Winter storm knocks out power to Lake Tahoe

NV Energy reported 2,800 Lake Tahoe homes and businesses were without power this morning as a heavy snowstorm arrived.

Some of the 2,734 customers in Round Hill Pines and another 66 customers on Kingsbury Grade had their power restored by 8:15 a.m. However, as of 8:30 a.m. there are another 1,200 homes and businesses without power. The power company says it could be until 10:15 a.m. before that outage is cleared. Most of the Tahoe residents had power restored by 11 a.m. A 10 a.m. outage affected 52 NV Energy customers with restoration time estimated at 1:45 p.m.

The power went out at Lake Tahoe at about 4:30-4:45 a.m.

Rain turned to snow in Carson Valley at around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Minden-Tahoe Airport automated weather system.

As of 4:30 a.m., 4.5 inches of heavy wet snow was measured a mile north of Genoa as it continued to fall, clinging to tree branches and bushes.

Interstate 80 was closed due to the storm, as was Mount Rose Highway. Traffic cameras at Lake Tahoe are either disabled by the outage or obscured.

Chains or four-wheel drive with snow tires are being required on Highway 395 from the base of Indian Hills all the way to Topaz Lake, and on Highway 88 from Minden to the Nevada state.

Road controls are in effect on Highway 50 from Carson City to South Lake Tahoe.

A winter storm warning remains in effect through 10 a.m. today in Carson Valley with snow accumulations of up to 5 inches in place.

Forecasters are predicting another snow system’s arrival on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

“If you must travel this morning, be prepared for long delays especially during commute times,” forecasters advised.

Road conditions are available at nvroads.com or by calling 511. County offices in Carson Valley are on an hour delay at least this morning. Douglas County's Lake Tahoe offices are closed. The Douglas County School District will determine whether to call a snow day at 6 a.m.