Rough roads up in the Sierra Sunday as this storm packs a punch. It’s made for a rough drive home for people who spent the holiday weekend in the snow.
Rough roads up in the Sierra Sunday as this storm packs a punch.
Spinouts have led to on-and-off closures on 80 and 50 heading up to Tahoe.
It’s made for a rough drive home for people who spent the holiday weekend in the snow.
Kevin “Coop” Cooper described how the snow was looking on this Monday night.
He’s in Meyers off of Highway 50.
“It’s light and dry. We haven’t seen the big winds we were expecting at first. It is falling pretty much straight down,” said Cooper.
The Sierra will get hit with several feet of snow by the time this week is over.
“We could see upwards of 8 feet of snow. But right now, if we’re conservative, we’re going to say 3-6 feet around the region. It’s going to center down the south so Kirkwood, Bear, China, Dodge- that range right here seems like it’s going to get a bit more,” said Cooper.
Many Bay Area families have been eager to see the snow.
“We have ski week, you know. No school the next week, so just taking my daughter up to the snow to have some friends with her friends,” said Carlos Cunha of the Bay Area.
ABC7 Eyewitness News talked to San Jose resident Jose Guerrero.
He arrived in Truckee Sunday afternoon and said there wasn’t really any snow on the ground. But then things changed overnight.
He described what the snow conditions were like Monday.
“We have only received in Tahoe Donner- 14 inches so far,” said Guerrero. “Snow has been steady. Not heavy. Some visibility is still good. When wind picks up. White out conditions do come up.”
Guerrero says he’s ready for the storm.
“We are OK. We have water. We have a generator as a backup. We have plenty of food in the house,’ said Guerrero.
This severe storm created some serious slowdowns on the roads. The freeway was shutdown for a while Monday because of spinouts.
“It’s a little nerve-racking, especially if you’re not used to driving in the snow like this. And we got 4-5 hours up and they turned us around twice almost,” said Bay Area resident Gabe Ghanzafanri.
Guerrero, a former SJ Fire Department Battalion Chief, reminds people to slow down.
He said he saw one vehicle almost flipped on the side. He says that’s because the driver was going too fast.
“Today I saw two vehicle accidents from people speeding. You really need to slow down. All of us need to slow down to 15 miles per hour. Sometimes 20 maximum because it’s easy to lose control. There’s ice on the ground especially as the sun goes down,” said Guerrero.
Experts say all this snow is a good reset — especially for the snowpack and for ski resorts.