12/17/2010 Incline Village Lake Tahoe Nevada Weather Alert

Thursday, December 16, 2010

by Tim Lampe, Lakeshore Realty

Dec. 16, 2010

Tahoe residents and visitors should be preparing today for a series of storms that could represent one of the five wettest second halves of December on record.

The next 6 to 8 days, at least, are going to be wet. The big question will be snow levels, and whether that moisture arrives as mostly rain or snow at the 7,000 foot-elevation mark of the major mountain passes and the resort base lodges.

At this point it appears that we will see snow below 5,000 feet with the first wave on Friday, then rain up to around 7,000 feet on Saturday, followed by more snow Saturday night and Sunday. After a brief break -- or at least a lessening of the intensity of the snow late Sunday into Monday -- another wave is likely to come our way early next week, and that one also has the potential to be on the warm side.

Where all of this precipitation falls as snow, we should be talking about 3 to 6 feet of accumulations by Monday and 6 to 8 feet before Christmas, perhaps more. This won't be Utah-style dry powder, but the classic Sierra Cement at best, wet and sticky. Where it's raining in the Tahoe Basin, small stream flooding and ponding on the streets will be a real possibility.

The pattern is the result of the coming together of a huge low pressure system out of the Gulf of Alaska and a stream of warm moisture from the Central Pacific. The rain and snow line over Tahoe this weekend and into next week will depend on where these two forces merge. If the northern stream, with its colder polar air, prevails, then snow levels should remain below 7000 feet for most of the coming week. But at times when the southern stream is dominant, snow levels will rise, and we will see more rain. There's no way to know for sure which way this will go until each wave in the series of storms is nearly upon us.

Tahoe Outdoors: Coming events

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association will be celebrating National Winter Trails Day Jan. 8 from 10 am until 2 p.m. near the west end of Tahoe Meadows on the south side of Mt. Rose Highway. The TRTA will be offering free guided snowshoe hikes throughout the day, providing users with useful information on winter travel as well as dramatic views of Lake Tahoe. Tahoe Mountain Sports will also be on site to showcase winter recreation gear, from MSR and Kahtoola snowshoes to avalanche beacons and probes. A presentation by the American Red Cross on winter safety and preparedness will take place at noon, along with an assortment of other talks on how to make this winter season as enjoyable as possible. For younger winter enthusiasts, there will be an ongoing snowman contest throughout the day, along with snow shelter construction and demonstrations.