A large swath of California’s Sierra Nevada fell under a blizzard warning Thursday morning, as powerful winds ripped through the mountain range. The National Weather Service said a 120 mph gust was clocked on Ward Mountain at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort, which had closed several lifts for the day.
The winds kicked up ahead of a fierce, cold winter storm that’s barreling toward the Golden State. It’s expected to bring more snow than any other storm has so far this season.
The system is predicted to impact the mountain range Thursday through Sunday, with the most severe conditions forecast Friday into Saturday morning. The storm is unique in that it’s carrying both cold Arctic air and significant amounts of moisture.
“There is a high chance (over 70%) of substantial, long-lasting disruptions to daily life in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Friday to Sunday where blizzard conditions and 5-12 ft of snow (and locally higher) are expected,” the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center warned.
The numbers meteorologists are including in their forecasts are staggering. Extremely heavy snowfall rates of up to 5 inches an hour are possible, said Brittany Whitlam, a forecaster with the weather service’s Reno office.
Snowfall accumulations across three days will generally range from 50 to 100 inches across the Sierra, with locally higher amounts at higher elevations, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a forecast discussion on YouTube on Thursday
“This will be another snowstorm probably for the record books in some places,” Swain said. From Thursday to Sunday, the Tahoe Basin is generally expected to record 3 to 5 feet at lake level and 4 to 8 feet up along the crest, Whitlam said.
That is a lot of snow coming from one storm. To put it in perspective, Tahoe City, located on the northwestern side of the basin, has seen 72.2 inches of snow since Oct. 1. Over three days, it’s expected to record 40 to 60 inches.
