Late-Season Storm Brings More Snow to the Sierra Nevada

Working inside a nearly 18-foot-deep snow pit at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab, (L–R) Shaun Joseph, Claudia Norman, Helena Middleton take measurements of snow temperatures ahead of a weather storm in Soda Springs, Calif., on March 9, 2023. Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group via AP

TRUCKEE, Calif.—The winter that wouldn’t quit showed up again in the Sierra Nevada region of California and Nevada on Tuesday.

The fast-moving, blustery storm wasn’t expected to last long, but it was enough to require chain controls on some trans-Sierra highways and add to staggering snowfall totals left by an exceptional series of winter storms.

“A blast back to some wintry weather today with wind and snowfall,” the Mammoth Mountain ski resort wrote on its web page. The early morning temperature was just 18 degrees (-8 Celsius).

Huge amounts of snow are seen after a series of storms blasted communities surrounding South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on Jan. 4, 2023. Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP

Like most Sierra resorts, Mammoth doesn’t need anymore snow after recording 705 inches (17.9 meters) at its main lodge and 885 inches (22.5 meters) at its summit.

In the Lake Tahoe region, the Palisades Tahoe resort reported that early morning winds hit 100 mph (161 kph) before calming down.

Spring conditions are expected to return later in the week, the National Weather Service said.