Hundreds of miles of California highways remain closed Sunday as a powerful snowstorm hits parts of the Golden State and Mountain West, with wind gusts up to 190 mph and snow totals could reach 12 feet. Became. That's well above the 157 mph standard for this category. 5 Hurricane.
National Weather Service meteorologist William Churchill called the storm, now in its third day, an “extreme snowstorm” and warned residents near Lake Tahoe of “life-threatening concerns.” Areas in Nevada, Utah and Colorado were also affected.
“Moderate to heavy snow continued overnight across the northern Sierra Nevada,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento said in a social media post Sunday. “Gusty winds continue and blizzard conditions continue.”
More than 100 miles of Interstate 80 remained closed Sunday from the Nevada state line to Colfax, California, with the California Highway Patrol warning that there was “no certainty as to when the highway will reopen.” Hundreds of tourists were trapped in their cars for hours, leaving more than 300 vehicles stranded. As of Sunday morning, about 7,000 homes and businesses in California still had not had power restored after storm-related power outages.
“We encourage people to stay home, stay warm, and avoid putting themselves and their families at risk,” the CHP in Truckee, Calif., said on social media.
The snow was expected to continue into Sunday. AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alan Reppert told USA TODAY that smaller systems could bring elevations 1 to 2 feet higher Monday and Tuesday.
“In some of the highest areas, you can still see 10 to 12 feet out,” Reppert said. “Storms like this happen every few years, but they're not completely unusual or record-breaking for this region.”
Winds over 160 mph, stranded vehicle:Dangerous snowstorm hits western mountains
Ski resorts are developing with an eye on the “near future''
The Bureau of Meteorology warned into Sunday that there was a “high risk of avalanches in remote areas.” Ski resorts can withstand large snowstorms, but there are limits. Many resorts were forced to close on Friday, but some had hoped to reopen on Sunday as well. Reppert told USA TODAY that wind gusts of 190 mph were recorded near the Palisades Tahoe resort.
Palisades Tahoe said on its website Sunday that it is “doing everything we can to rotate the chairlift.” “Our team has been playing catch-up over the last two days, but there is still a lot of work to do. We will continue to work hard for the foreseeable future.”
Sugar Bowl Resort, 30 miles north of the Palisades, was also scheduled to reopen Sunday, but warned of “significant” delays while resort employees conduct avalanche digging and mitigation work. .
“The snow is so deep that we have not yet been able to reach the snow piles,” a statement on the resort's website said. “Your understanding and patience will be rewarded with great skiing.”
Where is the California snowstorm?
Churchill, of the National Weather Service, called the storm “a blizzard that affected particularly the Sierra Nevada, other parts of Nevada, and even parts of Utah and western Colorado.” However, he said he never expected the record to be broken.
“It's certainly the worst situation in terms of snow totals and wind,” Churchill said. “It can't get much worse.”
Snowplow driver Kyle Frankland said several parts of his snowplow broke while he was clearing wet snow from beneath a pile of powder.
“I've lived in Truckee for 44 years. This is a pretty good storm,” Frankland said. “It’s not record-breaking by any means, but it’s a nice storm.”
“It's a blizzard,” said Truckee resident Dubravka Thomasin. “That's pretty tragic.”
Contribution: Associated Press
