More mountain snow expected even as powerful blizzard moves out of Northern California

A powerful blizzard that closed highways and ski resorts had mostly moved through the Sierra Nevada by early Monday but forecasters warned that more snow was on the way for Northern California mountains.

Sections of Interstate 80 to the west and north of Lake Tahoe were still shut down late Sunday, with no estimate for reopening, the California Highway Patrol said.

The CHP office in South Lake Tahoe warned motorists that tire chains for improved traction are required on routes through the mountains, where more than 7 feet (2.1 meters) of snow fell over the weekend.

Blizzard warnings had mostly expired but scattered thunderstorms were likely and another 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow was possible at higher elevations, the National Weather Service office in Sacramento said.

“Mountain travel is HIGHLY discouraged!” the office warned.

The multiday storm caused traffic backups and closures on I-80 and many other roadways, shut down ski resorts for two days, and left thousands of homes and businesses without power.

By Sunday night, Pacific Gas & Electric had restored electricity to all but about 4,400 Northern California customers, while NV Energy had reduced its outages to roughly 1,000 homes and businesses across the state line in Nevada.

Palisades Tahoe, the largest resort on the north end of the lake, was among several ski mountains that closed most or all chairlifts for a second straight day Sunday because of snow, wind and low visibility. Palisades reported a three-day snow total of 6 feet (1.8 meters), with more falling.

“We will be digging out for the foreseeable future,” officials said on the resort’s blog.

Kevin Dupui, who lives in Truckee, just northwest of Lake Tahoe, said his snow blower broke, but it doesn’t really matter because there’s nowhere to put all the snow anyway. “We just move it around,” he said Sunday.

Dupui said residents and tourists seem to be mostly heeding warnings to stay home. “The roads haven’t been that safe, so we don’t really want people driving around,” he said.

Another Truckee resident, Jenelle Potvin, said at first some cynical locals thought “there was a little too much hype” made about the approaching storm. But then the unrelenting snow began Friday night.

“It was definitely a blizzard. And we woke up to a lot of snow yesterday and it never let up,” Potvin said Sunday. Her neighbors were snowmobiling and cross-country skiing in the streets.

In the eastern Sierra, the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area was closed Sunday as winds of up to 70 mph (113 kph) made it too difficult for ski patrol to complete avalanche mitigation, the resort said. More than 3 feet (nearly 1 meter) of snow fell over three days, and more was on the way.

Weather service meteorologist William Churchill on Saturday called the storm an “extreme blizzard” for the Sierra Nevada but said he didn’t expect records to be broken.

The storm began barreling into the region Thursday. A widespread blizzard warning through Sunday morning covered a 300-mile (480-kilometer) stretch of the mountains. A second, weaker storm was forecast to bring additional rain and snow between Monday and Wednesday, forecasters said.

California authorities on Friday shut down 100 miles (160 kilometers) of I-80, the main route between Reno and Sacramento, because of “spin-outs, high winds, and low visibility.” There was no estimate when the freeway would reopen from the California-Nevada border west of Reno to near Emigrant Gap, California.

Rudy Islas spent about 40 minutes shoveling his car out before heading to work at a coffee shop in Truckee on Sunday morning. Neither he nor his customers were fazed by the snow, he said.

“To be honest, if you’re a local, it’s not a big deal,” he said. “I think a lot of people are used to the snow and they prepare for it.”