Through California and into the Sierra, strong winds, rain, and snow fall

From the coast of Northern California to Lake Tahoe, a winter storm carrying strong winds, torrential rain, and maybe several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada shut down mountain roadways, fell trees, and issued flood watches and avalanche warnings on Saturday.

From north of Reno to south of Yosemite National Park, more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the Sierra were still under a winter storm warning at least until Sunday night or early Monday.

By the end of the weekend, snowfall is predicted to reach heights of up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) near Lake Tahoe and up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in more isolated regions of the Sierra to the north and south.

From Colfax, California, to the Nevada state border, a 70-mile (112-kilometer) section of eastbound U.S. Interstate 80 was blocked “because to zero visibility,” according to transportation authorities. Much of the remaining I-80 in the mountains from Reno to Sacramento needed chains.

Heavy snowfall caused the closure of a section of California Highway 89 between Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe, according to the highway patrol.

In the mountains west of Lake Tahoe, the U.S. Forest Service issued an avalanche warning, stating that “several feet of fresh snow and high winds may result in severe avalanche conditions.”

The National Weather Service said that by early Sunday, winds might gust as high as 100 mph (160 kph) across Sierra ridgetops after sending trees into houses in Sonoma County on Saturday.

Up to 5 inches (13 cm) of rain were expected in Grass Valley, northeast of Sacramento, and heavy rain was predicted from San Francisco to the Sierra crest over the weekend.

When inches of rain poured over burn scars left by wildfires south of Monterey and farther south of Big Sur on Saturday, the weather service issued a flash flood warning.

At one point on Saturday morning, more than 30,000 people in the Sacramento region were without power, but by the afternoon, all but a small number had their electricity back. According to the Sacramento Bee, the drivers and occupants of five automobiles that had been wedged between fallen power wires were uninjured.

Authorities in the San Francisco Bay Area reported power outages and downed trees, some of which caused damage to vehicles and houses. Firefighters were called to many complaints of trees falling in houses in Monte Rio, a tiny village in Sonoma County near the Russian River.

According to Monte Rio Fire Department Chief Steve Baxman, four separate fallen trees in the vicinity damaged residences, but there were no reported injuries.

“This is our first major storm; we’ve had drought for many years, and all of these trees were dry. Baxman told the news channel, “Now they’re filling up with water and beginning to tumble down.

At Mammoth Mountain ski resort, south of Yosemite, where more than 10 feet (3 meters) of snow had been recorded since early November, roughly 10 inches (25 cm) of snow had already fallen on Saturday afternoon in the Sierra.

According to resort spokesperson Lauren Burke, “it just seems like another huge storm blows in every week or so.”

Up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow and winds of 50 mph (80 kph) or more were predicted for the whole of the weekend at altitudes over 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) and 18 to 28 inches (45 to 71 centimeters) of snow at lake level (160 kph).

For Reno, Sparks, and Carson City on the eastern slope of the Sierra, a winter weather advisory is in effect from Saturday at 10 p.m. through Sunday at 10 a.m., with snow accumulations of up to 8 inches (20 cm) above 5,000 feet and 1 to 3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm) above valley bottoms (1,524 meters).

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