A blackout in California occurred after a powerful snowstorm raged overnight into Saturday in the Sierra Nevada as the biggest storm of the season shut down a long stretch of Interstate-80 in California and gusty winds and heavy rain hit lower elevations.
The National Weather Service in Reno said late Friday it expects the heaviest snow to arrive after midnight, and there is a high chance of substantial, long-lasting disruptions to daily life in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Friday through Saturday.
The weather service added that travel conditions would range from “extremely dangerous to impossible” in the Sierra Nevada region. Avalanches are possible too, it said.
California authorities shut down 100 miles of I-80 on Friday due to “spinouts, high winds, and low visibility.”
They had no estimate of when the freeway would reopen from the California-Nevada border just west of Reno to near Emigrant Gap, California.
Pacific Gas & Electric reported around 10 p.m. Friday that 24,000 households and businesses were without power. More than 25 million people are under winter weather alerts as the storm wallops the area.
A tornado touched down Friday afternoon in Madera County and caused some damage to an elementary school, said Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.
Some of the ski resorts that shut down Friday said they planned to remain closed on Saturday to dig out with an eye on reopening Sunday, but most said they would wait to provide updates Saturday morning.
Conditions are expected to improve on Monday, though the area could see even more snow in the middle of next week.
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