Sierra could be in for potent storms (up to 5 to 10 feet of snow)
ap on San Diego Union - Tribune ^ | 12/31/07 | AP

RENO, Nev. – If everything lines up just right, the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe ski resorts could be in for some rough but welcome weather in the days ahead.

The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for the region beginning Thursday through the weekend.

Forecasters on Monday predicted snow totals in the range of 5 to 10 feet along the Sierra crest, with about 2 feet around Lake Tahoe.

Three storm systems are approaching the region and forecasters said they will be accompanied by strong winds that could create blizzard conditions.

Rain is likely at first in the valleys of western Nevada, but snow levels are expected to lower to the valley floors by the weekend.

After a lackluster winter last year, a hefty dumping of snow would be good news for the Sierra snowpack and region's water supply.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/s...errastorm.html

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Everything will melt, and everyone will have to live by candle-light....
Just a global-warming prediction *cheezy grin

That's amazing, they really need it up there for the snow melt and drought issues.

This coming Thursday through Sunday. I think it is a series of three storm fronts. Snow is predicted to be heavy above 4500 ft. Heavy rain predicted at lower elevations. So that will be Lake Tahoe, Donner Pass, all the ski resorts, Yosemite, Mount Shasta, etc...

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Well, Shasta isn't really part of the Sierras - it's part of the Cascades. I think the snow will stay farther south.

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Never argue with an idiot. He'll just drag you down to his level of intelligence and beat you with experience.

The first storm front has come through with winds up to 60-70 mph overnight. It is a warm front, so snow isn't falling anywhere under 6,000 ft elevation. That will go lower tonight when the cold front comes in behind the storm, and the second storm hits.

Phaedrus: We shall see. The Jet Stream atypically is south to north.

I forgot to mention Mr Lassen.

Here is some local history of storms.

Blast from the past
Locals recall stories of storm days gone by
By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
Auburn Journal : Top Stories
Thursday, January 3, 2008

Passengers leave the marooned "City of San Francisco" after a harrowing three days of being stuck at the Donner Summit in 1952 without heat as rescuers worked frantically to get to them in one of the worst storms of the 21st century for this area. Journal file photo

A rotary snowplow digs away at record snow pack after the 1952 storm that closed old U.S. Highway 40 over Donner Summit for nearly a month. It was snow like this that rescuers had to fight to reach the stranded 'City of San Francisco'with 226 people aboard. Journal file photoOn their way Thursday to their Donner Lake cabin under an ominously gray sky, Rita and Greg Moeller stopped into Auburn with "The City of San Francisco" on their minds.

The Sierra Nevada's version of the Titanic, the passenger train was marooned by a snow slide in a January 1952 storm that brought along 200 inches of snow in three days, closed the highway over Donner Summit for nearly a month, and packed 100 mph winds.

The National Weather Service was predicting a three-peat of storms through this weekend and the Moellers were on the front end of the first system Thursday afternoon -- keeping just ahead of rains and strong winds that were already lashing the coast.

"I'm very wary," Rita Moeller said, questioning why they were traveling from their home in Rescue to an area that could soon be buried in the white stuff. "It seems we have to relearn this lesson on why we shouldn't go up again."



"We'll just hunker down and wait for the snow to fall," she said.

Back in 1952, the "City of San Francisco" was stuck behind a snowdrift with 226 passengers aboard. Without heat for the three days between being marooned and rescued near the summit, passengers were removing parts of the train and burning them to stay warm.

Rescuers battled 30-foot-tall drifts in their quest to get to the train. Two would die -- one of a heart attack, the other in a snow slide. Highway 40 -- now Interstate 80 -- was closed at Colfax, with more than foot of snow there. Authorities would call it the worst storm since 1890.

In Roseville, Royer Park was flooded and 200 animals were evacuated from the zoo. Auburn schools closed for a week. Rockslides and mudslides closed roads at lower elevations throughout the area, including the one to Foresthill.
With the first sprinkles falling in the foothills at about 2 p.m., Allan Espey of Auburn said he was anticipating three or four days of miserable weather that would keep his outside movements to a minimum. "I'm stocking up and just waiting," Espey said. "I'm going to bunker up."

While 1952's blizzard wasn't on his mind, he could recall an early 1990s storm that dumped a foot of snow on Auburn and resulted in the collapse of the Raley's supermarket roof in Bowman. No one was injured in the cave-in.

Closer in time, the storm of February 1986 was another memorable weather event.

Days of storms saw water climb above the roadway at the American River confluence. Downstream, water was backing up at the Auburn dam site's cofferdam. Built to slowly collapse if water flow became too heavy, it began to do what it was designed to, sending 118,000 acre-feet of water that had been building up behind it into Folsom Reservoir.
"With hundreds of people watching safely from shore, the 230-foot-high dam soon had disappeared in a torrent caused by more than 11 inches of rain over five days. Experts said afterward that another eight to 12 hours of rain would have produced more water than Folsom dam could handle.

1986's flood had a $1 million impact in flood damage on Old Town.

At Old Town's Gold Rush Plaza, chef Joe Haddad of the Edelweiss Restaurant recalled that the flood of 1986 overtaxed the century-old storm-drain under the business district, sending water from a creek that flows underground to the surface and rushing through the plaza. With nowhere for the water to go, observers could watch the roadway stretch upward from the pressure of the water below it.

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Well, I tried to post an article about the Donner Party back in the early 1840's. Less than half of that wagon train to California survived, and some of them survived by eating the deceased. I guess I live too close to the ghosts of that party, as the electricity kept going out and I had to quit before it ruined my computer.

At any rate, look up "Donner Party" and find out for yourselves.

It just goes to show that the Charlie Tuna story was right. They don't want Tuna with good taste, they want tuna that tastes good. (I bet that flew right over the head of all the young "whipper snappers" here).

Well, to summarize, if you are headed over the Donner Pass in dead winter, you might want to chose your companions as to who would make a great drumstick, recognize your preference for light and dark meat, etc...

Evil thought (Teehee!). Couldn't resist.

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