Winter storms hammer U.S.
West gets heavy snow; up to a foot possible in Northeast
BOSTON — Winter weather battered both U.S. coasts Saturday as New Englanders braced for an even more potent mix of snow and freezing rain through the weekend and a Sierra Nevada storm packing heavy snow shut down a stretch of interstate and briefly knocked out power to tens of thousands in Reno, Nev.
Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the Northeast and icy roads made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina.
The National Weather Service said the storm would continue into tonight, with up to a foot of snow possible in parts of New England and pockets of rain/freezing rain in the central Appalachians.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she expected two-thirds of her state to get 8 inches of snow or more, “fortunately missing some of our more populated areas downstate, Long Island and New York City.”
“If they get anything beyond rain, it’ll be just a wintry mix of 1 to 2 inches, but really for our Southern Tier … it’s going to be the first major snowstorm of the year and we’re ready for it,” she told Spectrum News.
In the West, a winter storm warning was in effect through Saturday night in the Sierra Nevada from south of Yosemite National Park to north of Reno, where the weather service said as much as 20 inches of snow could fall in the mountains around Lake Tahoe with winds gusting up to 100 mph over ridgetops.
The California Highway Patrol said numerous spinouts and collisions forced the temporary closure of Interstate 80 for several hours from west of Truckee, Calif., to the state line west of Reno, where more than 27,000 homes briefly lost power in high winds at midday.
Fewer than 1,000 customers were without power by nightfall, and westbound lanes of the interstate had reopened but snow was steadily falling in Reno. CHP warned of potential closures throughout the night.
The weather service said the system would continue to bring heavy mountain snow and coastal rain overnight before moving into central and Southern California, then off to the Southwest and the southern Rockies.
The East Coast system was expected to track along the northeastern coastline throughout the weekend, with the heaviest snowfall expected in Pennsylvania, parts of the Hudson Valley and portions of New England.
In Massachusetts and portions of Rhode Island, the National Weather Service declared a winter storm warning from 4 p.m. Saturday through 1 a.m. Monday, with snow accumulations of 6 inches up to a foot and winds gusting as high as 35 mph.
The weather service predicted similar levels of snow in portions of Maine and New Hampshire, with slightly less — 3 to 6 inches — in areas of Vermont.
Ice arrived early Saturday in some western North Carolina and southern Virginia areas, ranging from a fine coating to around a quarter-inch.
The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J., said 6 to 12 inches of snow could fall in the southern Pocono Mountains and northern New Jersey, with smaller snow and sleet totals changing to rain in other areas that could cause some flooding. Forecasters also warned of hazardous marine conditions Saturday night, with gale-force winds and 6-foot to 10-foot seas.