When it starts
Palisades Tahoe, Apr 9–13, 2026: the model's run on the day said 17.5" skiable over 5 days, best Sunday at 12.1" (Full Send); the Palisades Tahoe SNOTEL pillow gained 23" of depth. Close.
Close. 17.5" skiable in the model, 23" on the pillow: inside 3" or 30%.
Pack going in: 12" on Apr 8, 11" on Apr 9. The storm total counts from the first reading, so snow after 5pm the night before is in it.
| Day | Call | First chair | On hill | Skiable | Starts | Pillow before | Pillow after | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Apr 9 | Stay home | 0.0" | 0.0" | 0.0" | — | 11" | 17" | +6" |
| Fri Apr 10 | Stay home | 0.0" | 0.6" | 0.6" | ~3pm | 17" | 32" | +15" |
| Sat Apr 11 | Nice day | 2.0" | 0.7" | 2.8" | ~11pm Friday | 32" | 46" | +14" |
| Sun Apr 12 | Full Send | 7.4" | 4.7" | 12.1" | ~8pm Saturday | 46" | 40" | -6" |
| Mon Apr 13 | Nice day | 2.1" | 0.0" | 2.1" | ~6pm Sunday | 40" | 35" | -5" |
Model: the run on the day (Open-Meteo Previous Runs, best_match). PowHound does not keep superseded live forecasts, so this is not the number you saw the night before. It is usually closer.
Clocks, local time: first chair 5pm–8am, on hill 8am–5pm, skiable is both. Stay home under 2", Nice day 2–8", Full Send 8" or more.
Pillow: snow depth at the Palisades Tahoe SNOTEL station, read once a day around midnight. A day's gain is the next midnight reading minus that day's, so it runs midnight to midnight, not 5pm to 5pm. Depth is not snowfall: new snow settles and blows around, so the pillow usually reads under what fell. Not the resort report.
Verdict: close is within 3" or 30%. Season numbers and method: llms.txt.