Northern California Gets More Rain, Mountain Snow

LOS ANGELES (AP/CBS13) — Rain moved across Northern California and snow began falling in the northern Sierra Nevada on Friday.

The latest storm came a week after California finally got a real dose of fall weather after months of hot, dry conditions that fed wildfires.

Chain controls are expected Friday near the Kingvale and Donner Lake areas due to conditions created by snow showers, the National Weather Service Sacramento said.

Just after noon on Friday, Caltrans said the snowy conditions near Soda Springs led to a jackknifed big rig along I-80.

The Mammoth Mountain ski and boarding resort in the Eastern Sierra opened for the season a day ahead of schedule, thanks to last weekend's storm, which left 17 inches (43.1 centimeters) of snow atop its 11,053-foot summit (3,369-meter) summit.

Other resorts and ski areas around the state plan openings in the coming days.

Southern California continued cooler than normal but forecasters predicted a warm-up Sunday and Monday with gusty offshore Santa Ana winds potentially elevating fire danger.

About 90% of the state remains in drought or abnormally dry, with the exception of counties from the Central Coast south to San Diego, according to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor report.