The season’s first serious winter storm reached California’s Sierra Nevada on Friday, and it did not take long to close the main road over the mountains. Shortly after 4 p.m. on November 13, the California Highway Patrol in Truckee reported a full shutdown of Interstate 80 over Donner Summit after multiple spinouts, holding eastbound traffic at Kingvale and westbound traffic at Truckee. Chain controls were already in place on I-80 between Nyack and Truckee and on US-50 between Twin Bridges and Meyers.
A winter storm warning covers parts of the Sierra, including the Lake Tahoe area and Mammoth Lakes, with up to two feet of snow possible at the highest elevations across Friday and Saturday. Gusts were forecast to reach 45 mph around Truckee and Tahoe and as much as 90 mph on exposed ridges, while wind advisories covered more than five million people across California, Nevada and Oregon.
The coast is getting its share. A high surf warning stretches from Monterey to Crescent City, with waves forecast near 25 feet on Friday and 35 feet on Saturday, and Southern California has a high surf advisory through Tuesday. The pattern is not finished: forecasters expect snow in the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, another round for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, and possibly another storm on Wednesday.
In Colorado, the National Weather Service’s most likely outcome is one to four inches in most mountains through Monday morning and six to twelve in the San Juans, with more waves possible around November 18 and November 20 to 21. Anyone driving to Tahoe, Reno or the ski areas this weekend should check Caltrans and CHP conditions before leaving, carry chains, and expect closures to come and go with little warning.
Sources: ABC News, CBS Sacramento
Stay In The Loop
Get new Travel News stories in your inbox.
