After three weeks of sunny days and above average temperatures, what will probably go down as one of the driest Januaries closed out with with a muted bang.

Beginning on January 22, moisture from the subtropics brought mostly rain to lake-level communities. Fortunately the higher elevations at the ski resorts picked up much-needed snow. Skiers and snowboarders always prefer snow, but from a hydrologic perspective, the rain was just as good for the parched watersheds.

A cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska then surged into the Great Basin (Nevada, Utah) bringing much colder temperatures to the Tahoe Region. Snowfall was topped off with super-light powder.

After the system swung east, a ridge of high pressure brought fair weather to Tahoe for the rest of January. Skiing conditions have been the best since the New Year.

It's been 57 years since the epic storms of January 1952, one of Tahoe's benchmark winters, buried the Region in deep snow. But in times of need, it helps to traverse down memory lane to remember what winter can be like in the High Sierra.

Below is a photo of the Tahoe City Commons, at the beach. Note the sign on the tree indicating the 20-foot snowpack measured by Carl Bechdolt Jr. in March 1952. That's a lot of snow.




Editor's Note: Mark McLaughlin is a Tahoe Historian who can be reached at mark@thestormking.com