Heavy Snow — West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

2024-12-13 to 2024-12-14 · West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

Event narrative

Caltrans measured snow amounts of 12 to 30 inches from December 13th through December 14th. Ski resorts measured 1 to 3 feet of snow over the same timeframe. UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab measured 28.7 inches. Chain restrictions were in place at times over the mountain passes, and Interstate 80 eastbound was closed at Baxter for about 3 hours due to multiple spinouts.

Wider weather episode

Active weather brought periods of heavy mountain snow, rain and gusty winds from December 12th through December 17th as multiple storms moved through the area. The strongest storm moved through over the December 13th through 14th timeframe and brought over 2 to 3 inches of rain, over 2 feet of heavy snow above 5000 feet, and gusty southerly wind gusts of 35 to 65 mph. Numerous downed trees and thousands of power outages were reported during this time, along with mountain highway closures and chain restrictions, with roadway flooding in the Central Valley.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1222948. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.