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Lake Tahoe: Avalanche closes highway; over 8 feet of snow falls in 5 days

A look during the early morning hours Monday of the avalanche on Highway 89.
Courtesy CHP-Truckee
ALL THE SNOW – NEARLY 9 FEET This storm marks the third significant winter storm to pound the Tahoe-Truckee region since Jan. 1. As of Sunday, ski resorts in the North Tahoe-Truckee region were reporting anywhere from 47 inches of new snow (Diamond Peak) to 76 inches at Homewood — and that was just Thursday through Sunday. Resort totals are coming in slowly on Monday as the region digs out, but according to posts from Squaw Valley and Northstar, those resorts have received an additional 31 inches and 29 inches, respectively, in the last 24 hours. Then there’s Homewood — the resort tweeted at about 7 a.m. it received 30 inches of snow in the past 24 hours, putting its storm total at 106 inches. That’s nearly 9 feet of snow.

TRUCKEE, Calif. — All Tahoe-Truckee schools are closed Monday as the region digs out from the latest storm that dumped several feet of snow across the region.

The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District announced early Monday morning that schools would be canceled today; in Incline Village, the Washoe County School District announced Sunday that its Tahoe schools would be closed.

Early Monday morning, the Washoe district announced all other schools were done for the day as well due to several inches of snowfall fell in the city of Reno into the evening Sunday.



Meanwhile, Highway 89 remains closed last of 7:30 a.m. due to an avalanche.

Authorities closed the highway at about 1 a.m. Monday between Alpine Meadows and Tahoe City after an avalanche spilled over the road and caught two cars in its path.

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According to the California Highway Patrol, no one was hurt in the incident, and everyone got out the cars safe.

“The slide was 200 feet across and 12 feet high at its termination point,” CHP-Truckee officials reported on the agency’s Facebook page.

Several avalanches have been reported the past couple days in the region’s backcountry, including near Watson Lake, Deep Creek, Negro Canyon and in the Third Creek drainage area in Incline Village according to the Sierra Avalanche Center.

No injuries or other major incidents have been reported.

Meanwhile, Interstate 80 and other regional highways are open as of 7:30 a.m. Monday to traffic, although maximum chain and snow tire controls are in effect throughout the region.

According to the National Weather Service in Reno, this most recent winter storm is expected to taper off Monday. While snow showers are likely into the afternoon, only an inch or so of snow is expected at lake level.

Several power outages were reported intermittently this weekend, including a larger rash that occurred at about 8:30 p.m .Sunday night across several areas in Truckee; most areas were restored within a couple hours.


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