Powder and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.

At least two Lake Tahoe ski resorts, Homewood and Sierra-at-Tahoe, have said they will end their seasons early as an unprecedented March heat wave brings high temperatures to the West and bakes the mountain snowpack.Bryan Hickman, Sierra-at-Tahoe’s director of operations, said in a social media post on Tuesday that the resort was seeing near-record heat. That, of course, isn’t good news in the snow business.“Our team’s been doing an amazing job keeping everything alive,” Hickman continued, citing the hard work of the groomers and ski patrol teams. “But sometimes Mother Nature just wins.”Sierra-at-Tahoe plans to close this Sunday, March 22. In the meantime, the resort said it will operate three lifts: the Grandview Express, Nob Hill, and Easy Rider Express, conditions permitting. Updates will be shared on Sierra-at-Tahoe’s snow report.The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.

Homewood Mountain Resort

Nearby, Homewood closed earlier this week on Tuesday, March 17.“With today's high temperatures and the forecast showing highs in the 70s starting tomorrow and through the weekend, our snowpack is rapidly dwindling,” the resort said. “The safety of our guests and employees is always our top priority, and the safest option is to close.”Homewood didn’t open at all during the 2024-25 season. But for Sierra-at-Tahoe, the March closing date comes weeks before its final day of the season in 2025. That year, the resort stayed open until late April. It also saw a storm that delivered 30 inches of snow earlier in April 2025, highlighting the contrast between this winter and the last.Both Tahoe resorts join two other mountains in California that have called it early: Dodge Ridge Mountain Resort and Mt. Shasta Ski Park. Mt. Shasta doesn’t plan to reopen, but Dodge Ridge is holding out for another storm that could help it spin its lifts again before the season ends.All the closures come amid a stretch of hot and rare weather across California.

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

In the Bay Area, the National Weather Service issued its first-ever March heat advisories. Near San Francisco, temperatures in Redwood City hit 90 degrees on Monday, marking the hottest March day there since record keeping began in 1930.While the New York Times reported that tying individual heat events to climate change requires analysis, scientists “have no doubt” that heat waves around the world are getting hotter and lasting longer. As for this heat wave, the NWS’s San Francisco office said it was “impressive,” noting that numerous daily records were set on Tuesday.On the slopes, that means spring skiing rather than powdery March madness at the resorts that are still open. At Palisades Tahoe, the forecast calls for highs around 60 degrees at 8,000 feet this week, with overnight lows staying above freezing. Pack a good attitude and some sunscreen, and you might be able to forget the snow that didn’t fall this winter.

Related: Aspen Has Its Allure, but This Is An Ode to Carbondale, Colorado

This story was originally published by Powder on Mar 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Powder as a Preferred Source by clicking here.