As the sun came up Friday morning, there was a surprise in the Sierra Nevada — snow. Not much, but the first of the winter season. And after a long, hot summer filled with drought conditions and fire, for many it was a welcome sight.
Flakes began falling sometime after midnight, and by Friday morning, snow was visible at higher elevations around the Lake Tahoe area and in Yosemite National Park’s high country.
“You aren’t going to be getting the skis out quite yet,” said Anna Wanless, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “It was a dusting, mostly up on the peaks.”
About 1 to 2 inches fell, Wanless estimated, at elevations above 7,500 feet.
Thursday night, Caltrans closed several of its high-elevation passes over the Sierra: State Route 4 at Ebbetts Pass at the east end of Lake Alpine; State Route 89 at Monitor Pass and State Route 108 at Sonora Pass at Kennedy Meadows. Highway officials did not issue an estimated opening time for the mountain locations.
Similarly, late Thursday, Yosemite National Park officials closed the Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road in the park’s high country. There was no snow on the ground in Yosemite Valley on Friday morning. But the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the park’s high country through 5 p.m. on Friday, saying 4 to 6 inches was expected overall there.
“It’s great. We certainly need the precipitation,” said Scott Gediman, a Yosemite spokesman. “We’re certainly hoping for a good winter with a lot of rain and snow. This was a nice respite. The whole region needs it.”
Looks like snow is sticking on the other side of Donner Summit! Submit your photos and videos to https://t.co/mShHPiGNAA https://t.co/GcTp6y1F9k
— KRNV (@KRNV) October 8, 2021
California is in the middle of a historic drought.
Northern California is experiencing the driest two years in a row since 1976-77. Many reservoirs are at record low levels around the state, and firefighters have battled multiple large blazes.
Snow and light rain fell Friday on one of those fires, the Caldor Fire, south of Lake Tahoe. That fire, which began on the Eldorado National Forest on Aug. 14, 55 days ago, destroyed 782 structures in Grizzly Flat and other areas around Highway 50, and caused the evacuation of 49,000 people as flames threatened the city of South Lake Tahoe and other communities.
On Friday, the fire was 93% contained, and had burned 221,775 acres, an area twice the size of the city of San Jose. All evacuation orders have been lifted and fire officials expect full containment on Oct. 16.
The rain and light snow offered some help, but there was still work to be done.
“Due to continued extreme-exceptional drought conditions, this moisture will slow the surface spread of the fire,” fire officials reported in an update Friday morning. “However it will do little to extinguish the fire.”
A landscape dusted in white at the lab today. 4.5cm (1.8″) of #snow over night! #CAwx #CAwater pic.twitter.com/YE3RAgPzPC
— UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab (@UCB_CSSL) October 8, 2021
Ski resorts around the Lake Tahoe area posted photos of a thin blanket of snow on the mountains where they operate. Most are planning to re-open for the ski season around Thanksgiving.
The snow was expected to end mid-day Friday as temperatures warm. But forecasts said some new snow is possible Monday.
“We’ll have another weather system come through early Monday morning but doesn’t look like it’s a lot of snowfall accumulation, maybe a dusting,” said Chris Johnston, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to produce much snow, probably less than an inch.”
Longer range forecasts hold out more hope.
“Next week we’ll warm up into the weekend and from the 18th to 20th, we could have another shot at a storm,” Johnston said.
Tahoe not kidding around with the first snow! pic.twitter.com/T808Ksn7eP
— Philip Loring (@ConserveChange) October 8, 2021
The April 1 Sierra Nevada statewide snowpack was 59% of normal, according to the state Department of Water Resources. Record hot weather, and extremely dry soils from the previous dry year caused much of the runoff when the snow melted to soak into the ground instead of running into reservoirs, surprising water managers. That has been a major contributor to water shortages at farms and cities across the state.
“We got 80% less inflow into our reservoirs than we anticipated based on a 100-year historical record, proof positive that climate change is affecting the water supply,” said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California’s Natural Resources Agency, at a news conference Wednesday in San Jose on water conservation.
Water managers and fire commanders around the state are desperately hoping for a wet winter this year, with lots of rain and snow to fill reservoirs and reduce drought conditions and fire risk next year.
“This was our first snow,” said Wanless. “Hopefully we’ll keep getting lots more.”