100 mph winds blow in Sierra, snow from Oregon to Montana
An unidentified man uses a rolled-over high-profile vehicle to shield himself from the wind on the Interstate 580 south of Reno, Nevada, on Monday. Winds gusting up to 80 mph toppled trucks, downed power lines and temporarily closed part of a highway south of Reno. ANDY BARRON/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL VIA AP
Bobby Roberts walks under tree that fell on a house on North 6th Street in Creswell, Ore., Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, after a heavy snow blanketed the Willamette Valley. He and a group of other volunteers were helping to remove the tree for the owner who was out of town when the storm hit. (Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP)
Colin Kearney sits on the tree that fell across his car that he had parked on 12th Street in Eugene, Ore., early Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, after several inches of snow fell in the area. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP)
The Nevada Highway Patrol parks next to a rolled over high profile vehicle on the Interstate 580 south of Reno, Nev., on Monday, Feb 25, 2019. Winds gusting up to 80 mph toppled trucks, downed power lines and temporarily closed part of a highway south of Reno on Monday as another big winter storm started blowing into the Sierra Nevada where as much as 8 feet of snow is possible in the upper elevations above Lake Tahoe. (Andy Barron/Reno Gazette-Journal via AP)
Motorists put chains on their vehicle after it became stuck on East Amazon Drive in Eugene, Ore., early Monday, February 25, 2019 after several inches of snow fell in area. Schools, including the University of Oregon were closed. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP)
Cole Porter flies through the air after hitting a jump while sledding down 28th Street in Eugene, Ore., early Monday, Feb. 25, 2019 after several inches of snow fell in area. Schools throughout the region were canceled give thousands kids the day to play. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP)
August McClain is separated from his sled as he flies through the air after hitting a jump while sledding down 28th Street in Eugene, Ore., early Monday, Feb. 25, 2019 after several inches of snow fell in area. Schools throughout the region were canceled give thousands kids the day to play. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP)
A man pushes his bicycle and cart along 13th Street in Eugene, Ore., early Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, after several inches of snow fell in the area. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP)
Women walk in the rain toward a federal court building in San Francisco, Monday, Feb. 25, 2019. A fierce winter storm packing winds in excess of 100 mph (160 kph) and predicted to bring as much as 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow to the Sierra Nevada barreled into the West Coast on Monday, toppling trucks, triggering power outages and temporarily closing the major highway near Reno. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Lane Transit District workers try to free a bus stuck on 11th Street in Eugene, Ore., early Monday, February 25, 2019 after several inches of snow fell in area. Schools, including the University of Oregon were closed. (Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP)
Ivan Mancinelli of Vancouver walks his Boxer, Nandy, in Felida, Wash., on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019. “I love it,” he said. “I’m hoping that it’ll keep snowing.” Mancinelli is a psychology professor at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore., and was still waiting to hear if the snow caused cancelations for his evening classes. (Alisha Jucevic/The Columbian via AP)
Nevada Department of Transportation officials tend to a rolled over high profile vehicle on the Interstate 580 south of Reno, Nev., on Monday, Feb 25, 2019. Winds gusting up to 80 mph toppled trucks, downed power lines and temporarily closed part of a highway south of Reno on Monday as another big winter storm started blowing into the Sierra Nevada where as much as 8 feet of snow is possible in the upper elevations above Lake Tahoe. (Andy Barron/Reno Gazette-Journal via AP)
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A fierce winter storm packing winds in excess of 100 mph and predicted to bring as much as 8 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada barreled into the West on Monday, toppling trucks and trees, triggering power outages and closing roads and schools from Oregon to Montana.
Up to a foot of snow already had fallen in parts of Oregon.
A blizzard warning was in effect in parts of Montana, where one school district canceled classes for the first time in two decades and whiteout conditions were reported in the Bitterroot Valley near Missoula.
Winds gusting to 110 mph were recorded at the summit of the Squaw Valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe, and up to 84 mph in the valleys along the Sierra’s eastern front where Interstate 580 was closed off-and-on between Reno and Carson City.
Two trucks overturned on I-580 and another on nearby U.S. 395 in the Washoe Valley, where one non-life threatening injury was reported. At one point as many as 6,000 NV Energy customers were without power in the Reno-Sparks area.
A swath of western Montana from Missoula through the Bitterroot Valley was under a blizzard warning through Monday evening, with an inch or two of snow expected to fall each hour.
The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and advisories for most of the rest of Montana through Tuesday morning. Butte public schools canceled classes Tuesday for the first time in at least 20 years. Buses were getting stuck, and a superintendent said the district’s snowplows haven’t been able to keep up.
Hamilton declared a snow emergency, with up to 18 inches expected to fall there and in Anaconda by Tuesday.
Schools throughout Oregon delayed start times or closed altogether on Monday. About a foot of snow was reported in areas including Eugene and Bend. The city of Eugene declared an ice/snow emergency requiring drivers to remove vehicles from snow emergency routes.
Devon Ashbridge, a representative for Lane County, said that although snow plow crews had been working since Sunday, roadways were still relatively treacherous with hundreds of downed trees and power lines across county roads.
In the Sierra along the California-Nevada line, a winter storm warning remained in effect for the Lake Tahoe area until 4 a.m. Thursday. The forecast calls for winds gusting in excess of 140 mph over ridgetops.
No new snow had fallen in the Sierra by Monday afternoon, but 2 to 4 feet is expected over three days, with 4 to 8 feet possible above elevations of 7,000 feet, including where U.S. Interstate 80 crosses the top of the Sierra at Donner Pass southwest of Truckee, California.
The latest storm will be a “marathon rather than a sprint,” the service said, in terms of accumulation with several wet feet of new snow expected over top of a drier layer of powdery snow through early Thursday.
The service said the new snow load coupled with expected winds may result in unstable slope conditions in the Sierra with the potential for avalanches and “rooflanches.”
