Weather service forecaster Chris Johnston called the negative-temperature reading at the airport “typical when there’s snow on the ground.” Temperatures in the Tahoe Basin were running about 5 to 7 degrees below normal Monday morning, he said.

“It gets cooler in those valleys,” Johnston said. “The reason is all the cold air pulls down from the mountains and then you have snow that reflects radiation into the lower atmosphere.”

After a series of mostly warmer storms delivered little snow to Tahoe in November and December, the region is finally getting some winter weather. Saturday’s storm brought 13 inches of snow to Palisades Tahoe and Northstar, 12 inches to Heavenly Summit, 11 inches to Homewood Mountain, 7.5 inches to the airport and about 7 inches to Tahoe City, the weather service said.

“The last storm was pretty much the heaviest storm we had in the Sierra all winter,” Johnston said. “It’s starting to improve.”

Despite the storm, Tahoe’s snowfall totals are lagging overall. Since Oct. 1, the Tahoe City gauge, with records going back to 1909, has measured 19.2 inches. This location typically records 57 inches by this time of year. 

More snow is on the way this week. A winter storm is bringing two separate chances for snow. The first arrives Tuesday, with light snow possible. A dusting of less than an inch is expected at lake level and 1 to 3 inches of snow is predicted to fall over Donner Summit. Wednesday brings a chance for heavier snow, with locations sitting at lake level expected to record 4 to 8 inches, Donner Pass 8 to 12 inches of snow and elevations above 7,000 feet 12 to 18 inches.

The weekend is expected to bring unsettled weather to the Tahoe region; a potentially larger storm may be arriving in California, but details of the forecast remained unclear on Monday morning.