A dangerous winter storm is slamming Northern California
with rare blizzard conditions and fierce winds as it threatens to unload up to
10 feet of snow in the mountains and snarl travel.
In the Sierra Nevada, the storm is delivering heavy snow,
reduced visibilities, toppled power lines and hurricane-force winds over 75
miles per hour, which are expected to roar through the weekend.
About a half million people are under blizzard warnings in
the Mountain West, with another 6 million under winter weather alerts across
the region.
The weather service on Friday warned of “high to extreme”
avalanche danger through Sunday afternoon in the Central Sierra and Greater
Lake Tahoe area.
Extreme snowfall and roaring winds combining to produce
long-lasting blizzard conditions for much of the Sierra and parts of the
northern ranges will mean blowing snow and whiteout conditions, making travel
“impossible,” the National Weather Service warned.
Visibility has already plummeted to near-zero in some areas,
meaning it’s impossible to see farther than a few feet,or at all.
The brunt of the storm will not be felt in the area’s
biggest cities but is making travel treacherous on major routes. A stretch of
Interstate 80 was shut down at the Nevada state line Friday as California
Highway Patrol reported spin outs and low visibility.
Amtrak canceled the Friday departure of its California
Zephyr service from Chicago to San Francisco, since it passes through Truckee,
California, in the high country, which is under a blizzard warning until Sunday
morning.
Power outages are growing, with more than 39,000 homes and
businesses without power in California Saturday morning, according to the
tracking website PowerOutage.us. The number is expected to jump sharply as
winds strengthen. Some 16,000 customers are without power in Idaho and about
15,000 in Nevada, according to the site. Another 12 Wind alerts are posted
across nine western states, covering nearly 20 million people.
The most extreme conditions are unfolding at the highest
elevations, where snowfall rates could top 3 to 5 inches an hour through
Saturday, threatening road closures and increasing the risk of avalanches.
Models are showing an additional 3 feet of snow at high
elevations by Saturday morning, and blizzard conditions continuing through the
day. Those blizzard conditions will move into eastern Nevada Saturday morning,
and blizzard warnings are in effect from Saturday morning into Saturday evening.
The National Weather Service in Reno said in addition to
huge snow totals in the mountains, significant snow could fall at lower
elevations, “even as much as 6-14 inches in the Reno-Carson-Minden corridor,”
the office said in its forecast discussion.
Even the Las Vegas area has a rare blizzard warning in
effect for Lincoln County, Nevada, where they’re expecting 2 to 5 inches of
snow with winds up to 70 mph, according to the Las Vegas weather service
office.
Yosemite National Park is closed at least through Sunday at
noon, according to the National Park Service.
A Blizzard Warning is in effect for the area of the park
until Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford,
California. Higher elevations of the park could see 5-10 feet of snow in the
coming days.
Unlike other storms this winter, snow is falling well below
pass levels for all impacted ranges. Close to a foot of snow is expected
through the weekend for areas as low as 5,000 feet. Several inches are also
possible for even lower elevations, including Reno, Nevada. Wind gusts of up to
60 mph will continue to blow through the lower elevations alongside snow.
The intense conditions at lower elevations increase the risk
of danger on the road.
Travel will remain “extremely dangerous to impossible”
across the Sierra through the weekend, the weather service warned.
