'One of the big ones:' In the Lake Tahoe Basin, this winter ranks as 4th-largest

If you shoveled snow in the Lake Tahoe or Truckee area in the past few months, you don't need to be told this has been a big winter. 

But Jeff Anderson, hydrologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service, can confirm what you already knew: This was a notably large winter, particularly for the cities and communities that dot the shore of Lake Tahoe and surrounding mountains. 

For the Lake Tahoe Basin, this winter ranks as the fourth largest since consistent record keeping began in 1981 and in the Truckee River Basin, it's the fifth largest.

"This is one of the big ones," Anderson said. 

This year's big snow totals are partially thanks to a string of strong and sometimes dangerous series of winter storms that pounded the Tahoe area and surrounding Sierra through February. 

Scientists like Anderson measure snowfall by the amount of liquid water contained in the snowpack, as opposed to measuring it in inches. 

They also keep track of snow depth, but consider that measurement much less reliable because snow depth can change rapidly due to things like compression and evaporation. 

On April 1, at a set of snow-measuring instruments perched at 8,801 feet in elevation  near the Mt. Rose Ski Area called a SNOTEL, Anderson measured 157 inches of snow with a water content of 59.9 inches. 

First-hand accounts: How two skiers survived an avalanche on Jobs Peak

That reading is high — currently the 7th highest on record since the site was installed in 1981 — but snowfall on high-elevation measuring sites like Mt. Rose aren't what put this winter near the top of record books. 

It was actually the amount of snow measured at lower elevation SNOTEL sites — between the 6,225-foot surface height of Lake Tahoe and 7,500 feet — that inched the winter of 2018/19 towards the top. 

Weather: Tahoe snowplow strikes car buried in snow, police find woman inside

"That's kind of the elevation that a lot of people had to shovel at this year." Anderson said. "Between lake level and 7,000 feet there's a lot of houses, so that's where our snowpack really shines this year."

"It's definitely been one of the biggest winters at lake level."

At a SNOTEL site near Fallen Leaf Lake, which at 6,204 feet us the lowest measuring site in the Lake Tahoe Basin, 13 inches of water content and a snow depth of 30 inches was recorded on April 1. 

North Lake Tahoe: Child nearly crushed by icicle, one of many winter-related emergencies

"That site has usually melted out by now," Anderson said, adding that this is the second-largest winter recorded at that site since 1982. Only the winter of 1983 was larger. 

As of April 1 there hasn't been much melt despite a slowing of winter storms and more sunny, warm days. But as that hefty snowpack does begin to melt off, we can certainly expect high river levels and a very full Lake Tahoe, Anderson said.

——

Sam Gross is a breaking news reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal who covers wildfires, emergencies and more. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here.