Heavy Snow — West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

2025-04-01 · West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, California

Event narrative

Caltrans District 3 measured 8 to 14 inches of snow above 5000 feet in 24 hours. UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab measured 13.2 inches over the same timeframe. Ski resorts in the Sierra measured 7 to 18 inches of snow above 6500 feet. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center estimated 24 hour snow totals to be around 2 to 6 inches above 3500 feet with 6 to 12 inches above 5000 feet and up to 12 to 18 inches at the highest peaks. Traffic was held on Interstate 80 between Alta and NV stateline due to heavy snow from approximately 10 AM to 2 PM on April 1st, with US Highway 50 held from Meyers to Echo Summit from 12 PM through 3 PM on April 1st.

Wider weather episode

An early spring storm brought heavy mountain snow, rain, gusty winds and thunderstorms to interior northern California at the end of March and carried into the evening of April 1st. Storm total snow of 24 to 44 inches was reported above 5000 feet, from March 31 to April 2. Traffic was held on Interstate 80 between Alta and NV stateline due to heavy snow from approximately 10 AM to 2 PM on April 1st, with US Highway 50 held from Meyers to Echo Summit from 12 PM through 3 PM on April 1st. An EF-0 tornado was confirmed in Stanislaus County as well.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1249003. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.