Winter Storm Alert: Five Feet of Snow Inbound for California Ski Resorts
A multi-day storm cycle reloads the Sierra from late Tuesday night through Saturday (December 23-27, 2025), with the heaviest accumulation and best stormchasing windows centered on Wednesday through Friday.
Early snowfall will come in dense with higher snow levels, then trends colder with improving snow quality and lowering snow levels by Thursday into Friday. Mammoth and Kirkwood are the clear depth leaders for the full stretch, while Tahoe resorts rack up strong totals, but contend with stronger ridge winds that can disrupt upper-mountain operations. By Saturday, new snow becomes light, but the storm’s back half leaves plenty of preserved, colder snow for quality turns where winds ease.
Keep reading for a breakdown by resort, daily forecasts, and more.
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Ski Resort Forecasted Snowfall Totals Through December 27, 2025
- Mammoth Mountain: 42 to 60 inches
- Kirkwood: 40 to 58 inches
- Sugar Bowl (Temporarily Closed): 31 to 45 inches
- Palisades Tahoe: 31 to 45 inches
- Northstar: 23 to 33 inches
- Heavenly: 18 to 26 inches
- Mt. Rose, Nevada: 18 to 26 inches
Key Points
Good
A sustained, wave-after-wave storm pattern keeps snowfall stacking for several days, with the coldest air arriving late in the cycle. Snow levels steadily fall from the mid to upper mountain zone early to well below base elevations by Thursday into Friday, and snow ratios improve from heavy, dense snow to more supportive, drier turns late.
Bad
Ridge winds are the main spoiler, especially around Tahoe, where strong south to southwest flow can produce gusty, exposed conditions and potential upper-mountain lift impacts. Early in the cycle, higher snow levels also raise the risk of denser snow and less forgiving surfaces on lower mountain terrain.
Wildcards
Shortwave timing and intensity will control which periods produce the biggest bursts, and heavier precipitation can drop snow levels quickly in localized bursts. That variability matters most on Wednesday, when small snow-level shifts can change lower-elevation quality from heavy snow to mixed precipitation.
Daily Forecast
Wednesday (12/24)
Best chase: Mammoth. Tuesday night plus Wednesday daytime stacks up about 14 to 19 inches, with moderate-density snow and manageable winds compared to Tahoe. Tahoe resorts build meaningful snow, led by Kirkwood at about 10 to 15 inches, but expect heavier snow quality and much stronger ridge winds, which can limit the best terrain. Palisades Tahoe, Northstar, Heavenly, and Mt. Rose generally land in the 5 to 11 inch range for the same chase window, with dense to heavy snow and wind exposure most pronounced on the ridgelines.
Thursday (12/25)
Merry Christmas! Best blend of depth and quality: Mammoth. Wednesday night plus Thursday daytime delivers about 13 to 19 inches with improving snow quality as temperatures cool and snow levels drop. Kirkwood also posts about 13 to 19 inches, but stronger ridge winds remain a serious factor for upper-mountain quality and operations. Palisades Tahoe and Sugar Bowl each trend around 10 to 15 inches for the window, with Northstar closer to 7 to 11 inches; snow quality improves versus Wednesday, but wind still matters most near exposed ridges.
Friday (12/26)
Deepest day overall: Kirkwood and Mammoth. Thursday night plus Friday daytime brings roughly 13 to 21 inches at Kirkwood and 12 to 20 inches at Mammoth, with colder temperatures and lower snow levels supporting better preservation and improving surface quality. Mammoth’s snow trends drier and more supportive late, while Tahoe resorts still face stronger winds, especially on the upper mountain. Palisades Tahoe and Sugar Bowl each run about 11 to 18 inches for the chase window, with Northstar near 8 to 14 inches and Heavenly and Mt Rose around 6 to 10 inches.
Saturday (12/27)
New snowfall becomes minor, generally 1 to 3 inches at Mammoth and 2 to 5 inches at Kirkwood from Friday night into Saturday daytime. That is not a fresh-snow chase on its own, but Saturday can still ski very well where winds ease because the prior several days built a deep base of recent storm snow, and temperatures stay cold enough to preserve it. Sugar Bowl remains temporarily closed, so focus Saturday on open areas holding the best leftover quality.
Extended Outlook
After activity tapers late Saturday, conditions trend drier into Sunday and Monday, then the broader pattern favors a return to milder, wetter weather heading into late December and early January, with additional storm chances more likely than a prolonged dry stretch.