How much snow is Sierra-at-Tahoe getting?
No snow in the forecast for Sierra-at-Tahoe in the next 72 hours. Rain instead: about 0.9 inches, with the snow level at 8,000 ft, above the base area off US-50 (7,221 ft). NWS forecast updated Oct 20, 2:00 PM PDT; read .
From the National Weather Service’s gridded forecast for the base area off US-50, 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 Sierra-at-Tahoe getting: NWS snowfall at the base off US-50 over the next 72 hours, when it falls and how low the snow level comes.
Echo Summit now
No chain controls at Echo Summit (Caltrans). Checked .
The forecast here is for Sierra-at-Tahoe's base area off US-50, west of Echo Summit on the American River side of the crest.
The drive from Sacramento stays on US-50 and turns off before the summit, so the checkpoints at Twin Bridges and Strawberry matter more than Echo Summit itself. The drive's live answer is linked below.
The next 72 hours at Sierra-at-Tahoe, twelve hours at a time
| Period | Snow | Chance of precipitation | Snow level | Temperature | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | none | 8% | 9,500 ft | 52–53°F | 0 mph, gusts 10 |
| Tuesday night | none | 18% | 9,500 ft | 44–50°F | 0 mph, gusts 6 |
| Wednesday | none | 84% | 9,500 ft | 42–49°F | 2 mph, gusts 9 |
| Wednesday night | none | 88% | 8,500–9,500 ft | 41–45°F | 0 mph, gusts 8 |
| Thursday | none | 93% | 8,500 ft | 39–42°F | 3 mph, gusts 14 |
| Thursday night | none | 76% | 8,000 ft | 38–41°F | 3 mph, gusts 15 |
Heights to read the snow level against
The working cameras within 15 miles of Sierra-at-Tahoe, 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
- SR-89 at South Lake Tahoe / US-50 · 6,286 ft
- US-50 at South Lake Tahoe / SR-89 · 6,286 ft
- US-50 at South Lake Tahoe / Ski Run · 6,256 ft
- US-50 at Twin Bridges · 6,161 ft
Sierra-at-Tahoe, 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 off US-50: Sierra-at-Tahoe, issued by the NWS office in Sacramento, a cell whose average height is 7,221 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 Sierra-at-Tahoe. 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 Echo Summit right now?
- Do I need chains to get to Sierra-at-Tahoe right now?
- When does Sierra-at-Tahoe open? Opening day and lifts
- Sierra-at-Tahoe webcams
- US-50 road conditions and cameras
- What to carry for a Sierra winter drive
Snow forecasts for the others: Heavenly · Palisades Tahoe · Northstar · Kirkwood · Sugar Bowl · 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 Sierra-at-Tahoe. A forecast is not the road: confirm at roads.dot.ca.gov, nvroads.com or 511 before you travel.