General Conditions

There’s snow on Donner Summit.  The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (https://cssl.berkeley.edu) reports 7.3 inches from the storm that blew through earlier this week.  Check the CSSL website for other interesting information on daily, weekly, and monthly time scales.   Webcams at Sugar Bowl (http://www.sugarbowl.com/home) and Donner Ski Ranch (http://webcams.donnerskiranch.com/) provide up-to-the-minute views of current conditions.

Wildfire: The seasonal campfire ban remains in effect.  No open fires — including campfires, charcoal grills, etc.  Gas grills are OK.  Truckee Fire rates its fire danger on the Summit as “low”; Tahoe National Forest says fire danger is also  “low”.   Find more information at https://www.truckeefire.org/fireban    Purpleair AQI is mostly in single digits around Donner Summit.

Sunrise/Sunset: Today’s (October 16) sunrise was at 7:12 AM; sunset will be at 6:20 PM.  Sunrise drifted later by 7 minutes compared to a week ago. Sunset has drifted earlier by about 10 minutes. The days continue to get shorter by about 2-1/2 minutes per day.

Star Gazing: The Moon was full on October 7; star gazing will be easy for the next week.  Look for the Big Dipper, visible to the northwest; it rests on the northwestern horizon in the correct position to “hold water” at about 9 PM.  You should be able to see Saturn about 45° above the southern horizon at 10 PM; it’s bright but not dazzling.  Being a planet, it does not twinkle.  With a pair of binoculars, you should be able to make out its rings.  The Milky Way is a very diffuse band of light that is close to overhead in the late evening hours.  We’re part of the Milky Way, orbiting its center and about two-thirds of the way toward the edge.  The easiest planet to spot is Venus — very bright at 6 AM and about 15° above the eastern horizon.  Much higher in the eastern sky (and not quite so bright) is Jupiter.

Forecast

With the first big storm of the winter season in the rear view mirror, we’re now heading into a week of Indian summer.  There will be lingering clouds this morning and temperatures will peak in the low 50s.  Weekend highs will be around 60° and skies will be mostly sunny.  Expect those conditions to hold through Thursday next week.  Next weekend (October 25-26) will be showery with temperatures only reaching the mid-30s on Sunday.  The following week will be mostly sunny again.  Overnight lows during the next two weeks will be around freezing.  If you want to get outdoors on a weekend, the one coming up looks great — just watch for slippery trails that will probably be icy in the mornings.  Maybe not so great on October 25-26.

Summit Calendar

October 16 (Thursday) 4:30-6 PM: Monthly meeting of the Donner Summit Association Board of Directors at Sugar Bowl.  An agenda is posted at https://www.donnersummitca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AgendaAttachmentA.pdf.  One of the discussion topics will be the economic status and future of Donner Summit — a round table discussion with Nevada County officials.

October 16 (Thursday) 6-? PM: Placer County’s Donner Summit Town Hall at Sugar Bowl’s Judah Lodge with emphasis on transportation issues.  Join Supervisor Cindy Gustafson for updates on Caltrans and Department of Public Works projects.  For more information see DSTH 10-16

November 1 (Saturday) 11 AM – 4 PM: The 42nd Annual Ski and Snowboard Swap at the Steve Randall Community Recreation Center in Truckee.  Pros from local ski shops will be present to answer questions; there will be a silent auction and prizes such as season passes and lift tickets.  Entry is free, but bring a credit or debit card for transactions (no cash).  For more info, go to https://www.tdrpd.org/221/Truckee-Ski-Swap

November 8 (Saturday) 9 SAM – 2 PM: The Annual Cross-Country and Backcountry Ski Swap will be at Tahoe XC in Tahoe City. Entry is $5 for adults and free for kids.  Entry fees and commissions from sales support youth programs of the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association.  For more info, go to https://tahoexc.org/event/ski-swap/

November 15 (Saturday) 12 noon: Applications for the Second Annual Snow Science School (January 14-16) are due.  For more information, go to https://www.csslsnowschool.com/

Resorts

Boreal/Woodward (indoors) is open Wednesday-Friday 1-8 PM and weekends 10 AM – 8 PM.   The Castle Peak chair and MTB trails are now closed for the season.  Check https://www.rideboreal.com for details

Sugar Bowl Summer activities have ended; for new activities check  https://www.sugarbowl.com.  Sugar Bowl is making major upgrades to its main lodge.  For a 3-minute video about the project, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL7imGrXCt0

Donner Ski Ranch is closed for the season; but Disk Golf is open.   DSR’s Old 40 Bar and Grill is open daily 8 AM – 9 PM. Check the DSR web site at https://www.donnerskiranch.com

Auburn Ski Club is closed for the season. Check their web site — https://www.asctrainingcenter.org — for more information.

Soda Springs Mountain Resort is closed for the season.  For more information, visit https://www.skisodasprings.com/

Royal Gorge Royal Gorge is waiting for snow.  Watch https://www.royalgorge.com/home for the latest information.

Kingvale Resort (on the south side of I-80 at exit 171) is closed for the season.

For those heavily into speculation, three resorts (none on Donner Summit) have announced target opening dates for the winter season (https://epaper.sierrasun.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=3ee86800-0b96-47c1-92da-da9138ad31aa): Heavenly November 21, Northstar November 21, and Kirkwood December 5.  Announcements include wording such as “based on weather and conditions”.

Other Activities

If you’re looking for things to do in the foothills and mountains, Nevada County has some suggestions.  These are spread more broadly but some specifically include the Summit area.  Some link to other parts of this web site.

https://gonevadacounty.com/ways-to-beat-heat-that-arent-swimming/ (like ice cream)

Roads

I-80: Watch for ice and water on the highway over the next few days.  Otherwise the forecast is generally favorable for the next two weeks.  Be alert to construction and lane closures — especially Monday-Friday.  There are at least three possible choke points eastbound — Crystal Springs to Drum Forebay, at the I-80/CA20 split, and between Rainbow Road and Soda Springs.  You can avoid the third by exiting at Cisco Grove and driving at a more leisurely pace on Hampshire Rocks Road, which parallels the freeway on the north side.   Continue across I-80 on Donner Pass Road, then go all the way to Donner Lake and Truckee.  Note that several ramps between Gold Run and Donner Summit are closed while being reconstructed.  Plan ahead by following CalTrans road reports at https://roads.dot.ca.gov.

General: Paved secondary roads around the Summit should be open but be prepared for repair work and occasional delays.    Off-highway vehicle routes (unpaved) are mostly open, but watch for pot holes, rocks, ruts, and (with the new snow) slippery spots.  Forest Road 85 north from Cisco Grove is closed (for several years) while the Lake Fordyce Dam Seepage Mitigation Project is completed.