FILE: Caltrans clearing snow off Highway 89 around Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, Calif., March 20, 2023.'s Sierra Nevada for spring break, the National Weather Service is sounding the alarm bells and warning of dangerous travel conditions: A storm is expected to unleash a torrent of snow Monday night into Wednesday. If you want to drive to theBasin, Monday morning and afternoon offer the best opportunity before the snow starts falling.
"If you do go up today, plan to stay up there for a few days," Scott Rowe, a forecaster with the weather service, said."Travel will become very difficult after tonight. It's very possible there could be travel delays and road closures. The potential for heavy snow rates is a real possibility."for the greater Lake Tahoe area, warning that"Travel will be very difficult to impossible" from 5 a.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Tuesday morning, snow levels in the Sierra foothills and Tahoe area could drop as low as 2,500 to 4,000 feet. The weather service predicts this storm will generally bring 8 to 16 inches to the Tahoe Basin below 7,000 feet and 16 to 26 inches to locations above 7,000 feet west of Highway 89. Wind gusts could reach speeds of 45 mph, with winds over the Sierra ridge blowing in excess of 80 mph.
Similar warnings were issued for other areas of the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite National Park, where elevations above 6,000 feet could pick up 2 to 3 feet of snow. The Yosemite area is under aThe storm is expected to hit the northern part of the state first, and Shasta County is under a from 5 p.m. Monday through 11 a.m. Wednesday. To the north in Shasta County, snow levels could drop as low as 500 feet Tuesday morning. The Redding area could receive a light dusting of snow on Tuesday morning.