Storm creates havoc for Sierra travelers

Monday, Jan. 5, 1998 | 7:58 a.m.

Interstate 80 over Donner Summit was open with no controls early today, but chains or snow tires were still required over most other trans-Sierra roadways.

It was a different story on Sunday, when I-80, U.S. 50 over Echo Summit and Highway 88 over Carson Pass were shut down for several hours because of heavy snow and poor visibility.

The closures created long lines of motorists who waited for a chance to get over the mountains.

By Sunday afternoon, westbound traffic on I-80 was backed up for miles, said Tammy Benish, a clerk at the J&L Food Mart in Truckee, Calif.

"Traffic is really lined up. I guess everybody decided to leave at once after the highway reopened."

"It's terrible, absolutely terrible," said Ken Barker of Sunnyvale, Calif., who was stuck in traffic in Truckee after a Lake Tahoe skiing vacation. "Normally, it would be a four-hour drive home and I figure it'll be six or seven hours today. It's insane. You just want to get home."

No major accidents were reported, mainly because traffic was moving so slow.

I-80 was closed for about four hours due to white-out conditions. Highway 50 was shut down for about three hours due to avalanche control activities, said California Highway Patrol dispatcher Marsha Iverson in Truckee.

"Motorists just couldn't see going over Donner Summit," she said. "The problem is the snow was dry and powdery, and the wind blew it around to create white-out conditions."

Traffic congestion on Highway 50 wasn't as bad after its reopening, said Wendy Ellsworth, a clerk at Meyers Shell & Food Mart.

"I think the reason is that a lot of visitors went home (Saturday) to avoid having to deal with the storm," she said.

Kingvale, Calif., reported 26 inches of new snow - 14 inches alone over a three-hour period ending at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Elsewhere in California, Donner Summit and Kirkwood each reported 2 feet of new snow, Tahoe City 10 inches, Truckee 7 inches and Mammoth Lakes 7 inches. The Reno-Carson City area had 1-2 inches.

"I believe it was the strongest system of the season so far" in the Donner Summit area, said Dan Samelson of the National Weather Service in Reno. "It was a good storm and it can't help but improve the Sierra snowpack."

Dry, sunny weather was to return to the region today, but another storm system was expected to arrive late Tuesday or Wednesday, forecasters said.