Heavy Snow — Greater Lake Tahoe Area, Nevada

2024-12-29 to 2024-12-30 · Greater Lake Tahoe Area, Nevada

Event narrative

The public located at the Mount Rose Ski Base reported 24 hour storm total snowfall of 12.0 inches.

Wider weather episode

As an upper trough dug south and east into the western US, an attendant cold front swung across northern CA early morning on the 29th and continued across western NV later that morning through the afternoon. This last in a series of AR supported storm systems brought higher elevation snow, valley rain showers, and strong southwesterly winds to the region. This round of strong southwest winds included gusts up to 40-50 mph in western NV valleys, as well as 120+ mph wind across Sierra ridges. Wind prone areas also saw a 40-60% chance for peak gusts around 60+ mph.

Impacts included hazardous driving conditions, especially for high profile vehicles, frequent periods of mountain wave turbulence, rotors, and LLWS for aviation concerns, choppy lake conditions on larger area lakes, and periods of blowing dust in dry lake beds/playas for the Basin and Range. Other potential impacts included downed trees, powerlines, and power outages. Blended guidance projected a 40-60% chance for up to 4-8 inches of snowfall at higher passes such as Donner Summit, Echo and Carson Pass. The gusty southwest winds and periods of moderate snow created additional travel challenges over higher mountain passes before tapering off overnight on the 29th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1230085. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.