From the blog of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine:
About 1 1/2 to 2 feet of new snow blanketed Truckee-Tahoe ski resorts on Friday, creating the best skiing conditions of the season and a winter wonderland.
Resorts that reported major snowfall included, Boreal, Sugar Bowl (opening today with powder conditions), Northstar California, Squaw (Squaw Creek lift is expected to open today), Heavenly, Kirkwood, Sierra at Tahoe, Mt. Rose and others. Most of the other ski areas, including Alpine Meadows, Homewood and Diamond Peak.
“Deep in it for a great opening ‘POW’ day,” Sugar Bowl reported.
Another six inches of snow could fall today. Cold temperatures through Tuesday will be ideal for snowmaking, adding more base to the slopes ahead of the Christmas break.
Last winter’s recovery from the difficult 2011-12 season has led to many millions of dollars in capital improvements at the ski resorts, including a new Crow’s Peak chairlift at Sugar Bowl. New perks are being added too, including food trucks with fresh, local sustainable menus at Squaw.
NEW SNOW CREATES “HOLIDAY POSTCARDS”
The foothills also received enough snowfall to create snowy scenes that were postcard perfect. One example: snowfall at Grass Valley’s Cornish Christmas for the first time in many years. Downtown Nevada City was blanketed in snow.
The rest of the article is here.
Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report 
We definitely received more snow than forecasters were calling for–probably about 18 inches at Town elevation…very nice.
Went to the annual St. Augustine Christmas Parade this morning. Should have taken some sunscreen. It was in the 80s today, with humidity also in the 80s. Running the a/c in December is weird, to say the least.
Just took a look at the Nevada City Webcam and noticed all that white stuff.
All things considered, I’d rather be in the snow than in the sun. Must be my Nordic/Celtic genes?
Steve, Sounds great. Rather be warm too
Very happy for the Truckee folks and the guys and gals working in the ski industry. A big dump just before Christmas is a dream come true for those in the skiing industry; the best present for those folks. And it’s free!