How much snow is Kirkwood getting?
No snow in the forecast for Kirkwood in the next 72 hours. Rain instead: about 1 inch, with the snow level at 8,000 ft. NWS forecast updated Oct 20, 2:00 PM PDT; read .
From the National Weather Service’s gridded forecast for the base area on SR-88, read every 30 minutes. Totals are rounded: half inches under 3 inches, whole inches above.
Storm alerts
A notification on this device when chain control starts, changes or lifts, or a road closes or reopens. Pick your roads:
An alert is a heads-up that something changed, not a road report, and it can arrive a few minutes after the change. Before you drive, check Caltrans QuickMap or Nevada 511 (nvroads.com), or call 511. A few alerts a day at most; no account, no email, and you can turn them off here any time (what we keep).
How much snow is Kirkwood getting: NWS snowfall at the base on SR-88 over the next 72 hours, when it falls and how low the snow level comes.
Carson Pass now
No chain controls at Carson Pass (Caltrans). Checked .
The forecast here is for Kirkwood's base area on SR-88, one of the highest bases around Tahoe. It is off the lake, south of Carson Pass, and the only way in is SR-88, from Jackson or from the Carson Valley over Carson Pass.
SR-88 is Caltrans District 10's road and closes over the Carson Spur in big storms, so the snow at Kirkwood and the state of the road are two questions: the road's live answer is on the Carson Pass page.
The next 72 hours at Kirkwood, twelve hours at a time
| Period | Snow | Chance of precipitation | Snow level | Temperature | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | none | 7% | 10,000 ft | 48–49°F | 2 mph, gusts 10 |
| Tuesday night | none | 23% | 9,500 ft | 39–46°F | 6 mph, gusts 14 |
| Wednesday | none | 83% | 9,500 ft | 38–46°F | 7 mph, gusts 15 |
| Wednesday night | none | 85% | 8,500–9,500 ft | 37–43°F | 3 mph, gusts 10 |
| Thursday | none | 93% | 8,500 ft | 35–39°F | 3 mph, gusts 14 |
| Thursday night | none | 74% | 8,000 ft | 35–38°F | 5 mph, gusts 17 |
Heights to read the snow level against
The working cameras within 15 miles of Kirkwood, highest first. Where the snow level is below a camera’s height, the forecast is snow there; above it, rain.
- US-50 at Sierra at Tahoe / Echo Lake Eastbound · 6,909 ft
- Pioneer Trail Eastbound 1 · 6,351 ft
- US-50 at South Lake Tahoe / Pioneer Trail · 6,351 ft
- US-50 at Myers · 6,345 ft
- US-50 at Twin Bridges · 6,161 ft
- Hwy 50 at Wrights Lake 2 · 5,524 ft
- US-50 at Wrights Lake · 5,400 ft
Kirkwood, where the forecast is read, and the cameras around it.
Where this forecast comes from
The National Weather Service forecasts on a grid of cells about 2.5 kilometres across, and updates it through the day. This page reads the cell that holds the base area on SR-88: Kirkwood, issued by the NWS office in Sacramento, a cell whose average height is 8,268 ft. A cell’s average height can sit well below a summit, which is why the snow level is compared with the place itself. The snow total is the sum of the forecast’s own amounts for the next 72 hours; nothing is added to it, and no range is invented around it.
The full NWS forecast, with the forecaster’s discussion, is at forecast.weather.gov for Kirkwood. For avalanche danger in the backcountry, read the Sierra Avalanche Center, not a snow total.
More for this trip
- How much snow is Tahoe getting: every pass, resort and town
- Do I need chains on Carson Pass right now?
- Do I need chains to get to Kirkwood right now?
- When does Kirkwood open? Opening day and lifts
- SR-88 road conditions and cameras
- What to carry for a Sierra winter drive
Snow forecasts for the others: Heavenly · Palisades Tahoe · Northstar · Sugar Bowl · Sierra-at-Tahoe · Boreal · and Donner Pass · Echo Summit · Mt Rose
Snow forecast: National Weather Service (api.weather.gov), public domain, read every 30 minutes. Not an official NWS product. Chain control: Caltrans and NDOT, read every five minutes. Nevada Explorer is not affiliated with the National Weather Service or with Kirkwood. A forecast is not the road: confirm at roads.dot.ca.gov, nvroads.com or 511 before you travel.