Summary:

Rain and high elevation snow will fall today, tapering off this afternoon.  Snow levels are around 9000 ft. but they will fall during morning to near 8000 ft. as a cold front moves down from the North.  We could see a few inches of snow above 8000 ft. on the mountains.  Tomorrow the ridge of high pressure builds along the West Coast keeping us dry through Thanksgiving.  Next chance for precip is next weekend.

Details:

Snow levels continued to rise overnight as the band of moisture moved in.  Currently it looks like they are running around 9000 ft. which is what we were expecting for the onset of the precip.  Colder air is moving down from the North this morning.  Snow levels have started falling in Oregon and Idaho as the front makes its way South.  It is moving down a little slower than I was thinking.  Snow levels should drop back down near 8000 ft. this morning and then to 7000 ft. this afternoon as the precip moves out.

Snowfall amounts above the snow line still look good at around 3-6 inches.  It will be hard to verify snowfall amounts at 9000 ft. around the basin.  At 8000 ft. we will have to see how fast the snow levels come down this morning before the heavier precip moves out, but we should see some accumulation.  Overall the last few days have brought much needed precip to the Tahoe basin, but lower snow levels would have been nice.

High pressure builds in along the West Coast starting tomorrow bringing dry and milder weather through Thanksgiving.  The next chance for some precip will be next weekend.  The forecast models continue to show the ridge shifting East and a system moving onshore.  Right now it doesn't look overly impressive but it could bring some more mountain snows.

Long-Range:

Long-range forecast models continue to show favorable teleconnection and height patterns for a more active pattern beyond next weekend.  There are several systems showing up on the model runs but its too early to look at details.  

The last few years have been hard on all of us.  I try to stay optimistic.  I am pretty high on the list of people most insanely obsessed with snow, so I'm always looking forward towards the next chance for snowfall.  I am very hungry for big snow and hoping I'll get my fill along with the rest of you this Winter.

Hang in there....BA