Sierra gets first snow

A strong Sierra cold front packing winds gusting up to 50 mph dropped morning showers across Northern California and the first snow of the season Monday in the mountains along the California-Nevada line, damaging a small airplane that was blown off the runway at an airport north of Reno.

Today is expected to be sunny before a slight chance of showers returns to the region Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, with a cooling trend continuing for most of this week.

California transportation officials posted a photo on the Caltrans District 3 Twitter account shortly after noon Monday showing snow accumulating on U.S. Interstate 80 at the top of Donner Summit about 10 miles west of Truckee, California.

At least two Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts also posted photos on social media showing “late summer snow” falling at the upper elevations of their resorts. Autumn doesn’t officially begin until the fall equinox next Monday.

The Nevada Department of Transportation ordered chains or snow tires to be on place for vehicles traveling on the upper section of the Mount Rose Highway connecting Reno to Incline Village at Lake Tahoe.

Rain was falling in the valleys around Reno and Sparks Monday afternoon as the cold front sent temperatures plummeting across western Nevada. Temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees cooler than Sunday’s highs in the upper 80s and low 90s.