By Kathryn Reed

That all too familiar hum of winter was echoing through the Lake Tahoe Basin this morning long before the break of day. That would be the snowblower.

More than 6 inches of white stuff had fallen at lake level on the South Shore by 7am, with no sign of it stopping. Expect more with the winter storm warning in effect until 10 tonight.

Schools at the lake in Douglas County have been canceled. Classes are also canceled at Tahoe-Truckee Unified.

The National Weather Service in Reno is calling for periods of heavy snowfall today – meaning 3 inches an hour in some areas of the Sierra. Western Nevada can expect 1 to 2 inches an hour.

Sue Wood starts Feb. 16 by clearing her South Lake Tahoe driveway. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The brunt of this storm is expected to be here until 10am.

By the time it blows east, 1 to 2 feet could have fallen at the lake, with 3 to 5 feet above 7,000 feet.

Another storm is expected in the area Thursday afternoon and lingering until Friday evening.

Roads are slick and restrictions are in place. Check the state icons on the home page of Lake Tahoe News to find up-to-date road conditions. Visibility is so bad over Spooner Summit that some commuters turned around and took a vacation day.

These storms slated for the rest of the week are cold ones. The mercury isn’t expected to hit 30 all week in Tahoe. The low tonight is forecast to be 9 degrees in South Lake Tahoe, rising to 14 as a low Friday night.