Storm brings much-needed snow to Sierra

Martin Griffith

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - A weekend storm brought much-needed snow to the Lake Tahoe area and caused driving headaches for motorists.

Area ski resorts reported varying accumulations of new snow, ranging from 8 inches at Alpine Meadows to more than 2 feet at Kirkwood south of Lake Tahoe.

A snow advisory remained in effect Monday for the region, where another 4 to 8 inches was expected above 6,000 feet before the snow tapered off later in the day, the National Weather Service said.

Water officials welcomed the storm, saying the snow is needed to help a below-average Sierra snowpack.

On Friday, the water content of the Tahoe Basin snowpack stood at 55 percent of average. To the south, the figure was 57 percent in the Carson River watershed and 55 percent in the Walker River basin.

"This is one of the better storms we've had recently and it still seems reasonable that we could get some good snow out of it," Dave Pike of the weather service in Reno, said Sunday. "It's encouraging as far as the snowpack."

Interstate 80 over Donner Summit and U.S. Highway 50 over Echo Summit were open without controls for most of Sunday. But mandatory chain controls were imposed by Sunday night and were still in effect at midmorning on Monday.

Chains also were mandatory on Highway 88 over Carson Pass. Chains or snow tires were required on other area highways, including Highway 89 in the Truckee, Calif., area and Nevada Route 431 over the Mount Rose Summit.

"The storm is actually hitting more to the south so far," Pike said, adding that Mammoth Lakes reported getting roughly an inch of snow an hour.

A chance of snow was to remain in the forecast through Tuesday, the weather service said.