Snow hits Lake Tahoe basin with 8 inches

Eight inches of snow blanketed South Shore Saturday night with more expected through today.

The storm left 3 inches of snow in Truckee and 7 inches at North Shore, with 12 to 24 inches falling above 6,500 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Despite the weather, motorists in the basin had a relatively safe weekend.

"It's been pretty mild," said California Highway Patrol Officer Desi Timmerman, Sunday afternoon. "We've had three accidents on U. S. Highway 50. All involved vehicles spinning out, losing traction on the roadway. None of them really resulted in any injuries to speak of."

Caltrans did have chain controls Saturday night on all major freeways, requiring vehicles to have mud or snow tires or chains on their tires. The controls on U. S. Highway 50 and Interstate 80 were lifted Sunday morning around 10 a.m.

"There's nothing out of the ordinary happening right now," said Laura Featherstone, spokesperson for Caltrans, Sunday morning. "We're ready for winter, our equipment is ready to go and we're fully staffed and trained."

Nevada Highway Patrol reported roads all clear Sunday. NHP Trooper Troy Lindley said the East Shore of the lake toward Reno hardly received any snow.

"We had some rain last night, a period of low visibility," NHP Trooper Troy Lindley. "There was some snow on Mt. Rose and Peavine but otherwise traffic's been great."

Traffic has also been great at Boreal, the only ski resort open at Tahoe. Boreal, which was the first ski resort to open in the nation Oct. 10, said 2 feet of snow dumped on their higher elevations. Boreal reported large weekend crowds drawn by top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding on light, dry powder.''We're really excited because we have the conditions we usually don't get until December," said Boreal spokeswoman Jody Churich. ''Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come this winter.''

No major weather-related accidents were reported.

The National Weather Service was uncertain how the storm stacked up against past October systems.

''But a couple of feet of snow in October is not a normal thing,'' said agency forecaster Ray Collins. ''It's certainly bigger than the storms we usually get in October.''

The weather service was calling for a chance of lingering snow showers today and for a chance of snow with the arrival of another system Wednesday.

''We're off to a good start and let's hope it continues,'' Collins said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.