Potent Sierra storm loses punch, slows I-80, stalls U.S. 50

RENO -- The second Pacific storm of the year pushed toward the Sierra and northern Nevada on Friday, following a system that snarled mountain traffic but failed to live up to its billing.

The first system had been expected to bring potentially damaging winds and a foot or so of precipitation in the mountains.

Alpine Meadows received only 2 inches of snow at its higher elevations, and winds packed little of their advertised punch.

However, enough snow glazed Interstate 80 and U.S. 50 to make chains mandatory over Donner Summit on I-80 and to force traffic to be held on Highway 50 between Meyers and Twin Bridges in California.

The restrictions were dropped by midmorning.

Forecasters said a much stronger storm was expected late Friday night into Saturday with the potential of leaving up to 3 feet of snow behind. A winter storm warning was in effect through Saturday for occasionally heavy snow and gusty winds.

"The higher snowfall totals will likely occur across the higher elevations of Mono County," the National Weather Service said, although the Lake Tahoe Basin was expected to see several inches, as well.

The valleys of western Nevada were likely to see a combination of rain and snow on Saturday with accumulations of 1-4 inches above 6,000 feet.

Southern Nevada also faced the possibility of showers with the greatest likelihood of rain coming Saturday night.

Sierra ski areas welcomed the change.

"It will be a nice boost for the balance of the season," said Todd Majoris, director of sales and marketing for Sierra-at-Tahoe.

Our challenge has been perception and how we are going to change the perception. We are now competing with golf courses and biking. We are expecting a nice little resurgence when this is done."

Winds from Thursday's storm peaked over night at 75 mph south of Gardnerville and hit 70 mph southwest of Reno and at Stateline. In California, Squaw Valley had an 85 mph gust at its 8,200-foot High Camp.

Ahead of the second storm, Desert Research Institute cranked up its cloud seeding generators to try to squeeze every possible drop out of the clouds.

Five generators were turned on around Lake Tahoe and three in the Walker River Basin, where dwindling snowpacks are at least 10 percent below average.

A trio of temperature records fell on Thursday before the storm moved in. Battle Mountain's 79 was 8 degrees above its previous March 13 record, set in 1992. Wells climbed to 70 compared with 62 in 1994. Winnemucca's 76 was 1 degree above its 1934 mark.