A winter storm in the Sierra Nevada swung ski lifts and forced the closure of mountain roads, while downpours in lower-lying areas prompted flood warnings to be issued across wide swaths of California to Nevada.
More than 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the Sierra, from north of Reno south to Yosemite National Park, remained under winter storm warnings that will be in effect through Sunday night or Monday morning.
Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe suspended some of its operations when the storm hit Saturday. He posted video of the chairlifts swinging violently due to wind gusts in excess of 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour), and issued a tweet reminding riders that wind closures are “always for your safety.” .
To the south, Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort reported more than 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow fell Saturday, with another 2 feet (60 centimeters) possible as the tail of the system moves up the Sierra Eastern Nevada.
The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley campus in Soda Springs, California, reported Sunday morning that more than 43 inches (110 centimeters) had fallen in a span of 48 hours.
A 70-mile (112-kilometer) stretch of eastbound Interstate 80 was closed Saturday “due to zero visibility” from the northern California town of Colfax to the Nevada state line, according to transportation authorities reported. Chains were required on much of the rest of Interstate 80 and other mountain routes from Reno to Sacramento.
Many other crucial highways were closed due to heavy snowfall, including a stretch of California Highway 89 between Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe, the highway patrol said.
The US Forest Service issued an avalanche warning for the area of the mountains west of Lake Tahoe, saying “several inches of new snow and high winds will lead to dangerous avalanche conditions.”
Gusts of up to 50 mph (80 km/h), which brought trees crashing down on homes Saturday in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, could reach 100 mph (160 km/h) over mountaintops. Sierra Nevada on Sunday, the National Weather Service reported.
Heavy rain was forecast over the weekend from San Francisco to the mountaintops, bringing up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) in the Bay Area and up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) in Grass Valley, northeast of Sacrament.
Additional advisories were in effect throughout Southern California. Heavy rains caused flooding at specific sites in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
“Significant travel delays are possible due to snow accumulation on several mountain roads. This could include Badger Pass and the Grapevine area of Interstate 5,” the Los Angeles metropolitan area office of the National Weather Service said in a statement.
Arizona forecasters issued a winter storm watch for the northern and central parts of the state beginning Sunday night for areas above 5,000 feet (1,525 meters), including Flagstaff, Prescott and the Grand Canyon, where Freezing temperatures and up to 30 centimeters (one foot) of snow are expected.
As the storm moves out of the western United States, it will cross the country and hit the Plains by midweek, bringing significant rain and below-average temperatures, said Marc Chenard, a National Weather Service meteorologist at the national center. in College Park, Maryland.
“It’s going to be a busy week as this system moves across the country,” Chenard said Sunday.