CA Blizzard Photos: 190 MPH Winds, 10 Feet Of Snow, Drought Relief

LOS ANGELES — A powerful blizzard that hammered the Sierras over four days, disrupting mountain travel and stranding scores of vehicles, provided a boost to the snowpack and helped alleviate drought concerns across California.

The storm prompted a rare, multi-day blizzard warning across 300 miles, prompting calls for drivers to avoid travel over the passes through Sunday amid heavy snow, high winds and whiteout conditions.

In Southern California, the mountains received 3 to 9 inches of snow over the weekend, adding to the bounty that provided Big Bear Mountain Resort its snowiest February in decades. The resort reported more than 10 feet of fresh snow last month at Snow Valley.

According to data from the National Weather Service, Big Bear tacked on another 1 to 3 inches over the weekend while contending with "significant rime and clear icing" due to fluctuating snow levels. A similar scenario played out atop Mount Baldy, where high elevations received 6 to 9 inches and experienced heavy icing, requiring several ski runs to close.

Blizzard conditions blocked key routes to Mammoth Mountain on Saturday and forced the resort to close due to heavy snow and high winds. According to the resort's website, the storm dumped 39 inches of fresh snow at Mammoth over three days.

Beyond the boon for skiers and snowboarders, the blizzard helped California erase a slow start to winter and bolster against drought in the months to come.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab said the unrelenting snow helped propel the statewide snow water equivalent — a measure of how much water the snowpack holds — beyond 100 percent, compared to just 28 percent in late January. Readings in the Southern Sierra showed 94 percent of normal Monday morning.

Pointing to the "biblical blizzard," last winter's impacts and healthy water reservoirs, AccuWeather announced Monday that its team of meteorologists was confident that California would stave off widespread drought through at least next year.

"The combination of the abundance of rain and snow from the winter 2022-2023, the state of the reservoirs, and what has happened this winter gives a high confidence that drought conditions will remain absent well into 2025," said Ken Clark, AccuWeather's California weather expert.

Though it provided a boost to California's water levels, the blizzard caused roadway havoc while snowing in several mountain communities. By Friday night, the California Highway Patrol said "a mass amount of vehicles" became stuck near Donner Summit, and first responders battled through the storm for several hours to reach drivers and get them to safety. A long stretch of the highway remained closed between Donner and the Nevada state line until late Monday morning.

Tahoe-area resorts and peaks bore the brunt of the blizzard, including a 190 mph wind gust detected Friday evening at Palisades Tahoe and 10.5 feet of snow that fell at Sugar Bowl through Monday morning.

Resort workers recounted opening their front doors to solid walls of snow and having to dig tunnels to access office buildings.