LAKE TAHOE, CA - There is one thing weather reports consistently say the U.S. West needs, and that is for the snowpack to build. While we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves, officials in the Lake Tahoe region of California's Sierra Nevada were left pretty excited when snow fell on Wednesday and into Thursday this past week.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Sierra Nevadas, especially elevations above 7,000 feet, in effect from late yesterday (Sunday) evening through tonight.

Heavy snow accumulations of eight to sixteen inches is expected above 7,000 feet, though the snowfall is expected to start initially at 9,000 feet before going down as low as 5,000 feet tonight and possibly into tomorrow.

“The top of the mountain is white and it's definitely a good sign, especially in October," Thea Hardy, Communications Manager at Sierra-at-Tahoe, told Capital Radio, the ski area would need another six-inches of snow from the 7,300-foot base to the 8,852-foot summit to open for the season. "We do still have a ways to go, it takes a bit to open the resort up."

Sierra-at-Tahoe, which depends on snowfall as well as a mix of snowmaking techniques, had a late start to the season last year due to dry conditions. "A typical year we would open the ski area around Thanksgiving, but last year we opened in December," Hardy said. "We're hoping the precipitation from El Niño will help us out. We'll take what we can get."

As we have reported previously, the Climate Prediction Center has predicted a strong El Niño this winter to bring increased precipitation to North America. The forecast, however, for the coming weeks are to be warm.

According to the report, if the temperatures remain cold enough, the snow that falls will hopefully be able to stick long enough to start building the snowpack, which is at historically low levels.

Lake Tahoe ski resorts and water managers added that they will be watching to see how the situation plays out, both for skiing and snowpack, as we continue to progress into the winter months.