KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Storm Grounds Reno Flights; I-80 Crash Stalls Cars
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A winter storm packing wind gusts more than 80 mph knocked out power to thousands of northern Nevadans, grounded flights and contributed to a fatal pile-up that shut down a stretch of U.S. Interstate 80.
The storm had dumped several inches of snow on the Sierra by Friday afternoon. But the high winds postponed scheduled openings at several ski resorts before next week's big Thanksgiving holiday.
One gust of 104 mph was recorded near the Mount Rose Ski Resort between Reno and Lake Tahoe.
The howling winds reduced visibility to near zero with blowing dust and dirt in the middle of the day on I-80 about 60 miles east of Reno where the eight-vehicle wreck killed one, critically injured four and shut down both westbound lanes for several hours.
Arching power lines were also blamed for sparking a one acre brushfire south of Dandini Blvd in Reno. No structures were threatened by the wind-driven blaze.
NV Energy crews are busy fixing power problems from Elko, Tonopah, Lake Tahoe, Gardnerville and the Truckee Meadows. Representatives say anytime there's strong wind, there will be outages. In the past, it's happened often during winter storms; today just happens to be the first big one of the season. "When there are a lot of outages, it's going to take time to get to them. We try to get to the largest outages first and get as many customers back as possible. Then gradually get to some of the smaller outages that may be out there," says Karl Walquist.
Sparks Library is closed today, due to a power outage. Assuming power is restored, the library will reopen at 10 a.m. on Saturday
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING...
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING.
* TIMING: RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON...WITH A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL BETWEEN 2 PM AND 8 PM.
* TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 8 TO 16 INCHES WILL ACCUMULATE ABOVE 7000 FEET...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE TAHOE BASIN. ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 8 INCHES WILL OCCUR AT LAKE LEVEL.
* SNOW LEVELS: SNOW LEVELS THIS MORNING WILL START AROUND 7000 FEET. AS THE STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO LAKE LEVEL.
* IMPACTS: SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE LOCAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...REDUCING VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES AND CREATE DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
ANYONE PLANNING TO TRAVEL OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOULD CONSIDER LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID DANGEROUS WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS. IF TRAVEL IS NECESSARY DURING THE PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW...CARRY TIRE CHAINS...SLOW DOWN AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME. CHECK OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/RENO FOR UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION.
