Up to another 16 more inches of snow possible in Sierra

RENO — Another Pacific storm system is headed for Lake Tahoe where nearly a foot of snow already has fallen and at least one big ski resort was forced to close on Thursday because of inclement weather.

Up to another 16 inches of snow was possible by early Saturday above elevations of 7,000 feet around the mountain lake southwest of Reno, the National Weather Service said late Thursday.

The heaviest snow was expected west of the lake’s west shore, west of California State Route 89, with winds gusting over the ridgetops up to 100 mph Thursday night into Friday, the service said.

The Heavenly Mountain resort on Tahoe’s south shore closed for Thanksgiving Day because of increasing winds and heavy snowfall forecast into the weekend. But it planned to reopen Friday.

About 11 inches of snow was reported early Thursday at the Kirkwood Mountain resort and 7 inches at the Northstar California resort near Truckee, California.

“We’re feeling grateful for Mother Nature this morning,” Northstar California spokeswoman Stephanie Myers said Thursday. “It’s still coming down.”

Five inches of snow was reported on Tahoe’s north shore at Incline Village.

A winter weather advisory remained in effect for the upper elevations around Lake Tahoe from 4 p.m. Thursday through 10 a.m. Friday. Up to 10 inches of new snow was forecast in the upper elevations late Thursday and early Friday, with more expected into Friday night.

In northeast Nevada, a weather winter advisory was issued for most of Elko County from 12:01 a.m. Friday through 4 a.m. Saturday. As much as a foot of snow was forecast in the highest elevations with winds gusting to 60 mph, and up to 8 inches of snow down to 5,500 feet.

Parts of California State Route 89 were closed Thursday south of Tahoe, south of the junction of U.S. 395 near the Mono County line, and northwest of Reno near Lassen Volcanic National Park.