Sunday and Monday bring the main event, and the models are tightly converged on a long-duration storm with heavy snow, strong northeast to north winds, and the best totals centered on northern Wisconsin and northern Lower Michigan. The main spread is not storm timing but exactly where the most intense band parks and how much the snow densifies Sunday afternoon, especially at the lower Michigan and southern Wisconsin hills.
Friday afternoon through Saturday night is the cleanest part of the forecast, with guidance tightly clustered on a modest but useful all-snow event. Snow should fill in during the second half of Friday, peak Friday night into early Saturday, then turn more showery on Saturday with another upslope push before tapering early Sunday. Snow levels stay below the 1,100-foot base the whole time and mostly sit near valley floor, so elevation is not a limiting factor.
Confidence is highest from Thursday night through Friday night, when guidance is tightly clustered on a fast clipper crossing the Upper Midwest with snow spreading west to east and peak rates overnight. Lutsen, Giants Ridge, Whitecap, Mount Bohemia, and the northern Lower Michigan hills should land near 4″-9″, while Granite Peak looks more borderline with wetter 3″-4″ totals and snow levels briefly rising toward 1,800 feet.
After experiencing one of the slowest starts to ski season in decades, snow has finally arrived in the Tahoe region - and more could be on the way, the National Weather Service's Reno office says. Areas above 8,000 feet in the Tahoe Basin are expected to receive between 12 to 18 inches of snow this week, the weather service says. Further south, Mono County is slated to receive 18 to 24 inches above 8,500 feet.