WEATHER INFORMATION
 Current Conditions in Truckee |
Note that the town of Truckee is approximately 1,170 ft. (357 meters) lower than the trails at Auburn Ski Club. Daytime highs will commonly be lower and nighttime lows often higher on Donner Summit. CLICK HERE for an article on Sierra Snowfall History. |
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Weather, Snow & Road Conditions:
As of March 3rd, we are getting a TON of new snow, with the temperatures starting as very mild early in the week to much colder snow now falling and more predicted. Long range forecast is for more snow off an on this week, then clearing by the beginning of JO's. But that could change. Predictions are that it WON'T be a repeat of Tank-Top weather as in 2005, however. Following are some great local links to local Weather Information.
ACCUWEATHER for Soda Springs. Soda Springs is the closest "town" nearest to the club, just a few miles southwest and a few hundred feet lower elevation. Weather tends to be a little milder and warmer for Soda Springs than on Donner Summit proper (especially if there's an East wind a-blowing!). ACCUWEATHER Truckee is also helpful. For you real weather nerds (guilty as charged), here's a couple of interesting local blogs: Accuweather Blog and Mammoth Weather Dweebs (Mammoth is much farther south than Truckee, but still gets much of the same general weather features).
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DISCUSSION for Reno, NV. This is the closest major weather discussion for the Sierra Nevada, with interesting topics direct from the forecasters themselves. The SACRAMENTO VERSION is also helpful, as that's the direction the weather is coming from. The OFFICIAL NWS FORECAST is here.
BOREAL RIDGE WEATHER. The Boreal Alpine Ski Area is immediately adjacent to the trails at Auburn Ski Club, so here is a specific Snow Condition report from Weather Underground.
INTELLICAST RADAR for California. Good specific Radar loop of weather arriving.
SATELLITE VIEWS for California. A composite of helpful images.
JETSTREAM LOOP for the U.S. A very handy 7-Day forecasting tool. (No, it's not sponsored by Toko, but maybe they should).
CALTRANS ROAD CONDITIONS. Here's a direct link for the State's Transportation page. Beware that it's NOT always immediately accurate. Type in "80" for highway conditions from Truckee up to ASC. ("89" or "267" for feeder roads into Truckee).
MAGNIFEYE.COM is a great resource for local road conditions, web cams, and more.
CENTRAL SIERRA SNOW LABORATORY. Immediately adjacent to the lower ASCTC trails is the USFS Central Snow Lab. Their HISTORICAL DATA weather and snow records are directly applicable to our venue.
Sierra Snowfall History
by Mark McLaughlin, www.thestormking.com
The vision most Americans have of California’s weather is of an endless summer paradise of golden sunshine and gentle breezes. But residents and travelers in the Sierra Nevada endure some of the most severe winter weather in the world. Snowfall measured in feet, wind gusts in excess of 180 mph, destructive avalanches and wind chills far below zero.
For more than 160 years, people have battled the blizzards, snowslides and powerful storms that dominate the Donner Pass region of the High Sierra, where snowfall totals average 33 to 37 feet every winter. This pass gained perpetual notoriety in 1847 when the California-bound Donner Party was caught east of the summit by early winter snow. Short of food and lacking supplies, the snowbound pioneers spent the winter trapped in hastily-built cabins, buried under 22 feet of snow.
Other years have been as bad, if not worse. In 1907, the region south of Lake Tahoe was paralyzed by more than 73 feet of snow, the Sierra’s greatest total on record. The winter of 1938 dumped 819 inches on Donner Pass, which shut down the highway for weeks at a time and isolated the communities of Truckee and Tahoe City.
In January 1952, a relentless blizzard trapped a westbound streamliner train for more than three days with 226 passengers and crewmembers on board. Hurricane-force winds and deep drifts stymied all rescue attempts until the epic storm finally abated. Storms that winter dumped 65 feet of snow at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory on Donner Summit, and the snowpack reached 26 feet, the greatest depth ever recorded there.
On March 31, 1982, in the midst of one of the biggest snowstorms in Sierra history, a massive avalanche roared down the slopes at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. Tragically, seven were killed, but rescuers never gave up searching for 18-year-old Anna Conrad, an Alpine Meadows employee who was buried by tons of snow and debris. Miraculously, after five days of probing by rescue volunteers, she was dug out of the wreckage alive, and today enjoys skiing in the Sierra with her husband and children.
For more exciting stories about Sierra Nevada weather and Tahoe-Truckee history, Mark McLaughlin’s award-winning books are available at Bookshelf Books in Truckee and Tahoe City, and Village Hallmark, next to Raleys in Incline Village. For a complete list of Sierra snowfall records and the weather history of Donner Pass, visit his website at: www.TheStormKing.com