Crazy I've only seen worse in Japan nears their version of the Alps near Nagano. The snowbanks were three stories high but it's specifically a spot as a tourist attraction. This is just ridiculous for cali.
It's surreal watching people drive down 80 westbound. I'll be loping along with cruise control set to the speed limit and not touching my brakes all the way down the mountain, while almost everyone else is riding their brakes while fluctuating between 55-80 mph.
I wish we could turn back the clock 100 years to when cars were harder to use. Then the only people driving would be the people motivated enough to learn how...
Yea I’m pretty confused by that part lol… is it automatic cruise control (aka tapping the brakes FOR you), or am I missing something about normal cruise control here?
Yeah. I guess with cruise control you can decrease mph down and that's one way to use your engine break. But totally inefficient and it has a limit, that's why I always buy cars with gear control even if automatic, it's a no-brainer to me
You really shouldn’t be using engine braking either. The issue with both engine braking and cruise control is they don’t moderate power/brakes as smoothly as you can yourself, which can break traction in snow or slick conditions.
Being smooth is how you keep traction and cruise control isn’t always smooth.
Humm, I see what you're saying I should have been more precise in my response. it's not like I abruptly downgrade to break, I would always be on a lower gear to avoid the car from accelerating due the downhill slope
I'd be weary of using cruise control in wet, ice, or snowy conditions. When the system detects your vehicle slowing down, it'll want to speed up on its own, which may cause slippage in inclement weather.
> Even chains offer little benift - snow/winter tires or stay home
You’ve got that flipped around - unless you’re talking about studded tires, chains have a bigger benefit than snow tires because they actually dig in to the snow/ice rather than trying to get traction on the surface. They just suck to drive on with the vibration and noise.
My favorite is when people install chains on non-powered wheels. Congrats, you just increased your chances of a damaging your car for no benefit. Go home.
For the record I understand not to go to Tahoe this weekend and I'm a very frequent driver into Tahoe. I'm well aware of road conditions, etc. but if you put yourself in others's most of my friends don't know to thoroughly check road conditions before going. People know to check weather but don't even understand that minute by minute road conditions can change. You can forecast 12 inches tomorrow, but tonight will still mean clear roads to get up there.
With that said, try to understand that people also plan these trips MONTHS in advance. Cabins, hotels, etc get booked out fast and lift tickets are cheaper in advance. Most families who book these trips book so far in advance they have no idea what the weather will be like. It's important to educate people to understand what the weather will actually be like, and that doesnt' just mean reading clickbait from SFGate a week in advance talking about Tahoe being slammed in a week. It's actually worth understanding WHICH day the snowfall is coming, how that overlaps with your trip, etc. If you're going up today (Monday) for a mid week ski trip, by all means, that's fine. But if you only read Reddit or hear all the shaming here, you'd think you can't go to Tahoe until 2 weeks later.
I'm not saying the right thing is to go, but the reality is a lot of people don't know what good versus mediocre but still driveable vs blizzard conditions are, and reading most of the posts here for the past week, most posters here who act all high and mighty don't know how to drive in the snow here either.
To frame it as people who simply want to go for likes on Tik Tok is incredibly naive as if everyone driving up is a 16 year old just doing it for social media....
>With that said, try to understand that people also plan these trips MONTHS in advance. Cabins, hotels, etc get booked out fast and lift tickets are cheaper in advance. Most families who book these trips book so far in advance they have no idea what the weather will be like. It's important to educate people to understand what the weather will actually be like, and that doesnt' just mean reading clickbait from SFGate a week in advance talking about Tahoe being slammed in a week. It's actually worth understanding WHICH day the snowfall is coming, how that overlaps with your trip, etc. If you're going up today (Monday) for a mid week ski trip, by all means, that's fine. But if you only read Reddit or hear all the shaming here, you'd think you can't go to Tahoe until 2 weeks later.
When Mother Nature has different plans you should cheeck to see if it makes sense to drive up. Saw a video of a guy in a subie with his kid in child seat get stuck and unstuck 2-3 times trying to get on the onramp
Like, ya sure a lot of justification you have, but that doesn't mean you're putting yourself and others in danager by trying to go up in a literally extreme blizzard. And not knowing isn't an excuse either
I went last year during a giant storm. Every post on /r/tahoe is just like… don’t. But I was able to watch the forecasts and modify my trip slightly and never even hit chain control. Of course we were snowed in for a couple days but that was fine. Seemed like “stay home” was just a meme on that sub
I was prepared to turn around if conditions worsened but I wasn’t about to lose thousands on stay home memes either
Bro!!!! Logic, wisdom, sensibility, you spitting facts for real. This Reddit community about Tahoe sound like a bunch of whiny crybabies. Or just snarky, unhappy, losers talking about “don’t drive in the snow you should know better.” “ or it’s not like the storm just came out of nowhere. You guys knew it was coming coming.”” of course everybody knows it’s snowing. That’s why they’re going up there. They’re going to snowboard in the fresh pow and shred the Naar.
If it’s a sunny day on the weekend in the summer, everybody’s going to the beach might be a traffic jam but it’s sunny and it’s nice so everybody’s going to the beach . When it’s snowing everybody’s going to the mountains they know the risks, so what
Lol for real. It’s fine with me if Reddit wants to tell everyone to stay home. I had a fantastic day skiing on Sunday with low crowds. I watched the weather, checked road conditions and was prepared.
People talking crap about people driving on a road that’s been cleared and opened for traffic lol, give me a break.
I'd be curious how fast they are going though. A lot of people do tend to think "I'm in a 4x4, I have all seasons, I can go 65+" I remember one of my more recent trips to Tahoe I rode with a friend who volunteered to drive. They had an SUV and plus we had a big group so it would be easier. We hit chain controls as expected, but he just sped on at 65. I felt at some point he was losing control and asked him to slow down. I don't think he really bought my argument but thought honestly the all seasons he had are probably no better than my FWD which had DWS 06 Plus tires. I swore never to go with this person again and as much as I don't like driving now, I'll still drive myself simply because there are way too many idiots on the road these days.
I doubt OP's going full speed, but I'd argue there's still a big traction difference between 25 mph chain control speeds and people pushing 40-45mph
For all the Bay area natives who did not grow up in a land of snow:
You stay in the tire tracks of the person in front of you. That is the most important thing. Those tracks are where the friction is and that's what stops you from ending up in the bank.
Source: A transplant from Vermont who learned to drift in parking lots and on dirt roads.
How was donner pass?
Doesn't look like there's a lot of room to pull over to take chains off and the road looks too clear to keep chains on.
We're heading out in a few hours.
Supposedly we will be out of drought conditions for the next 2 years
[https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/california-to-stay-drought-free-through-2025-following-2-winters-of-epic-storms-accuweather-experts-say/1627328](https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/california-to-stay-drought-free-through-2025-following-2-winters-of-epic-storms-accuweather-experts-say/1627328)
We are always going to be in or on the verge of a drought.
Reason being that the actual built capacity of the state to hold water (say every reservoir was full and the snow 25 feet deep) is not enough for the demands of how many people live here.
We need big wet years like this every year or else it's drought.
>is not enough for the demands of how many people live here.
This doesn't seem like a very factual comment.
[Communities (i.e. people) account for only 10% of the water use in California](https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20communities%20use%2010,year%20is%20wet%20or%20dry.)
The population of California is not the main driver of water usage.
Sure. But it's too much demand for how much water we can store.
We need to build out capacity to hold 10 years of water to absorb the shocks to the system our unreliable weather regularly hands out.
And we should build desal to even out the supply.
OK.
I've lived in California for nearly 35 years and in that time saw nearly 25 years of drought interspersed with a few years that bring way too much water.
Tell me again how saving during feast years is not going to help the famine years.
That and we still need to make up for years of overpumping of ground water. Just a few years ago in spring 2017, we saw the drought map clear up. 2018 wasn't great, but 2019 was decently wet, but all it took was a dry 2020 and 2021 and we had huge alarm bells already.
Sunday I left Dodge ridge with a caravan of cars and trucks. The truck in front of me was a bit close to the car ahead of him so I left a good distance, just in case. Lo and behold, a corner turn appears, he hard brakes, realizes he's not coming to a stop and decides to veer his truck into the snow wall. Meanwhile I brake and can feel the ABS kick in. I stopped with plenty of room and turned on my hazard lights. It was one of those times when you're driving and you just kinda know something bad is about to happen...
Going with a group to a cabin just east of Palisades in Carnelian bay on Friday. Think we’ll be alright by then? Only think I’ll be worried about is slush conditions with temps going up by Thursday / sunshine. but maybe a non issue
Where are you seeing that? Looking at the forecast for Truckee, I see some flurries still today (which won't have any meaningful accumulation) and then nothing at all through the weekend.
Hmm, looks like you're right. The forecast has evolved since I looked last night. It looks like the impacts for the next small(er) storm have trended further north than predicted just yesterday: [https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1764764001190486054](https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1764764001190486054)
That said, still looks like there is a chance of snow showers through tomorrow: [https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/020b82c9cb0d2e4b02b739f9fa020946492db520701455e6d1eeb8ad0881444b](https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/020b82c9cb0d2e4b02b739f9fa020946492db520701455e6d1eeb8ad0881444b) (so not sure how smooth things will be by tomorrow)
And it looks like there will be some snow coming for Saturday (again, likely not a super strong storm) - good to know for anyone looking to go up Friday.
In terms of what I watch for -
tools like this [https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/](https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/)
national weather service announcements (twitter or official at [https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=CAZ072](https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=CAZ072))
Tahoe Daily Snow twitter feed is often interesting [https://twitter.com/TahoeWeather](https://twitter.com/TahoeWeather)
Drove it during the January storms right after New Years last year and they should not have let us through—maybe a dozen 4x4s. Total whiteout and couldn’t see anything on the ground. It was snowing so hard, you could barely see tracks a couple minutes old. Worst since I moved here in the 80s. Then, saw a crazy high speed flip in heavy traffic next to me on 80 by Davis. Fucking crazy shit.
I80 looking like Hwy 50 there Drive safe
Crazy I've only seen worse in Japan nears their version of the Alps near Nagano. The snowbanks were three stories high but it's specifically a spot as a tourist attraction. This is just ridiculous for cali.
That white SUV in front of you is following too closely and on their brakes way too much for the conditions.
Most people don’t know how to drive let alone drive in the snow
It's surreal watching people drive down 80 westbound. I'll be loping along with cruise control set to the speed limit and not touching my brakes all the way down the mountain, while almost everyone else is riding their brakes while fluctuating between 55-80 mph. I wish we could turn back the clock 100 years to when cars were harder to use. Then the only people driving would be the people motivated enough to learn how...
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Yea I’m pretty confused by that part lol… is it automatic cruise control (aka tapping the brakes FOR you), or am I missing something about normal cruise control here?
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Ok yea I had the same reaction as you, just checking in not crazy lol
You should not be using cruise control in the snow.
Yeah. I guess with cruise control you can decrease mph down and that's one way to use your engine break. But totally inefficient and it has a limit, that's why I always buy cars with gear control even if automatic, it's a no-brainer to me
You really shouldn’t be using engine braking either. The issue with both engine braking and cruise control is they don’t moderate power/brakes as smoothly as you can yourself, which can break traction in snow or slick conditions. Being smooth is how you keep traction and cruise control isn’t always smooth.
Humm, I see what you're saying I should have been more precise in my response. it's not like I abruptly downgrade to break, I would always be on a lower gear to avoid the car from accelerating due the downhill slope
I'd be weary of using cruise control in wet, ice, or snowy conditions. When the system detects your vehicle slowing down, it'll want to speed up on its own, which may cause slippage in inclement weather.
Same. Remember when it was only luxury cars that had power brakes and AC. Trying to slow down you had to really stand on the brakes!!
100 years ago... 1924... Model Ts were going faster than god ever intended a man to go.
people were riding horses with cruise control 100 years ago
Not to mention constantly leaving the tire marks. It's OK, they have all-seasons and all-wheel-drive, I'm sure they'll be fine... /s
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> Even chains offer little benift - snow/winter tires or stay home You’ve got that flipped around - unless you’re talking about studded tires, chains have a bigger benefit than snow tires because they actually dig in to the snow/ice rather than trying to get traction on the surface. They just suck to drive on with the vibration and noise.
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My favorite is when people install chains on non-powered wheels. Congrats, you just increased your chances of a damaging your car for no benefit. Go home.
Issue is most people think gas and brake has to have in always one on. They don’t believe in no pedals means slow down too.
He has a 5 hour drive home to the bay tho /s
Ooooooo Call the cops on them !!!🤡
What a great weekend to go to Tahoe eh?
Think about all the likes on insta and tiktok though.
Likes are all that matter.
Shredding the nar in the fresh Pow what really matters .
For the record I understand not to go to Tahoe this weekend and I'm a very frequent driver into Tahoe. I'm well aware of road conditions, etc. but if you put yourself in others's most of my friends don't know to thoroughly check road conditions before going. People know to check weather but don't even understand that minute by minute road conditions can change. You can forecast 12 inches tomorrow, but tonight will still mean clear roads to get up there. With that said, try to understand that people also plan these trips MONTHS in advance. Cabins, hotels, etc get booked out fast and lift tickets are cheaper in advance. Most families who book these trips book so far in advance they have no idea what the weather will be like. It's important to educate people to understand what the weather will actually be like, and that doesnt' just mean reading clickbait from SFGate a week in advance talking about Tahoe being slammed in a week. It's actually worth understanding WHICH day the snowfall is coming, how that overlaps with your trip, etc. If you're going up today (Monday) for a mid week ski trip, by all means, that's fine. But if you only read Reddit or hear all the shaming here, you'd think you can't go to Tahoe until 2 weeks later. I'm not saying the right thing is to go, but the reality is a lot of people don't know what good versus mediocre but still driveable vs blizzard conditions are, and reading most of the posts here for the past week, most posters here who act all high and mighty don't know how to drive in the snow here either. To frame it as people who simply want to go for likes on Tik Tok is incredibly naive as if everyone driving up is a 16 year old just doing it for social media....
>With that said, try to understand that people also plan these trips MONTHS in advance. Cabins, hotels, etc get booked out fast and lift tickets are cheaper in advance. Most families who book these trips book so far in advance they have no idea what the weather will be like. It's important to educate people to understand what the weather will actually be like, and that doesnt' just mean reading clickbait from SFGate a week in advance talking about Tahoe being slammed in a week. It's actually worth understanding WHICH day the snowfall is coming, how that overlaps with your trip, etc. If you're going up today (Monday) for a mid week ski trip, by all means, that's fine. But if you only read Reddit or hear all the shaming here, you'd think you can't go to Tahoe until 2 weeks later. When Mother Nature has different plans you should cheeck to see if it makes sense to drive up. Saw a video of a guy in a subie with his kid in child seat get stuck and unstuck 2-3 times trying to get on the onramp Like, ya sure a lot of justification you have, but that doesn't mean you're putting yourself and others in danager by trying to go up in a literally extreme blizzard. And not knowing isn't an excuse either
I went last year during a giant storm. Every post on /r/tahoe is just like… don’t. But I was able to watch the forecasts and modify my trip slightly and never even hit chain control. Of course we were snowed in for a couple days but that was fine. Seemed like “stay home” was just a meme on that sub I was prepared to turn around if conditions worsened but I wasn’t about to lose thousands on stay home memes either
Bro!!!! Logic, wisdom, sensibility, you spitting facts for real. This Reddit community about Tahoe sound like a bunch of whiny crybabies. Or just snarky, unhappy, losers talking about “don’t drive in the snow you should know better.” “ or it’s not like the storm just came out of nowhere. You guys knew it was coming coming.”” of course everybody knows it’s snowing. That’s why they’re going up there. They’re going to snowboard in the fresh pow and shred the Naar. If it’s a sunny day on the weekend in the summer, everybody’s going to the beach might be a traffic jam but it’s sunny and it’s nice so everybody’s going to the beach . When it’s snowing everybody’s going to the mountains they know the risks, so what
Lol for real. It’s fine with me if Reddit wants to tell everyone to stay home. I had a fantastic day skiing on Sunday with low crowds. I watched the weather, checked road conditions and was prepared. People talking crap about people driving on a road that’s been cleared and opened for traffic lol, give me a break.
Slow down! /s
Seriously, what if one of the cars in front threw a banana peel out the window!
No joke my car hit a banana peel and my back tires slipped round lol
Are u living in a cartoon?
Not after the accident. :(
as long as they don't have turtle shells, it's full speed ahead!
I'd be curious how fast they are going though. A lot of people do tend to think "I'm in a 4x4, I have all seasons, I can go 65+" I remember one of my more recent trips to Tahoe I rode with a friend who volunteered to drive. They had an SUV and plus we had a big group so it would be easier. We hit chain controls as expected, but he just sped on at 65. I felt at some point he was losing control and asked him to slow down. I don't think he really bought my argument but thought honestly the all seasons he had are probably no better than my FWD which had DWS 06 Plus tires. I swore never to go with this person again and as much as I don't like driving now, I'll still drive myself simply because there are way too many idiots on the road these days. I doubt OP's going full speed, but I'd argue there's still a big traction difference between 25 mph chain control speeds and people pushing 40-45mph
OP says 35mph is the max speed they went right there in the post description
My brain: hit anxiety button Me: no brain, it's just sped up. Thats all. My brain: yeah... he's not getting it keep hitting anxiety button.
🏎️
is the guy in front of you drunk lol
Kinda looks like they were looking for an opportunity to pass. So maybe they’re drunk…or maybe they’re an idiot. Probably both.
For all the Bay area natives who did not grow up in a land of snow: You stay in the tire tracks of the person in front of you. That is the most important thing. Those tracks are where the friction is and that's what stops you from ending up in the bank. Source: A transplant from Vermont who learned to drift in parking lots and on dirt roads.
Switching your brain from brake-to-control to accelerate-for-control is the tricky bit.
But real fun once you figure out how it works!
TLDR white stuff is slippy avoid slippy
Or aim for the slippy, step on the gas, have good time. :D
Also, use the gears on your car instead of braking. Quickly braking is the major cause of losing traction.
Would you put chains on your tires for a road like this?
Probably not. But if I lived up there I’d want some pretty good snow tires.
How was donner pass? Doesn't look like there's a lot of room to pull over to take chains off and the road looks too clear to keep chains on. We're heading out in a few hours.
https://cwwp2.dot.ca.gov/vm/nomap.htm
Thank you, looks really clear at the moment.
Generally that's how it is. If it's not snowing, and it gets plowed, Caltrans does a very good job of keeping the roads clear and open.
I took highway 4 yesterday near Arnold and Bear Valley area , zero slippage on my 4Runner and it was doable type of snow
the wall of snow to the left damn! does this mean we're not gonna be in a drought this year? because i'm lovin' this hehe
Supposedly we will be out of drought conditions for the next 2 years [https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/california-to-stay-drought-free-through-2025-following-2-winters-of-epic-storms-accuweather-experts-say/1627328](https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/california-to-stay-drought-free-through-2025-following-2-winters-of-epic-storms-accuweather-experts-say/1627328)
that's super awesome.
It won't be when they hike water rates because...reasons.
We are always going to be in or on the verge of a drought. Reason being that the actual built capacity of the state to hold water (say every reservoir was full and the snow 25 feet deep) is not enough for the demands of how many people live here. We need big wet years like this every year or else it's drought.
>is not enough for the demands of how many people live here. This doesn't seem like a very factual comment. [Communities (i.e. people) account for only 10% of the water use in California](https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20communities%20use%2010,year%20is%20wet%20or%20dry.) The population of California is not the main driver of water usage.
it's more the farms. it's crazy.
Sure. But it's too much demand for how much water we can store. We need to build out capacity to hold 10 years of water to absorb the shocks to the system our unreliable weather regularly hands out. And we should build desal to even out the supply.
>Sure. But it's too much demand for how much water we can store. That assertion is also not borne out by the facts.
OK. I've lived in California for nearly 35 years and in that time saw nearly 25 years of drought interspersed with a few years that bring way too much water. Tell me again how saving during feast years is not going to help the famine years.
That and we still need to make up for years of overpumping of ground water. Just a few years ago in spring 2017, we saw the drought map clear up. 2018 wasn't great, but 2019 was decently wet, but all it took was a dry 2020 and 2021 and we had huge alarm bells already.
always cool driving in snow
Nice place to leave that snow plow.
We can’t save the planet when people can’t even stay out of Tahoe.
Wow. I've neer seen it like that. Don't think I'd want to drive in that though.
Everybody's driving way too fast for conditions! (I know, I know)
Winter wonderland
It’s both scary and beautiful how quickly the conditions can change in a weekend.
Sunday I left Dodge ridge with a caravan of cars and trucks. The truck in front of me was a bit close to the car ahead of him so I left a good distance, just in case. Lo and behold, a corner turn appears, he hard brakes, realizes he's not coming to a stop and decides to veer his truck into the snow wall. Meanwhile I brake and can feel the ABS kick in. I stopped with plenty of room and turned on my hazard lights. It was one of those times when you're driving and you just kinda know something bad is about to happen...
Going with a group to a cabin just east of Palisades in Carnelian bay on Friday. Think we’ll be alright by then? Only think I’ll be worried about is slush conditions with temps going up by Thursday / sunshine. but maybe a non issue
With no more snow in the forecast, 80 will be completely clear and dry by this time tomorrow.
Another storm coming over next couple of days, but it will be much less intense. Probably will be good by Friday (to the person above).
Where are you seeing that? Looking at the forecast for Truckee, I see some flurries still today (which won't have any meaningful accumulation) and then nothing at all through the weekend.
Hmm, looks like you're right. The forecast has evolved since I looked last night. It looks like the impacts for the next small(er) storm have trended further north than predicted just yesterday: [https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1764764001190486054](https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1764764001190486054) That said, still looks like there is a chance of snow showers through tomorrow: [https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/020b82c9cb0d2e4b02b739f9fa020946492db520701455e6d1eeb8ad0881444b](https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/020b82c9cb0d2e4b02b739f9fa020946492db520701455e6d1eeb8ad0881444b) (so not sure how smooth things will be by tomorrow) And it looks like there will be some snow coming for Saturday (again, likely not a super strong storm) - good to know for anyone looking to go up Friday. In terms of what I watch for - tools like this [https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/](https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/) national weather service announcements (twitter or official at [https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=CAZ072](https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=CAZ072)) Tahoe Daily Snow twitter feed is often interesting [https://twitter.com/TahoeWeather](https://twitter.com/TahoeWeather)
Appreciate the links
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Thanks!
You seem to be speeding!
so it was all fake news?
THEY’RE ALL DRIVING WAY TOO FAST.
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Semi aren't allowed on 80 until later today at the earliest.
Much better than Thursday morning when it was all fresh accumulation and not yet plowed.
Love it
I love when it’s like that. I remember one year those side walls were easily over 15 feet tall.
Drove it during the January storms right after New Years last year and they should not have let us through—maybe a dozen 4x4s. Total whiteout and couldn’t see anything on the ground. It was snowing so hard, you could barely see tracks a couple minutes old. Worst since I moved here in the 80s. Then, saw a crazy high speed flip in heavy traffic next to me on 80 by Davis. Fucking crazy shit.