Blizzard Is Forecast to Bring ‘Life-Threatening’ Conditions to California

A rare warning for “life-threatening blizzard conditions” is in effect for the mountains of the Sierra, including Lake Tahoe, for a storm that could bring a three feet of snow or more from Thursday through Sunday, according to forecasters.

Blizzard warnings are reserved for the worst snow storms with whiteout conditions that could last hours or, in this case, days, with the weather likely making travel in the region treacherous. The National Weather Service in Reno, Nev., has only issued eight blizzard warnings since 2002. The last warning in the Tahoe area was almost exactly a year ago: Feb. 27, 2023.

During last year’s storm, two feet of snow fell in less than 24 hours, which, combined with earlier snows, made it challenging to distinguish houses from snow banks. Winds up to 50 miles per hour combined with the light snow made it difficult to see things only feet away.

Here’s what to expect heading into the weekend.

• Snow will begin Thursday, but the worst whiteout conditions will most likely happen Friday afternoon into Saturday morning.

• Multiple feet of snow are highly likely, with an 80 percent chance, to pile up in the Cascades and Sierra, especially for areas over 5,000 feet in elevation. Even higher elevations could see five to 10 feet of snow, maybe even up to 12 feet in a few isolated locations.

• Forecasters warned of a high chance of substantial, long-lasting disruptions to daily life in the higher elevations of the Sierra from Friday into Saturday.

• Snow is likely to fall even in some Northern California and Sierra foothill communities as colder air pushes into the region Friday into Saturday.

• At lower elevations, rain is expected for coastal areas Thursday into the weekend but not in significant amounts, especially compared to the storms earlier this season.

March could see back-to-back winter storms.

Similar to the storm at the end of February last year, a storm off the Pacific Northwest coast is likely to create a favorable pattern to transport moisture from the Pacific to combine with a cold air mass and strong winds into the Sierra. That is likely to create additional days of snow, and possible whiteout conditions. There has been snow in the region this year, but not nearly as much as during last winter.

The snowpack in the Sierra, which provides 30 percent of the state’s water supply for the year, is only about 80 percent of what it should be by February 28. This storm could help the region catch up.

Following a brief break late Sunday, another storm is possible as early as Monday. Forecasters don’t believe that storm twill be as strong as this weekend’s storm, but they caution that it is worth watching.