Mountain travelers trapped by snow

Series of storms pounds Sierra, closing highways and resorts; cold, rain forecast for Bay Area

Ben Rothstein’s Christmas Day plan seemed perfect — sneak in a few last ski runs at Palisades Tahoe before braving the drive back home to the Bay Area.

Then came the whiteout conditions, a freeway closure and a storm so bad that the resort’s ski runs couldn’t even open up a day later.

“I’m stuck up here now,” Rothstein said on Sunday. “I miss my kids — I didn’t want to be up here this long.”

A series of storms continued to pound the Sierra Nevada on Sunday, leaving highways and ski resorts shut down and snarling holiday travel. It came as more blasts of cold, Canadian air appeared set to move into Northern California over the next couple days — bringing with them additional chances for powder in the mountains, for freezing temperatures across parts of the Bay Area and for a fresh coating of snow atop several coastal peaks.

For Bay Area travelers, that meant a complicated and lackluster end to the holiday weekend.

“If I had it to do again, I would have scooted out of here on Saturday morning, before they closed the pass,” Rothstein added. “But hindsight’s always 20/20.”

A roughly 75-mile stretch of Interstate 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line remained indefinitely closed Sunday amid whiteout conditions, while spinouts kept U.S. 50 closed from Placerville to Pollock Pines and from Echo Summit to Meyers, according to Caltrans.

A mudslide also closed Highway 70 from Jarbo Gap to the Greenville Wye, cutting off another roundabout access point to the high country.

The storm prompted ski resorts to close Sunday, including Boreal, Northstar and Sugar Bowl.

At Palisades Tahoe, which also closed Sunday, the wind and snow were so bad that Rothstein said he couldn’t see his own feet at times while venturing out for a cup of coffee. He lamented not knowing when he could return home to San Francisco.

“The snow drifts are huge, the wind is whipping, the visibility is low, not that many places are open,” Rothstein said. “Seems like most people who are up here kind of just hunkered down.”

Two and a half feet of snow fell near Donner Summit from about 8 a.m. Saturday through 8 a.m. Sunday morning, according to UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory. The dumping left the area with nearly 6 feet of snow since Tuesday morning — putting it within striking distance of a record for snowfall during the month of December.

So far this month, 155 inches of snow have fallen near Donner Summit — just 24 inches short of the record set in 1970, when crews first started maintaining records in the area, the lab reported.

“These storms themselves aren’t necessarily impressive; they’re fairly standard winter storms,” said Anna Wanless, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “But the fact that they’re coming one after another, and over the holiday weekend, is why they’re so impactful.”

I-80 was not expected to reopen Sunday, and crews today will re-evaluate whether to allow motorists back on that frosty freeway, said Angela DaPrato, a Caltrans spokeswoman. She pleaded for patience from motorists and vowed that “we’re going to be opening the roadways as soon as it’s safe.”

The closures left several hotels and lodges in Truckee booked full as stranded travelers rushed for rooms made available by Bay Area travelers who couldn’t make the drive up and had to cancel.

“When it’s a holiday, there’s just so many people up here,” said Stefanie Meyers, general manager of the Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee. “It’s really stressful for us because the phones just won’t stop ringing. Because everyone tries to cancel or everyone tries to extend their stay.”

More powder is on the way.

Another 3 to 4 feet of snow could fall on Donner, Carson and Ebbetts passes through Wednesday, while 2 to 3 feet is forecast to fall on Echo and Sonora passes, according to the National Weather Service. The most snow is expected to fall on Lassen Park, which could see another 4 to 5 feet in that time.

“We’re really telling people: Do not travel through the mountains until Monday, at least,” said Anna Wanless, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “If you can wait until Tuesday, that’s probably the best choice.”

On Sunday, not everyone appeared willing to wait it out.

Driving a Jeep Wrangler with snow tires, Steve Eriksen, 63, tried avoiding the closed interstate by taking U.S. 89 north out of Truckee. With this daughter, 28, in a Toyota 4Runner behind him, Ericksen voiced optimism about making it home to Walnut Creek, despite the highway being lined with 5-foot snow berms.

“Just putt-putt along — don’t be in a hurry,” Eriksen said. “You keep an egg between your foot and the gas pedal.”

But after several hours on the road, they too had to turn back due to several other vehicles spinning out on Highway 49. They backtracked and stayed at a friend’s house in Truckee.

Closer to the coast, onand-off rain showers are forecast to continue sweeping across the Bay Area for at least the next couple of days, and many peaks across the region could see several inches of snow early this week, Roger Gaas, another National Weather Service meteorologist, said. For example, up to 6 inches of snow could fall on Mt. Diablo.

Already, a series of rainstorms that dropped several inches of much-needed rain across the Bay Area last week left some soils saturated and ready to slide.

The Niles Canyon Road in Fremont, for example, was closed for approximately two hours early Sunday because of a mudslide that pushed debris onto the roadway. It has since reopened.

Farther to the south, a rockslide temporarily closed Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast between Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County and Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Monterey County, according to Caltrans. It reopened around 11 a.m.

In all, most Bay Area cities received 2 to 4 inches of precipitation over the past week, while 4 to 7 inches of rain fell across the Santa Cruz mountains.

By this evening or Tuesday morning, a mass of colder, drier air from western Canada is expected to move into the region, dropping temperatures even further.

Daytime temperatures are expected to be 10 to 15 degrees below average, while overnight lows could dip to near or below freezing in some parts of the region.

The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for tonight for the southern Sacramento valley, the Carquinez Strait and Delta and the northern San Joaquin Valley counties. The northern and central Sacramento valley areas below 2,000 feet also were included in the watch.

In San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco, high temperatures are expected to be in the low 50s and high 40s through at least Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Low temperatures should be in the low 40s or high 30s for the next few days for those cities, though it could reach 32 tonight in San Jose.

Some flurries also could even fly in some Bay Area communities, though forecasters are still unsure whether the storm will have enough moisture for that to happen.

“It’s going to be chilly for the rest of the week and into the New Year,” Gaas said.