Graphic: UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab
This past weekend started with good news for powder hounds on the West Coast. As of Friday, forecasts were calling for five to seven feet of snow spread across several states thanks to a series of storms that would push through the Pacific Northwest, British Colombia, the Rockies, and beyond Sunday (yesterday) and through Tuesday. All of that before another round of storms would dump more powder across the region(s). At the time, the forecast gurus at Powderchasers weren’t pinpointing a number for the Sierra Nevada range because the end-of-week storm was likely too far out to accurately predict.
According to several sources, by Monday, Sierra snow totals this week could now overshadow what we were told heading into last weekend. UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab threw out a lofty expectation of “six-to-nine feet” on Monday morning, even if we’re still far enough out for that to change.
We have been monitoring the chance for a significant storm Thurs-Sun this week. There is still time for the forecast to change but we’re currently expecting 6-9 FEET of #snow with most falling Fri into Sat morning.
We will post forecast updates as they occur.#CAwx #CAwater pic.twitter.com/VaXLq4mNYz
— UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab (@UCB_CSSL) February 26, 2024
If snowfall is in that range through Friday and Saturday of this week, it would be one of the most, if not the most significant snowstorm of the winter for the Tahoe Basin. It’s worth noting, however, that the Snow Lab forecast is alerting one of the higher snow totals right now. Meteorologist Chris Tomer, for example, who regularly has in-depth reports and forecasts for the region, is only slightly more conservative with his forecast.
“The snow in California — we’re talking feet during this timeframe,” he said Monday afternoon. “Probably four to five feet, maybe six feet of snow above 5,000 feet. There is going to be somewhat of a floor on this with a freezing level. For now, we’ll say above 5,000 feet — three, four, five feet, six feet of snow.”
