Wintry Storm Falling On Snow-Starved Sierras, More On Way
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (CBS13/AP) - The biggest storm to hit the slopes of the Sierra Nevada this season - which before it's finished could become the biggest of the year - brought celebration from the snow-starved ski resorts of Northern California and the businesses that surround them.
"It's full-on winter out here," said Jerry Bindel, general manager of Aston Lakeland Village vacation condominiums in South Lake Tahoe. "This is great news all the way around."
Friday should be a quieter weather day, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Smith in Sacramento. He expects rain showers in the Sacramento area but it should stay dry for the most part before another storm moves in Saturday and Sunday.
California needs all the snow and rain it can get, given four years of drought that have dried up reservoirs and left trees parched. Even a wet winter is not expected to end the drought, but the snow is good for business, say Tahoe-area ski resorts, property managers and mom-and-pop retailers.
The National Weather Service has said that it expects 1 to 2 feet of in the High Sierra and as much as 3 feet on the highest crests after the second wave of the storm arrived Thursday night.
As of Friday morning, Tahoe Unified and Pollock Pines Unified have declared a Snow Day and have canceled classes.
"It has been the biggest storm so far this season," said Idamis Del Valle, a meteorologist with the weather service in Sacramento.
The weekend system is expected to bring another 2 feet of snow.
In past years, guests at the lakeside condominiums have had to drive higher up in the mountains to take their children sledding. Not this year. "It'll be more like a walk than a drive," Bindel said.
Trees lining the slopes at Northstar California Resort in Truckee are covered with snow. "Everybody is extremely happy about that," spokeswoman Marcie Bradley said.
She said the ski season is kicking off with conditions normally seen mid-season. "It's wall-to-wall," she said. "It's not just a little strip you can ski down."
The storms led Yosemite National Park to close Tioga Road for the season.
Areas closer to the coast saw heavy rains, with some 2 inches falling on parts of Sonoma and Napa counties. Rain and high winds also pounded parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. There were high surf warnings, and lightning strikes in parts of the East Bay along with thunder rumbling in parts of San Francisco.
