Snowpocalypse Closes Highways In Northern California

Shocking footage shared on social media platform X shows the aftermath of a massive blizzard that dumped feet of snow across the Sierra Nevada mountains, which led to the closure of major highways across Northern California and stranded hundreds of vehicles over the last 48 hours. 

According to local media outlet 2 News Nevada:

I-80 remains closed from the Nevada State Line to Colfax. 

According to a post from Caltrans District 3 on X, I-80 will remain closed for the rest of Sunday. They hope to be able to reopen the road sometime on Monday. 

They also shared a picture of traffic leaving the Lake Tahoe Basin on Highway 50. They said traffic is moving very slowly and chain controls are still required. 

Donner Pass in Northern California pic.twitter.com/Za0Ktl8mL3

— Coco Ferrara (@CocoReimagined) March 3, 2024

The main storm hasn’t even hit California yet.

A lot of people made a huge mistake. The state should have closed I-80.

The storm system came from Alaska, and it’s a real b*tch. pic.twitter.com/TDVMrgeBGa

— The Last Mohican (@TheLastMohicans) March 3, 2024

More semi trucks abandoned and buried on I-80 EB east of Truckee.

Can’t imagine what Donner Pass looks like with dozens of semi trucks still stuck. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/feVhIjADHz

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) March 3, 2024

National Weather Service meteorologist William Churchill warned over the weekend of “life-threatening concern” for residents near Lake Tahoe, calling the storm an “extreme blizzard.” Areas around Nevada, Utah, and Colorado were also hit by winter weather. 

“Moderate to heavy snow has persisted overnight across the northern Sierra Nevada,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento wrote on X Sunday, adding, “Wind gusts … are continuing to result in blizzard conditions.”

“There are some areas in the highest elevations that could still see 10-12 feet,” Alan Reppert, an AccuWeather senior meteorologist, told USA TODAY.

24-hour reports of 18-42 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, bringing the 3-day storm totals to 5-7+ feet so far, with one more day to go! pic.twitter.com/2ukUjBewRL

— Tahoe Daily Snow (@TahoeWeather) March 3, 2024

So, no more global warming?

One of the things this storm did was slingshot us out of the bottom 10 snowfall seasons as recorded at the Snow Lab @UCB_CSSL near Donner Summit. pic.twitter.com/wUPSSySxiY

— Tahoe Daily Snow (@TahoeWeather) March 3, 2024

This is wild. 

It’s worth the digging… pic.twitter.com/T0APOnJeKu

— Sam 🇺🇸 Startup Growth (@samclaassen) March 3, 2024

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 3 wrote on X late Sunday, “With a break in the weather, we hope to be able to reopen I-80 sometime tomorrow.”