April (Snow?) Showers

Let's take a quick look back at the storm that unfolded across the Sierra and western Nevada on Friday night into early Saturday morning. We were discussing this storm on the midnight shift, and we would rank it as one of the top 5 "winter" storms this season. Too bad it is a few months too late to really assist with the snow pack, which is what we desperately need to help alleviate the drought pains. I guess we should just be appreciative of what rain and snow that we got.

Snow totals were pretty decent for this time of year. We actually had multiple reports of around 10 inches in the Tahoe basin and a few back country snow sensors reported around 12 inches!


Chain controls were across most of the Sierra passes from early Saturday morning until the showers lessened and the sun allowed the roads to begin warming up. We were a bit surprised to hear the road to Bodie National Park and Monitor Pass (Highway 89) actually remained open during the event! The high sun angle really limits the impacts to roads this time of year, so that was a benefit to travelers across those Sierra passes.

What can we expect now that this storm has exited the region? We are looking at a decent warming trend for early this week. Afternoon highs could get within a few degrees of the record highs on Tuesday. So all of you weekend warriors will finally have some prime weather for running, biking, unicycling, etc. So enjoy!


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