Dakota Snider / Mammoth Lakes Tourism via AP
This photo provided by Mammoth Lakes Tourism shows snow being cleared along the street in the Town of Mammoth Lake, Calif., during heavy snowfall on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. A second, much stronger winter storm is headed for the Sierra this weekend after a cold front dropped a half-foot (15 centimeters) of snow at Lake Tahoe ski resorts and a couple inches (5 cm) fell early Wednesday in the valleys around Reno.
Published Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021 | 1:16 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021 | 6:35 p.m.
RENO — A second, much stronger winter storm packing heavy snow is headed for the Sierra this weekend after a cold front dropped a half-foot at Lake Tahoe ski resorts and a couple inches fell early Wednesday in the valleys around Reno.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch effective from Saturday evening through Tuesday evening for Lake Tahoe and areas to the north. Several feet of snow is possible with winds up to 100 mph over mountain ridges.
One to 3 feet of snow is forecast around Tahoe, with up to 6 feet possible above elevations of 7,000 feet, the weather service said Wednesday.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible due to heavy snow and whiteout conditions. Very strong winds could cause tree damage,” the service said.
The new front likely to bring the coldest temperatures so far this season should begin to arrive in the Sierra Thursday night into Friday, with overnight lows dropping into the teens and single digits.
On Wednesday, as much as 8 inches of new snow fell in the south-central Sierra at Mammoth Mountain ski resort south of Yosemite National Park.
At Lake Tahoe, up to 6 inches of snow was reported at Homewood Mountain, Palisades Tahoe and Mount Rose on the southwest edge of Reno, with 5 inches at Heavenly on Tahoe’s south shore and 3 inches at Incline Village on the north shore. About an inch was reported in Sun Valley on the north edge of Reno and a half-inch in Carson City.
