I think its the first thing you said......Truckee sits on the east side of Donner summit and gets shadowed to some extent.......and I think the weather station is at the airport which is on the east side of town......wiki says its the fifth snowiest cityin the US based on and average 204 inches per year but IDK what they are calling a "city"........the real high totals are obviously in the nearby resorts - check out Soda Springs lol........