A powerful storm finally departed the Sierra Nevada on Monday after stranding Bay Area residents, delighting skiers and heavily fortifying snow levels that had been lagging behind historical averages.
After Interstate 80 began partially reopening in the morning, a long line of vehicles streamed up from Truckee and the Eastern Sierra over Donner Summit. Snow, ice and slush covered the highway as traffic squeezed down to a single lane, motorists seldom exceeding 35 miles per hour. Banks of plowed snow reached more than a dozen feet high on either side.
Although harrowing, those conditions were vastly improved from the weekend when truckers and other motorists found themselves stranded in six feet of snow as a blizzard pummeled the region.
The storm system that swung into California from the Gulf of Alaska late last week marked the biggest dumping of snow for the Sierra Nevada this season, with remarkable totals at ski resorts across the Lake Tahoe region.
Sugar Bowl Summit received 10½ feet of snow over the last four days, while Palisades Tahoe received nearly 8 feet of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Kirkwood, near Carson Pass on the southern side of Lake Tahoe, received nearly 5 feet of snow.
The blizzard provided a huge boost to the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the source of nearly one-third of California’s water supply. On Friday, the statewide snowpack was 84% of its historical average. By Monday, it had jumped to 104%. With many reservoirs around the state already at above-average storage levels, the new bounty of snow all but guarantees most communities in California will have ample water supplies this summer.
But that bounty also left many visitors changing their travel plans and navigating a journey with few roads in and out of the mountains. I-80 had been closed since Thursday, and Caltrans had difficulty clearing the road due to whiteout conditions and failing equipment.
San Jose teacher Lawrence Caces drove to Lake Tahoe on Thursday, ahead of the blizzard, for a vacation with ten family members and friends. Their plan to leave Sunday was upended by the relentless snowfall.
“It just started snowing and snowing, and we’re like, ‘We’re not going to go home on Sunday,’ ” said Caces, 40, who teaches animation at Mount Pleasant High School in San Jose.
The group briefly considered taking an alternate route around the lake to U.S. Highway 50, but after a small avalanche caused a temporary closure of that route Sunday morning, they scrapped that plan and stayed an extra night in Tahoe.
Catherine and Andrew Cummins, of Gilroy, who had been visiting family in Reno, also had their return home delayed due to I-80’s closure. Traveling with twin 1-year-old-boys and another child, they did their best to frame the journey in a positive light.
“We’re missing work,” said Catherine Cummins. “It’s like a little adventure.”
The National Weather Service’s blizzard warning for the northern Sierra expired shortly before 12:30 a.m. Monday, but a winter storm warning remained, set to last through Wednesday morning. Interstate 80 began reopening to passenger vehicles with chain controls through the Sierra Nevada on Monday morning, and then to trucks by Monday afternoon. Highway 50 out of South Lake Tahoe remained open, albeit with chain restrictions.
Still, the threat of snow continued to hound the region. Four to 10 more inches of powder was expected to fall on Donner Pass between Monday morning and early Wednesday, according to Dakari Anderson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Not all Bay Area residents were looking to flee the region, and more than a handful were racing to embrace an epic snowfall that promised premium skiing and snowboarding for the foreseeable future.
Melissa and Peter Ellsworth, of Alamo, who had intended to drive up to Tahoe on Friday, rescheduled their trip due to road conditions. On Monday, the couple and their two kids were excited to reap the benefits of the blizzard.
“We’re looking forward to all the snow,” Melissa Ellsworth said. “Nice fresh powder.”
In the Bay Area, cloudy skies and light showers were expected to linger through Wednesday, but little measurable precipitation was expected. Rainfall totals will likely be in the hundredths of inches through Wednesday, said Nicole Sarment, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
“There may be pockets of sunshine, but it’ll still be cloudy,” Sarment said. “Hate to be the bearer of bad news.”
Rainfall over the weekend continued to add to impressive precipitation totals for much of the Bay Area so far this year, with the San Jose airport receiving about half an inch of rain since Friday morning, while downtown San Francisco received 1.66 inches of rain. The Oakland airport received 1.15 inches of rain in that time.
Mostly sunny skies should return Thursday and Friday, Sarment said, before another round of rain returns over the weekend. Temperatures should linger in the low 60s for much of the week for the majority of the Bay Area.
