Do Not Travel To Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts This Weekend

The "storm of the season" is currently barreling towards Lake Tahoe, and ski resorts are encouraging travelers to stay home.

Palisades Tahoe is warning that 5-8 feet of snow could fall by Sunday morning. Check out their warning below.

Officials at Palisades Tahoe wrote on an Instagram post hyping up the coming snowfall that "Lake Tahoe is bracing for a colossal storm, with the potential for 5-8 FEET of snow by Sunday."

Palisades Tahoe is predicted to get 30 inches on Thursday, 47 inches on Friday, and 28 inches on Saturday.

"While we’re thrilled about the prospect of deep coverage, we are preparing for challenging operational impacts, and we would like you to be prepared before you travel. There will be slick roads, reduced visibility, and closures on mountain passes that are pretty much guaranteed."

They recommend using the CalTrans QuickMap app and OpenSnow to plan travel.

Officials also urge people to plan their travel before or after the period between Thursday to Saturday night, because people can "expect heavy snowfall and hazardous winter conditions."

"Wind gusts will be the highest on Thursday, while the snowfall rate will be the heaviest on Friday. There is potential for full or partial closures of the resort on both Friday and Saturday or at least significant delays for dig out and control work."

Palisades Tahoe predicts that they will lose access to the upper mountains during this storm, which is typical during heavy snow.

Additionally, all of the access roads will have to be re-established and extensive avalanche mitigation will have to be performed. "We will be starting from scratch and we cannot put out estimated re-opening information until we see what this storm brings."

"We do expect that Sunday will be a day of patience as we dig out."

"Each day, we set the next day’s lift projections at 4pm. You can check the app or the website for real-time changes."

It's not just Palisades Tahoe. This advisory applies to all resorts in the Lake Tahoe area.

Anthony Edwards wrote on X, "DO NOT TRAVEL in the Sierra Nevada from Thursday through Sunday. It will be impossible to navigate due to whiteout conditions. Freeways and highways will probably close, anyway, and your ski destination is unlikely to open due to wind and avalanche danger."

It's a good point. The risk-benefit analysis is tipped in one direction this weekend: the driving is bad, and the reward may not even pan out. During the storm, resorts will not open as planned, if they open at all.

The same post was later updated to say that The National Weather Service is forecasting 87 to 100 inches of snow at Donner Summit.

No matter which resort you're headed to (please, do not venture into the backcountry during these conditions, and if you do, know the risks and make sure you have a group with proper snow safety and rescue equipment) make sure your expectations match the forecast.

Things will be slow to open, roads will be dangerous, and Ski Patrol will have their work cut out for them.

Plan accordingly.

Related: California Ski Area Cautions Skiers To Prepare For "Up To 12 Feet Of Snow"

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