Blizzard leaves thousands of homes without power in California and Nevada

A powerful blizzard that a meteorologist called “as bad as it gets” has howled through the Sierra Nevada mountains in the US, closing major roads, forcing ski resorts to shut and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

More than 10ft of snow was expected at higher elevations, National Weather Service meteorologist William Churchill said on Saturday, creating a “life-threatening concern” for residents near Lake Tahoe and blocking travel on the key east-west freeway.

“It’s a blizzard,” said Dubravka Tomasin, a resident of Truckee, California, for more than a decade. “It’s pretty harrowing.”

blizzard leaves thousands of homes without power in california and nevada

Residents have been urged to take shelter and stay off roads (Bay Area News Group via AP)

Kyle Frankland, a veteran snow plough driver, said several parts of his rig broke as he cleared wet snow underneath piles of powder.

“I’ve been in Truckee 44 years. This is a pretty good storm,” Mr Frankland said. “It’s not record-breaking by any means but it’s a good storm.”

Mr Churchill said snow totals by late Sunday would range from 5 to 12ft, with the highest accumulations at elevations above 5,000ft. Lower elevations were inundated with heavy rain.

He called the storm an “extreme blizzard for the Sierra Nevada, in particular, as well as other portions of Nevada and even extending into Utah and portions of western Colorado”. But he said he did not expect records to be broken.

blizzard leaves thousands of homes without power in california and nevada

As much as 10ft of snow is expected in some areas (Bay Area News Group via AP)

“It’s certainly just about as bad as it gets in terms of the snow totals and the winds,” Mr Churchill said. “It doesn’t get much worse than that.”

Earlier, the weather service warned that blowing snow was creating “extremely dangerous to impossible” driving conditions, with wind gusts in the high mountains at more than 100mph.

Avalanche danger was “high to extreme” in back country areas through Sunday evening throughout the central Sierra and greater Lake Tahoe area, the weather service said.

California authorities on Friday shut down 100 miles of I-80, the main route between Reno and Sacramento, due to “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.

blizzard leaves thousands of homes without power in california and nevada

The warning lasts until Sunday (AP)

Travel was treacherous east of the Sierra, where CalTrans also cited “multiple spin outs and collisions” and “whiteout conditions,” as it closed 90 miles of US 395 from near Bishop in the Owens Valley to Bridgeport, north of Mono Lake.

Pacific Gas & Electric reported almost 17,000 California homes and businesses without power around noon. NV Energy reported power outages for about 5,000 customers in northern Nevada.

In southern Nevada, where the weather service issued a warning on Saturday for high winds gusting to 70mph, NV Energy reported more than 27,000 customers without power in and around Las Vegas.

A tornado on Friday afternoon in Madera County, California, caused some damage to an elementary school, said Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

Some ski resorts shut down on Friday and were digging out on Saturday with an eye toward reopening on Sunday.

Palisades Tahoe, the largest resort on the north end of Tahoe and site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, closed all chairlifts on Saturday due to snow, wind and low visibility.

News Related

OTHER NEWS

FA confident that Man Utd starlet will pick England over Ghana

Kobbie Mainoo made his first start for Man Utd at Everton (Photo: Getty) The Football Association are reportedly confident that Manchester United starlet Kobbie Mainoo will choose to represent England ... Read more »

World Darts Championship draw throws up tricky tests for big names

Michael Smith will begin the defence of his world title on the opening night (Picture: Getty Images) The 2024 World Darts Championship is less than three weeks away and the ... Read more »

Pioneering flight to use repurposed cooking oil to cross Atlantic

For the first time a long haul commercial aircraft is flying across the Atlantic using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). A long haul commercial flight is flying to the US ... Read more »

King meets world business and finance figures at Buckingham Palace

The King has met business and finance leaders from across the world at a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the conclusion of the UK’s Global Investment Summit. Charles was introduced ... Read more »

What Lou Holtz thinks of Ohio State's loss to Michigan: 'They aren't real happy'

After Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan Saturday, many college football fans were wondering where Lou Holtz was. In his postgame interview after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 17-14 in ... Read more »

Darius Slay wouldn't have minded being penalized on controversial no-call

Darius Slay wouldn’t have minded being penalized on controversial no-call No matter which team you were rooting for on Sunday, we can all agree that the officiating job performed by ... Read more »

Mac Jones discusses Patriots future after latest benching

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) Quarterback Mac Jones remains committed to finding success with the New England Patriots even though his future is up in the air following ... Read more »
Top List in the World