“We could see fewer showers with a bit of a lull Tuesday as the low moves north away from the region,” wrote Allegretto. “The winds come down through the day and high temperatures are still in the 30s. Tuesday night we could see a final wave of steadier snow showers move through that diminishes into Wednesday morning, and we clear into Wednesday afternoon.”
Allegretto believes the weather should be mostly sunny with lighter winds Thursday and Friday. Expect sunny skies also on Saturday and Sunday with a chance of snow on getaway day – Sunday afternoon.
TAHOE SNOW REPORT (reported Feb. 18-19)
- Mt. Rose: 10-14 – 24 inches
- Kirkwood: 4-18 – 22 inches
- Heavenly: 2-16 – 18 inches
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: 3-15 – 18 inches
- Sugar Bowl: 7-10 – 17 inches
- Northstar: 6-11 – 17 inches
- Palisades Tahoe: 8-6 – 14 inches
- Tahoe Donner: 4-8 – 12 inches
- Homewood: 4-6 – 10 inches
- Diamond Peak: 2-7 – 9 inches
- Granlibakken: 4-X – NA
- Boreal: 6-X – NA
- Soda Springs: 4-X – NA
