Latest Sierra storm more wet than white

Friday, Dec. 2, 2005 | 5:44 a.m.

The latest Pacific storm to push across the Sierra and into Nevada was more wind and wet than white.

While some road conditions were in place in the mountains, valley commuters were just dodging puddles on Friday.

Chains were mandatory on U.S. 50 from Meyers to Twin Bridges and chains or snow tires were required on the highway from three miles west of Carson City to the state line. They also were required on Kingsbury Grade between the Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe and over the Mount Rose summit along with other less-traveled Sierra highways.

The storm dumped huge amounts of precipitation on the western side of the Sierra.

Mammoth Lakes got 12.5 inches of snow and Janesville in Lassen County picked up 3.5 inches of rain.

Mammoth Mountain opened Nov. 10 and plans to expand from 7 to 10 chairs this weekend and be fully operational by the end of the week.

Heavenly Mountain Resort opened on Wednesday, only to be shut down on Thursday by heavy wind and snow.

"We had a great turnout. We had 200 to 300 people waiting in line" on opening day, according to spokesman Russ Pecoraro. "We have mid-winter conditions right now and we're looking forward to a great season."

Kirkwood Mountain Resort opened on Thursday

In western Nevada, 1.5 inches of rain have fallen near Carson City since the storms began Nov. 30 and 1.33 inches of rain fell on Thursday near Stead, north of Reno.

Skies cleared on Friday and were expected to remain clear to partly cloudy into the beginning of next week, with daytime temperatures dipping into the 30s and lows falling into the teens.