May Snowstorm Delivers Over 2 Feet of Californian Snowfall in 24 Hours

A massive May snowfall has delivered over two feet of snowfall in 24 hours to the Lake Tahoe region.

A winter storm warning has been in force and some key roads in the region were closed for a time or required vehicles to have snow chains as a result of one of the heaviest snowstorms of the season.

The Palisades, one of the ski areas still open in California, reported 26” (65cm) of fresh snowfall in 24 hours at the weekend.

The snowfall was driven in on gale force winds, but resulted in deep snow conditions for skiers and riders on Sunday.

The snowfall is now hitting the Rockies and wider region and will continue over the next few days with forecasts of up to 44" (1.1 metre) snow totals by Wednesday morning.

Utah's Snowbird, one of the half-dozen or so ski areas still open in the region, days it still hopes to operate today (Monday, May 6), and Tuesday, May 7, from 9am - 3pm, conditions permitting, with their Tram, Peruvian Express, the Peruvian Tunnel, Mineral Basin Express and Little Cloud all operating. Spring hours of 8 am - 2 pm will into effect there from Wednesday May 8.

Brighton and Solitude are also open in Utah, as is Mammoth in California, Mt Bachelor, Mt Hood Meadows and Timberline in Oregon, Snowbowl in Arizona and Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper, Loveland and Winter Park in Colorado.  Some of these are currently only operating at weekends.