It may be Spring, but no one told Lake Tahoe: Record-breaking snowstorm coats mountains

Late season snowfall breaks historical record for the month of May while also bringing the largest 24-hour total this year

People were digging out from a record-breaking snowstorm in Northern California this weekend, which is something they don’t normally do in May. The snow that accumulated from 8 a.m. Saturday through 8 a.m. Sunday was the largest 24-hour period of snowfall for this water year, said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist and manager at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, a University of California, Berkeley field research station located at Donner Pass in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. 

Water years are measured from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The spring storm brought a whopping 26.4 inches of snow to the Lab.

The Tahoe snowfall also broke 24-hour records for May

While this year is nowhere near the record snowfall seen last water year, this weekend broke records for the month of May. The 26.4 inches seen over the weekend surpassed any other snowstorm on record at the lab, which goes back to 1971. “We regularly receive snowfall at the Snow Lab in May but the accumulation amount for this storm is what made it unique. This storm produced the largest single-day accumulation in May in our digitized records,” Schwartz said.

Here’s how this water year – stacks up against record-breaking 2022-2023 and the median:

2023-2024 Tahoe snowfall slightly above average so far

Aside from a record-breaking weekend, the 2023-2024 season has been normal. “This year was remarkably average, which is something that we rarely get in the Sierra Nevada,” said Schwartz.

While the 2023-2024 season isn’t officially over, here are this year’s snowfall totals, compared with previous water year data from the Snow Lab:

The popular ski resort Palisades in nearby Olympic Valley also confirmed receiving 26 inches in a post to X, formerly Twitter. The resort plans to remain open through Memorial Day.

“We did end up slightly above average for our total snowfall and snow water equivalent, so it has been a good year overall,” said Schwartz.