Storm brings more heavy snow, traffic delays to Tahoe

Sunday, Jan. 30, 2000 | 7:27 a.m.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic was reported on Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, where chains were mandatory.

Chains also were mandatory on two other nearby trans-Sierra highways: U.S. Highway 50 over Echo Summit and Highway 88 over Carson Pass.

Westbound truck rigs on I-80 were being held 10 miles west of Reno to avoid adding to congestion in the Sierra.

The California Highway Patrol said motorists faced delays of up to three hours because of a lack of tow trucks to remove vehicles involved in accidents.

No major injuries were reported.

Boreal ski resort spokesman Chris McAuliffe said heavy snow fell most of the day. His resort atop Donner Summit reported 12-14 inches of new snow by late Sunday afternoon.

"I usually can see Interstate 80 out my window but I can't today because of all the snow," he said. "This storm is doing everything they said it would do."

Tahoe ski resorts enjoyed big Super Bowl weekend crowds until the snow began falling Sunday, McAuliffe added.

The Sierra snowpack was expected to get a further boost as the National Weather Service was calling for a chance of snow each day through Thursday.

The Sierra snowpack was only 25 percent of normal earlier this month, but had jumped to 75 percent of normal by late last week after a series of powerful storms.