Feet of new Tahoe snow extending ski season as snowpack is at 90% of average

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Tahoe could be getting up to five feet of snow on the heels of the fourth snow survey of the season which indicated the state's snowpack is at 90% of average.

Snowboarders and skiers are rejoicing because of the late-season snow.

Janelle Nelissen of San Francisco had a great weekend with her family skiing and snowboarding on the slopes in Tahoe.

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On Monday she was returning the gear she rented from Sports Basement and hopes to try out more.

She showed us how things looked up in the high country.

"Sunday it was really coming down," Nelissen said. "That was about nine in the morning. And then it was consistent for the next couple of hours. It was snow up in the mountains, and then driving back it was dumping rain."

More snow expected this week is great news for skiers and snowboarders, including Alex Holm. He also just got back from a weekend in Tahoe.

"That's great, there's been a lot of snow this season," Holm said. "Some of the seasons in recent memory have been less snow than that."

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab posted on X saying that there were cold and windy conditions this Monday morning with more than seven inches of snow in the last day and that they're expecting up to 4 feet of snow through Tuesday night. That would put them close to hitting the average on April 1.

On Friday, the Department of Water Resources conducted the fourth Phillips Station snow survey of the season.

Staff measured the water content in the snowpack. That's a key indicator for future water supply.

The state's snowpack is at 90% of average.

"Oh, that's good. It would be nice to see it 100% of average or more for the water year, good for the state all year," said Craig Charnley, Assistant Manager at Sports Basement. "We checked in with Heavenly Mountain Resort about the snow so far this season."

"We're kind of caught up these last couple of months from starting from kind of below average to I think we're going to finish up to average snow season," said Barett Burghard with Heavenly Mountain Resort. "Especially with all the new snow, it's really setting us up for the conditions for the rest of the season."

The Director of Heavenly says this might be one of the biggest storms of the season. He says our snowpack may get to 100% of average, which would be a great finish to the ski season.