Winter Storm — Greater Lake Tahoe Area, California

1996-12-20 to 1996-12-23 · Greater Lake Tahoe Area, California

Wider weather episode

A powerful winter storm ravaged the Greater Lake Tahoe area over a two and a half day period. The main portion of the storm dumped heavy snow over the region from late Friday night (20th) into early Sunday morning (22nd). The cold moist flow continued into early Monday morning, but snowfall amounts were not as significant as on Saturday into early Sunday. Some noteworthy snowfall amounts over the 12-24 hour period from late Friday night into Saturday night were as follows: 30 inches of snow at Tahoe City, Donner Summit (7200 feet I-80), and Incline Village, 40-50 inches of snow at Kirkwood Ski Resort, 60 inches at Echo Summit, and 48-60 inches around the Truckee area. Storm totals ending early Monday morning (23rd) were phenomenal. Much of the region below 7000 feet received between 4 and 6 feet of snow. Some ski resorts reported record or near record snow amounts for the storm. Alpine Meadows reported a total of 100 inches at 9800 feet. In addition, the 81 inches of snow that had fallen at 7000 feet at Alpine Meadows broke 12, 24, 48, and 72 hour records. Finally, about 8 feet of snow fell at the Kirkwood Ski Resort in a 36 hour period, 6 inches shy of the 1982 record.The powerful winter storm immobilized holiday travelers. Many roads were closed, including I-80 and U.S. Highway 50. There were numerous traffic accidents as well as stranded motorists. Power was out to as much as 63,000 customers. A roof of a portable classroom collasped under the weight of the heavy snow on Saturday, causing damage to school items. Finally, there were some deaths attributed to the storm. A cross country skier and a snowboarder were found dead over the weekend. They were trapped and disoriented by the heavy snowfall.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5580652. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.