Tahoe ski conditions: California resorts could ring in the New Year with ‘moderate’ snowfall

The storms that swept across California and the Central Valley this week did not amount to much snowfall for the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe — continuing a slow December a year after record snowfall in the Sierra and leaving resorts to keep the snow-making machines on full blast.

The National Weather Service on Friday morning was expecting “moderate” snow in the mountains late in the day and into Saturday. A winter weather advisory is in effect for elevations above 6,000 feet beginning at 10 p.m.

Since Wednesday, just an inch of snow has fallen at Kirkwood and Palisades ski resorts, and the amount of open terrain hasn’t changed significantly in the basin.

On Friday morning, Heavenly reported 35 runs open (28% of the mountain), Northstar had 30 (12%), according to onthesnow.com, while Palisades has opened 55 runs since the beginning of the week (from 3% to 24%) likely thanks to man-made snow production. Palisades’ website says two of its terrain parks are open: Belmont Park and SnoVentures.

Kirkwood remains 58% open with 49 runs available. Mount Rose remains the most widely accessible resort in the area, reporting 35 runs open with seven of eight lifts in operation.

New Year’s Eve falls on Sunday this year, with early forecasts calling for cloudy conditions and a chance of snow, along with highs of around 39 degrees; snow is also possible early next week, forecasters said. The National Weather Service predicts Wednesday will be the best chance of significant snowfall in Lake Tahoe over the coming week.

The snow in December of this year doesn’t come close to the record levels the region saw at the same time over the past two years. In Dec. 2022, Palisades recorded 146 inches of snow; 212 inches fell the final month of 2021. Through 26 days this year, only 38 inches of snow have been measured at 8,000 feet of elevation.