Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Sunday's storm delivered less snow than expected to the Sierra. Forecasters had called for up to 2 feet of snow at Lake Tahoe and a couple of inches in Reno, which got none.
"It moved through the area a lot quicker than expected because the winds picked up," said National Weather Service forecaster Rudy Cruz.
The system dropped from 4-9 inches of snow at elevations above 7,000 feet and 1-3 inches below that, he said.
Tahoe ski resort operators reported good crowds Sunday. Alpine Meadows got 6 inches of new snow, Boreal Ridge 5 inches and Northstar 3 inches.
No major weather-related traffic accidents were reported by California and Nevada authorities.
Chains or snow tires were required on Interstate 80 over Donner Summit for a three-hour period early Sunday.
Controls were in effect on Nevada Route 431 over the Mount Rose Summit and California Route 88 over Carson Pass most of Sunday.
Campers and trailers were prohibited Sunday in Washoe Valley south of Reno because of high winds.
A high-wind warning was issued for Sunday afternoon in the Reno-Carson City area, where gusts of more than 50 mph were reported.
A return to dry weather was expected early this week in the Reno-Tahoe area before the arrival of another system Thursday, Cruz said.
"It's hard to predict what the system will do," he said. "During the transition stage from winter to spring, the weather gets erratic and harder to predict."
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