An avalanche at Alpine Meadows hit Friday leaving several people unaccounted for. Crews responded to the avalanche in the Alpine Meadows ski area near Lake Tahoe.
"Placer County Sheriff's deputies are currently responding to an avalanche that occurred at Alpine Meadows this morning. Search and Rescue is responding as well, as there are several unaccounted victims," the Placer County Sheriff's Department tweeted.
Squaw Alpine Mountain official tweeted they were conducting avalanche control operations in the area. The fierce winter storm that slammed into the Tahoe area dumped as much as 25 inches of snow on the Squaw Valley area.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning and an Avalanche Watch for the Lake Tahoe area beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday.
Weather Alert
"Periods of high avalanche danger may occur from Thursday morning through Friday morning," the weather service warned. "Forecast heavy snow and high wind may result in widespread avalanche activity in the mountains."
All schools in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District were closed. Schools in the Incline Village area of the Washoe County School District were also shut down due to the avalanche. Exactly when the avalanche occurred is unclear. Other details about the victims also remain unknown.
This is a developing story.
