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The mountain range straddling California and Nevada has had mostly warm storms this winter. Finally, a cold one has piled up multiple feet of snow.
By Amy Graff
Amy Graff is a San Francisco-based reporter on The Times’s weather team.
Feb. 14, 2025Updated 6:06 p.m. ET
The Sierra Nevada finally got a big snowfall this week in a winter that has so far been marked by warm storms that have brought more rain and slush than snow to the mountain range. Snowfall totals for Wednesday night to Friday morning ranged from four and a half feet on Mount Rose in Nevada to three feet at Donner Pass in California.
“So far this has been the largest snow maker that we’ve seen in the Sierra this season,” Colin McKellar, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nev., said on Friday.
Snow and wind hammered the mountains on Thursday, creating huge delays on highways with cars spinning out.
“It was an epic snow day in the Sierra for sure,” said John O’Connell, a spokesman for Caltrans, the agency that helped manage the traffic mess.
Snow was still falling on Friday afternoon, and drivers were required to use tire chains to travel on many of the major highways, including on Interstates 80 and 50, which provide access in and out of the Tahoe Basin.
Conditions were expected to gradually improve through Friday, with Saturday forecast to be clear and dry, which is good news for people with plans to travel to the mountains over the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend. Light snow showers are likely to fall on Sunday.
