Snow buried California and Nevada. Snowfall today, zero visibility, roads closed

Snow buried California and Nevada. Snowfall today, zero visibility, roads closed

Snow was falling heavily in the Sierra Nevada as a winter storm bringing high winds sent ski lift chairs swinging and closing mountain highways.

Meanwhile rain at lower elevations triggered flooding Sunday across large swaths of California to Nevada.

More than 250 miles or 400 km of the Sierra north of Reno south to Yosemite National Park remain under a winter storm warning until late Sunday or early Monday.

Heavenly ski resort on Lake Tahoe closed some operations Saturday as the weight of the storm hit.

To the south, Mammoth Mountain reported that more than 20 inches or 51 cm of snow fell on Saturday, with another possible 2 feet or 0.6 meters on Sunday as the tail end of the system moves through the eastern Sierra.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported Sunday morning that more than 43 inches or 110 cm had fallen in the span of 48 hours.

The 70-mile or 112-km stretch east of US Interstate 80 was closed Saturday due to zero visibility from the northern California city of Colfax to the Nevada state line.

Chains are required on most of the rest of I-80 in the mountains from Reno to Sacramento.

Sections of California Highway 89 were also closed due to heavy snow between Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe, the highway patrol said.

The US Forest Service issued an avalanche warning for inland in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe where it said several feet of fresh snow and strong winds would result in dangerous avalanche conditions.

Gusts of up to 50 miles/hour or 80 km/hour sent trees into homes in Sonoma.

Heavy rain is forecast over the weekend from San Francisco to the Sierra peaks of up to 2 inches or 5 cm in the Bay Area and up to 5 inches or 13 cm in Grass Valley northeast of Sacramento.