Winter’s Back! Up to 4 Feet of Snow Forecast to Hit NorCal Mountains

Tahoe snowpack was much more robust in the winter of 2019

Saying that this winter in Northern California has been underwhelming is quite an understatement. Following a historically dry February, precipitation in March hasn’t hit like everyone had hoped, but that may be changing soon. A new forecast shows up to 48 inches of snow hitting the NorCal mountains this weekend, a huge development for areas seeing their snowpack dwindling at a rapid rate.

The National Weather Service released it’s forecast for the upcoming storm and boy is it a doozy. Let’s start with the snow, which is expected to fall throughout NorCal from Saturday through Monday above 2,000 feet. Lassen and Tahoe areas will up to 30 inches, while the Eastern Sierras could see up to four feet:

Meanwhile, rain with fall with a vengeance in the valley, with some areas receiving up to three inches of rain. That’s more rain than many of these places have accumulated over the past 6 weeks:

The NWS has issued a Winter Storm Watch, with the potential of chain controls and closures on high-elevated roadways:

While travel will be difficult this week, this storm is a huge relief for Northern California. Over the past two months, we’ve seen dwindling snowpack, shrinking water levels and elevated wildfire concerns due to drought conditions. While it came late this year, hopefully we can see winter conditions through the next couple of months.

Active NorCal

Telling the Stories of Northern California

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