Sierra Blizzard Dumped 10+ Feet Of Snow, Wind Gusts Hit 190 MPH: NWS

SACRAMENTO — A dangerous blizzard that hammered the Sierra with wind and snow over four days, closing highways and burying vehicles, also helped carry California's snowpack over the goal line.

Data from the National Weather Service showed wind gusts well above 100 mph at several monitoring stations by Friday night. According to the Los Angeles Times, an eye-popping 190 mph gust recorded at Palisades Tahoe came within striking distance of California's fastest verified wind speed: a 199 mph gust verified at Palisades Tahoe's Ward Peak in February 2017.

At UC Berkeley's Sagehen Creek Field Station near Truckee, the weather service recorded a 138 mph gust Friday night, and a weather station southeast of Lake Tahoe recorded a 107 mph gust.

The powerful storm prompted a rare, multi-day blizzard warning in the mountains as forecasters cautioned that travel over the Sierra would be dangerous — and even impossible — at times between Thursday and Sunday.

Their warnings proved true, especially along Interstate 80, where heavy snow and whiteout conditions began to cause significant problems by Friday night. The California Highway Patrol's Truckee office said "a mass amount of vehicles" became stuck near Donner Summit Friday evening, and first responders battled through the storm for several hours to reach drivers and get them to safety.

"At one point, emergency personnel and tow trucks had a difficult time getting to motorists due to blizzard conditions," the CHP wrote Saturday morning. "Stay home and don't put yourself and your family in a dangerous situation."

The highway remained closed Sunday morning between Colfax and the state line as the CHP worked with Caltrans to remove abandoned cars and semis from the highway. High winds severed power at Caltrans' central Kingvale hub, knocking out cameras and message boards as its fleet of snowblowers struggled to keep up.

"Part of the difficulty crews are facing during this storm is blowers breaking down due to the severe conditions," Caltrans said Sunday afternoon. We have been down to 2 of 10 blowers at our central hub in Kingvale, and 6 out of 20 from Auburn to the Nevada state line."

According to the Sacramento Bee, other routes over the Sierra dealt with similar challenges, including brief closures along Highway 50, triggering repeated warnings for travelers and truck drivers to avoid trying to bypass the closures via smaller highways.

Interstate 80 reopened Monday morning to passenger vehicles with chains, but Caltrans said semi trucks would not be released until mid-afternoon.

While accumulations landed slightly below expectations in some parts of the Sierra, data released Monday by the weather service showed four-day snow totals exceeded 10 feet along portions of Donner Pass. At Sugar Bowl, the weather service reported 126 inches — or 10.5 feet — of fresh snow through Monday morning. Soda Springs logged 116 inches, followed by Kingvale at 106 inches.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab recorded more than 6 feet of snow over four days, and the facility battled internet outages and cell service interruptions through the weekend. Researchers said Monday the storm helped propel California's snow water equivalent — a measure of how much water the snowpack holds — beyond 100 percent, compared to just 28 percent in late January.

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.

In the near term, a winter storm warning will remain in place in the mountains through Wednesday morning. Forecasters said elevations above 5,000 feet could add another foot of snow, with 2 feet possible on the highest peaks.