A weekend storm is forecast to drop feet of snow throughout the Sierra Nevada, prompting the National Weather Service to situation a winter storm watch.
The watch is in impact from Friday night by way of Saturday night above 4,500 feet for the west slope of the northern Sierra, together with Interstate 80 and Highway 50. Snow is predicted to be heaviest noon Saturday by way of noon Sunday, which could make travel “very difficult to impossible,” the climate service warned.
Forecast snowfall totals had been trending greater, with 2 feet of snow attainable alongside I-80 over Donner Summit above 4,500 feet. The highest peaks, together with ski resorts, could choose greater than 3 feet of snow, with localized totals as much as 4 feet.
The snow line is predicted to be above cross stage Friday morning earlier than falling under 6,000 feet Saturday and finally as little as 4,000 feet Saturday. Mount Hamilton, within the Diablo Range east of San Jose, could even get dusted Sunday.
A separate winter storm watch was issued for the Lake Tahoe space. The Highway 89 hall alongside the west shore of the lake could choose up a foot of snow, with nearer to half a foot in Kings Beach and Incline Village. Winds are forecast to gust as much as 90 mph alongside the Sierra crest Saturday afternoon.
Spring snowstorms should not unusual within the Sierra Nevada.
In May 2024, a storm dropped greater than 2 feet of snow on the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab close to Donner Summit, marking that location’s snowiest day of the season. April 1880 was exceptionally snowy, with accounts of as much as 16 feet of snow at Donner Pass in a four-day span.
Total precipitation since Oct. 1 is near normal on the snow lab, although the snowpack is virtually nonexistent largely on account of a record-shatting March warmth wave that pressured early closures of Sierra ski resorts. March completed as California’s warmest and driest on report.
Additional storms by way of mid-April could support the meager Sierra snowpack, although a major restoration to close regular is unlikely.
