April showers bring May powder: Snow totals around the basin
For the first time in recent history, the National Weather Service in Reno issued a Winter Storm Warning in May, according to a Palisades Tahoe press release.
In his final forecast post for the 2023-2024 season, OpenSnow Forecaster Bryan Allegretto said that the biggest 24-hour snowfall of this season for Palisades was 31 inches on March 3. Last weekend’s storm was the second-largest 24-hour snowfall bringing 26 inches to the mountain.
The Central Sierra Snow Lab near Donner Summit reported after that with the same total, Allegretto wrote.
“That is a huge amount of snow in 24 hours in May. It’s a big storm even in the middle of January,” the post reads. “What was even more unique was that it was cold with temperatures dropping into the teens on the peaks Saturday night bringing powdery to the upper mountains.”
Palisades Tahoe is still open 7 days a week through Memorial Day weekend. Their signature spring event, “The Cushing Crossing” has been pushed back from May 4 to May 11 due to this new snowfall, according to a press release. Donner Ski Ranch is still open on weekends.
Here are the snow totals around the basin, according to OpenSnow.com:
Donner Pass – 16″
Olympic Valley – 9″
Homewood – 7″
Truckee – 4″
South Lake Tahoe – 3″
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