California officials closed 160 miles of Interstate 80 on Friday as the biggest snowstorm of the season hit the Sierra Nevada mountains. Residents were asked to evacuate and stay off the roads as up to 10 feet of snow was expected in some areas. Harmful wind.
“Aaaaaaand we’re closed!!” California Highway Patrol posted on
The scheduled time for the expressway to reopen has not yet been determined. ”
On the same day that most of the more than a dozen ski areas around Lake Tahoe were closed and visitors to Yosemite National Park were ordered to leave after a tornado touched down in central California, officials announced that after 5 p.m. The highway was closed.
The 160-mile road closure will take place at the state line just west of Reno, Nevada, near Emigrant Gap, California.
California Highway Patrol, state transportation officials and other authorities say dozens of crashes have occurred on Interstate 80, with cars sliding into snowbanks or becoming stuck on the side of slippery roads. Police officers reported throughout the day that they were responding to accidents. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries.
Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford, said the tornado reached Madera County Friday afternoon just before 4 p.m. An elementary school was reportedly damaged.
The National Weather Service in Reno announced late Friday that it expected the heaviest snow to fall after midnight, and that blizzard conditions could continue through Saturday, reducing visibility to less than a quarter of a mile.
The storm began to force its way into the region on Thursday, with its biggest impacts expected to close major highways and cause power outages from Friday afternoon into Saturday. A blizzard warning is in effect for about 300 miles of the mountains until Sunday morning.
Rick Grundy, manager of the Chevron Food Mart near Donner Lake off Interstate 80, said business was slow Friday and people seemed to be heeding authorities’ advice to hunker down. That’s what he said.
Having lived in the Truckee, Calif., area for 20 years, he said he knows how to prepare for severe weather.
“We have pretty good inventory. We knew this was going to happen,” Grundy said. “One thing I’ve learned is that if you’re not used to driving in this weather, if you’re not used to being in this area, it’s not a good idea. You should stay home. ”
Meteorologists say up to 10 feet of snow could accumulate in the mountains around Lake Tahoe by the weekend, with 3 to 6 feet in lakeside communities and more than a foot in the eastern Sierra front valleys, including Reno. I predict that it is possible. .
Winds are expected to gust in excess of 115 mph on the Sierra Nevada ridges, with gusts exceeding 115 mph in lower elevations.
Backcountry avalanche warnings have been issued for various areas. All Yosemite visitors were to leave as of noon Friday, and the park was scheduled to be closed until at least noon Sunday.
More than 7 feet of snow could fall in some areas.
Many Lake Tahoe ski resorts said they would remain closed Friday due to the situation.
But the snow wasn’t all bad news for the resort. Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort said it should be able to keep its slopes open through Memorial Day because it expects a major dump over the weekend on 8 feet of snow that fell in February.
In South Lake Tahoe, Heidi’s Pancake House’s lunchtime crowd was one-third of its typical 60 customers. Despite the worsening outlook, General Manager Salvador Ortega expected the company to remain open and most of its employees to come to work.
“We’re one of the restaurants in South Lake Tahoe that doesn’t close unless there’s a power outage or something. We’re open 365 days a year,” he said. “Tahoe is a small community. There are very few times when our employees are unable to come to work.”
Ortega said he believes the snowfall will ultimately be good for the community, and that tourism will increase once it is safe to travel again.
Andrew Schwartz, chief scientist at the Central Sierra Snow Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, said the current record set in 1989 for about 3.5 feet of snow in one day could be broken.
On the bright side, California water officials said the storm should provide a much-needed boost to Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is essential to the state’s water supply.
As of Thursday, it was 80% of its historical average, California Department of Water Resources officials said.
Todd Cummings decided to drive from Santa Cruz to the Lake Tahoe area ahead of the storm. His destination, Northstar, his resort was open, but the slopes were far from full.
“Nobody’s here,” he said in a brief phone interview as he rode the chairlift for the first time that day. “There are only a limited number of trails open, but this lift will take you to the top.”
