TRUCKEE, Calif. — Heavy snow and rain fell across Northern California on Thursday as a substantial spring storm added to late-season precipitation totals after a dry winter.
Winter storm warnings were in effect from the Oregon border and down through the southern Cascades and the northern Sierra Nevada. An avalanche warning was also issued for the central Sierra, including the Lake Tahoe area.
Schools were closed on Tahoe's north shore at Incline Village, Nevada.
Chain controls were put into effect for vehicles on major Sierra highways and an 80-mile (128-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 was closed to trucks due to slippery conditions from the California-Nevada line west of Reno to Applegate, California.
"Well it got nasty, and got nasty fast!!!" said a tweet by the California Highway Patrol office at Truckee on Interstate 80 north of Lake Tahoe.
Motorists were urged to bring warm clothing, food and water, but the conditions still came as a surprise for some.
“We saw the temperature go down to 32 and we thought, 'Uh-Oh,'” said Kit Gardner from Southern California.
Gardner was making his way to Truckee and heeded some helpful advice from the chain installer who got him back on the road: take it slow with chain controls in effect.
With this April snowstorm dumping one to two feet of snow in the Sierra, it was a stroke of unfortunate timing for some ski resorts, like Boreal, which closed for the season just days before.
Donner Ski Ranch closed a week and half ago because the runs currently being plowed were just dirt. However, with this much snow, general manager Joesph Quinn is preparing for a surprise April re-open.
“It’s just a golden road, so you got to go for it,” Quinn said.
Snow is expected to fall through the night and tapering off by Friday.
December was the last real snow storm for the ski resort. As of now, there’s been more snowfall in April than January, February and March combined.
Quinn said it will be hard for bigger resorts to open on such quick notice but small resorts like his can staff up quicker. But whether skiers were able to to get up the mountain was different question altogether.
Nonetheless, Donner Ski Ranch said they will be grooming the runs most of the night so they can open Friday at 9 a.m.
South of Sacramento, an afternoon storm brought significant hail to the area, as well as a tornado warning for parts of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras and Amador counties. The National Weather Service said no damage was reported and no tornadoes touched down in relation to the warning.
Winter was a no-show from January through March in California. Thursday's update by the U.S. Drought Monitor showed wide swaths of the state in extreme or severe drought, but the report noted recent weeks of beneficial moisture.
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