YUBA PASS, Calif. — As this April snowstorm dumps much-needed precipitation in parts of the Sierra, people trying to drive in these conditions are finding it slow-going and challenging.
Antonio Orozco is general manager of the Nyack Shell Station off I-80 near Emigrant Gap. Business there can be hopping or quiet during a snowstorm depending on where along I-80 Caltrans puts its chain control checkpoint.
“If we have a chain control set up right here at Nyack, let’s say, within 10-15 minutes of setup, the parking lot gets full, and we can probably hold 200, 300 cars,” Orozco said.
On days like that, he said, his store can sell some 200 sets of chains within the morning.
But they haven’t seen that kind of business in months, he said.
“You know, it hasn’t been much of a winter, to be honest with you, with the exception of, you know, that earlier storm we had in December, late December,” Orozco said. “That was (a) huge storm. It was a great storm. We thought, ‘Oh, here it comes, a big winter.’ And then after that—nothing for, what, almost three months now? Literally nothing.”
He said there have been several storms over the past few weeks, but none of them brought more than a few inches.
He said he welcomes Thursday’s weather.
“I am very happy to see it mainly because you keep hearing all the news about the drought and how our lakes are so low, so we’re hoping that this will help out,” Orozco said. “Plus, it’s going to help the fire danger, you know, get everything wet and less chance of fires early.”
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As far as how Caltrans decides where to put chain control checkpoints, spokesperson Raquel Borrayo said, “We’re always monitoring the interstate and deciding if the snow levels are getting to lower elevations, then we’ll move the chain controls as needed. So we’re just trying not to let people drive too much on black pavement, and that’s why we always have these rotating control checkpoints.”
If you have to travel in this weather — or really, for any travel, you’re going to be doing on California’s highways — Caltrans recommends downloading their free QuickMap app. It’s free and has up-to-the-minute information about road closures and chain controls.
At the Nyack Shell Station early Thursday afternoon, the Reyes family stopped for gas — and a snowball fight — as they drove from Napa to Reno for a spring break trip.
“It’s nerve-wracking!” said mom Rosa Reyes, who is the one doing the driving. “Last time I had to drive in the snow like this, it was Tahoe — just before everything shut down, that really big storm. That one was pretty scary, so it’s kind of like the first time I’m driving in snow since then.”
They hit snow on I-80 just north of Baxter, and her son Christian Reyes said it was a beautiful sight.
“Seeing it go from just raining to seeing snow everywhere. It went from seeing all green to turning all white,” Reyes said.
Daniel Remmick and his kids were another family stopping at the Nyack Road Shell station Thursday afternoon. They didn’t have a choice but to travel that morning; they had made an appointment in Truckee about a month ago to get passports, ahead of going on a cruise in July.
“We were looking at the weather report this whole week, and we saw that it was going to snow up here, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ you know because I’ve never driven in the snow,” Remmick said.
He added that he doesn’t mind this weather.
“It’s kind of nice to see it snowing up here, you know. We need it,” Remmick said.
What to expect ahead
As this system wraps up, we expect to see more rain in the Valley and snow in the mountains late Friday night into Saturday morning. This is all thanks to a trough pushing a cold front into our area.
Rain:
Models are showing, that we could receive an additional .25-50" of rain in Sacramento, Sonora, while Stockton and Modesto could receive .10-.25" of rain on Saturday.
Snow:
Models also show, snow Friday night into Saturday, but the majority of the snow will be Saturday. Snow levels are expected to be around
5000-6500 feet. Areas like Lassen Park could receive 18-24" of snow while Carson Pass, Ebbetts Pass, Sonora Pass may receive 8-12" and Donner Pass 6-8" of fresh snow.
Next Week:
Right now, conditions are expected to dry out this Sunday and we will hit average temperatures of the 70s for most of the region. Another round of storms are expected to hit us later next week dropping temperatures back to below average in the 60s.
