Snowstorm leaving icy commute in wake expected to move on today

Slick roads bedeviled commuters Friday evening after an inch of snow fell in Western Nevada during three hours starting about 2 p.m.

Both black ice and the white kind left a slick sheet on valley and mountain roadways contributing to auto accidents.

However, the long storm system appears to be wrapping up today with a few snow showers, according to the National Weather Service.

"This storm is trying to move on," said meteorologist Mark Brown. "There will be a chance of snow showers through the night, but it should be pretty well tapered off by this afternoon."

Carson City received an inch of snow on Friday, with a few places in the foothills reporting up to two inches.

"Up around Lake Tahoe there were 4-6 inches," Brown said.

Temperatures are expected to warm up slightly by the middle of the week with a chance of rain on Wednesday, Brown said.

Chains and snow tires were the rule on highways leading out of western Nevada, with chains mandatory on both Interstate 80 and Highway 50 through the Sierra.

Highway 88 was closed for avalanche control at Kirkwood.

Chains or snow tires were required from the junction of Highway 50 and Carson Street into the Tahoe basin, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.

Heavenly Ski Resort reported receiving 4-6 inches of snow over two hours Friday afternoon bringing the new snow total to 2 feet over 24 hours.

December added only its typical moisture levels to a year that was substantially short of average.

There was only 5.78 inches of precipitation during 2003, well short of the annual average of 10.36 inches.

The Carson River Basin was at 115 percent of average snowpack as of Friday, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service sensor data.