Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows
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Ski areas around the Tahoe Basin were apparently on Santa's nice list this year, getting a fresh shot of powdery snow for skiers celebrating Christmas on the slopes.

Resorts on all sides of Lake Tahoe reported snowfall ranging from 6 inches to 18 inches of new snow by Christmas morning after a system rolled through the region Christmas Eve and through the night.

"It was a good shot in the arm for winter in general," said Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe spokesperson Mike Pierce.

"Not that we were thin, but it put that nice fresh coat (of snow) on everything — making Tahoe shine and look spectacular."

The fresh snow allowed Mt. Rose to open new terrain on Christmas Day, including many previously-closed runs on the Slide Side.





That same storm set a rainfall record for Dec. 24 in Reno, topping out at 0.73 inches of rain measured at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

The previous record for the same date, set in 1955, was 0.69 inches of rain.

Christmas snowfall for Tahoe-area resorts:

Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: 13-15 inches

Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows: 10-11 inches

Kirkwood Mountain Resort: 10 inches

Heavenly Mountain: 9 inches

Sugar Bowl Resort: 18 inches

Homewood Mountain Resort: 6 inches

Sierra-at-Tahoe: 11 inches

That snow from the Christmas Eve storm will have to last area resorts for at least the next 10 days, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

The forecast largely dries out for the rest of 2018 and into the new year, according to Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the weather service in Reno.

Long-range forecast models are suggesting a storm might form in the first week of January, but it's still too far out to say for sure, according to McGuire.

But that dry weather comes with a silver lining for skiers, boarders and winter recreationists at large — it's going to stay cold.

Temperatures in Reno-Sparks and the Lake Tahoe Basin are expected to stay 10-15 degrees below normal though the weekend as a cold front moves through the region.

"It's going to be cold enough to hold on to the snow we got from the last system and certainly cold enough for (ski areas) to make snow," McGuire said.

Temperatures are expected to approach the seasonal average after the weekend and though next week.