A rare snowstorm sent its final waves of snow and high winds across California's Sierra Nevada on Sunday, shutting down some major roads and shuttering ski resorts from Lake Tahoe to Mammoth.
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was closed due to winds as strong as 70 mph, with higher wind gusts, blowing across the mountains and blowing away snow.
“It is still too windy to operate and allow lift maintenance to safely complete their checks or ski patrol to complete necessary avalanche mitigation,” Mammoth Mountain said on its website.
The blizzard dumped 5 to 7 feet of snow in parts of the Sierra Nevada over the weekend. A rare blizzard warning will remain in effect until midnight Sunday for areas above 6,500 feet, while other parts of the Sierra Nevada are under a winter storm warning, the National Weather Service in Sacramento said.
Snow continued to fall across the mountains on Sunday, with 1 to 2 feet of additional snow expected in areas above 4,000 feet.
A snowplow is used to clear a road during a storm in Truckee on Saturday.
(Brooke Hess-Homier/Associated Press)
Heavy snow led to the closure of many roads over the weekend. U.S. Highway 50 reopened Sunday morning, allowing chained vehicles to access the South Lake Tahoe area.
West of Echo Summit on Interstate 50, some vehicles were temporarily stuck in several feet of snow that had slid from the mountainside onto the road, California Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Nelson said. He added that a crew of cars towed the two vehicles, and no one was injured.
On the north side of Lake Tahoe, Interstate 80 remained closed due to snow for a third day.
In the eastern Sierra, U.S. Highway 395 was closed in Mono County, where Caltrans crews were working to clear snow.
Even as blizzard conditions begin to ease, the National Weather Service is urging people to avoid driving in the mountains.
“Winds can get up to 45 mph at those higher elevations, and with the snow still falling, it creates really dangerous travel conditions,” said Sarah Bordeaux, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “We strongly discourage travel to mountainous areas.”
Snow covers the landscape in front of a store in Truckee, California. The biggest storm of the season closed a long stretch of Interstate 80, and strong winds and heavy rain battered lower elevations, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes.
(Brooke Hess-Homier/Associated Press)
Another approaching storm is expected to bring more snow Monday and Tuesday in the Sierra Nevada.
“It won't have as significant an impact as this system. But we're still looking at multiple feet of snow at higher elevations,” Perdue said.
Snow and high winds created hazardous or inoperable conditions at various ski resorts. In Palisades-Tahoe, all ski lifts were closed Sunday due to “severe weather conditions.”
Sierra at Tahoe said on its website that “the storm's intensity had not subsided, but in fact doubled overnight,” as winds piled up deep piles of snow that workers were clearing.
South Tahoe, Kirkwood Mountain Resort said it has opened some of its ski lifts after initially stopping them to ensure safety.
The blizzard arrived with extremely strong winds reaching 190 mph in one place Friday night. Wind gusts stronger than 100 mph are expected in parts of the Sierra through early Monday, the National Weather Service said.
An avalanche warning was in effect for the eastern Sierra. The National Weather Service warned people against going into backcountry areas — such as those considering cross-country skiing or snowboarding — saying strong winds “will continue to overload the snowpack, which has weak, buried layers,” leading to conditions An avalanche is very dangerous.
In addition to the high winds, two tornadoes struck parts of the Central Valley. No injuries were reported.
“From Merced to Bakersfield, we had a very strong jet stream overhead,” said Carlos Molina, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford. “Winds of 50 to 70 mph were whipping up the snow that was falling over the mountains and creating blizzard conditions.”
Molina said Sunday's snowstorm is “pretty much dissipating” as the weather system moves beyond California into neighboring states. He said the next upcoming storm doesn't have the ingredients to produce blizzard conditions, but it will bring more snow and rain.
