Heavy Snow — West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

2025-03-16 to 2025-03-17 · West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

Event narrative

CalTrans reported 11-22 inches from March 16th to March 18th from 5000 to 7200 feet with ski resorts reporting 10-23 inches for the same time frame. The California Highway Patrol closed I-80 Westbound from Blue Canyon to Truckee due to low visibility and multiple spinouts and crashes.

Wider weather episode

The third in a series of significant winter storms brought heavy mountain snow, moderate to heavy rain and strong southerly winds to interior northern California from March 15th through March 17th. Numerous down trees and powerlines were reported, especially up in Shasta and Tehama counties. Thunderstorms brought hail up to 1 inch in size in the mountains. A funnel cloud was reported in Stanislaus County as well. Interstate 80 Westbound was closed from Blue Canyon to Truckee due to low visibility and multiple spinouts and crashes during the heavy snowfall.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1246951. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.