Year's first snow closes interstate, stalls traffic

RENO, Nev. -- After more than four weeks without a storm, the Sierra was raked on Monday by an occasionally heavy snowfall that shut down westbound Interstate-80 and soaked holiday skiers.

"We were going to do half day boarding lessons, but everybody turned out looking like a wet rat, making it not a fun day to run," said Scott Willers at Dave's Ski Shops in Tahoe City, Calif.

A morning of steady drizzle turned to snow shortly before noon, dumping as much as a foot of snow in the mountains and snarling traffic on the mountain passes.

Westbound traffic on Interstate-80 was halted at the Nevada-California state line for about two hours because of a rash of accidents on Donner Summit. Chains were mandatory on the open sections over the summit and on U.S. 50 over Echo Summit in California.

Earlier Monday, high winds knocked down a power line on U.S. Highway 395, blocking traffic and leaving 7,000 homes temporarily without power in Sun Valley north of Reno.

The snowy weekend was a mixed blessing for skiers and ski resorts. The poor driving conditions spoiled a traditionally busy three-day weekend, but it dropped the first fresh powder the runs have seen since the weekend before Christmas.

Boreal Ski & Snowboard area picked up six inches of snow on top of eight inches over the weekend, although powerful winds made skiing a sport for the hearty.

"We have about two lifts on wind hold right now; everything else is up and running and we're going to be in full operation until nine o'clock tonight," spokeswoman Carrie Roberts said at midmorning.

The Desert Research Institute took advantage of the storm to fire up its cloud seeding generators throughout the Tahoe-Truckee and Walker watersheds, as well as in the Ruby Mountains near Tuscarora, according to spokesman John Doherty.

The Tahoe snowpack fell from about 130 percent of average just before Christmas to 73 percent of average by late last week.

The forecast called for snow to continue through the middle of the week, although amounts were not expected to be as heavy.

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