California’s Sierra is currently getting hammered with snow and is expected to break a few California February records with up to ten feet of snowfall by the time it ends. The snow is being triggered by an atmospheric river event which is also leading to flooding, mud and rock slides in the lower elevation areas.
At least a foot of snow within 24 hours has already hit many of the Sierra ski locations. Caltrans had 40 inches of snow at Donner Pass and it’s still falling. Most lifts are on hold due to the wind, so many skiers are not able to take advantage of the snowfall just yet. Lifts were on hold at Mammoth Mountain and at some lifts at Heavenly.
Tuesday, the winds were gusting between 50 and 60 miles per hour in Reno, Nevada. The atmospheric river event is bringing heavy rains to lower elevations in Northern California. The heaviest rainfall is happening north of Interstate 80 and is triggering flooding along with a few landslides.
Through Wednesday, the heaviest snow in the Sierra and lower-elevation rain should be finished with a few lingering showers Wednesday evening into Thursday. The total snowfalls, once the weather event has ended, will be impressive and is expected to be up to 10-feet of snow.
Anywhere from 36 to 80 inches of is expected for areas above 4,500 feet in elevation. Mammoth Mountain has already gotten over 198 inches of snow which will smear their previous February snow record. Squaw Valley is also likely to beat their record with an already-recorded 21 feet of snow recorded before this storm even begun.
Anytime there is this much snow in the Sierra, the possibility of mudslides, flooding, and power outages are cause for concern. As of Tuesday morning, a number of mudslides had already shut down parts of State Highway 49. Over 5 inches of rain was reported in Quincy, California which is about 35 miles east-northeast of the town of Paradise.
Flooding has already been reported in parts of Marin County and Napa Valley. Roads into Point Reyes National Seashore were flooded as of Tuesday morning. Point Reyes National Seashore is just north of San Francisco, California.
