Rain and alpine snow chances return to Tahoe

Tahoe visitors can expect rain Wednesday and Thursday, while the highest terrain may receive a thin layer of snow late in the storm. OpenSnow forecaster Bryan Allegrato described the system as modest. Total moisture could vary from several tenths to 1 inch by Thursday night. The rain-snow boundary should hover near 8,000 to 9,000 feet through much of the event, keeping most communities around the lake and in the Eastern Sierra snow-free. Near lake level, temperatures should begin in the 50s and fall to approximately 50 degrees or colder Thursday.

High pressure should rebuild for the weekend, replacing the unsettled spell with dry weather and a small temperature increase. That pattern may hold into the first part of next week. Forecast guidance from OpenSnow and the National Weather Service also points to stormier possibilities near late October and early November. An extended area of low pressure off the West Coast could direct multiple systems toward the Sierra and produce wetter-than-normal conditions. The longer-range signal remains only a possibility, and a strong El Niño pattern does not always translate into a snowier Tahoe winter.