Sierra Nevada Blizzard Whips Up High-Winds, Snow In Tahoe Area
SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS (CBS SF) -- There's a blizzard warning for the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but that hasn't stopped people from trying to make it to the high country.
Tire chains are required on all vehicles traveling Interstate 80 over the Sierra Nevada, except four-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires, from Kingvale in Placer County to the Donner Lake Interchange in Nevada County. Restrictions on big-rigs traveling over the mountains are also in place.
The low visibility from snowy conditions has made it hard for drivers, like this one from Arizona who is seeing snow for the first time.
"I don't know what this freaking stuff is, snowy?" he said on the side of the road. "I've never seen this before, first experience ... it's cold as crap out here."
Ski resorts in the northern Sierra Nevada — where schools and roads were closed by whiteout conditions and power outages — were hoping for 3 feet of snow once it all settles.
Winds gusting to 140 mph through Sierra Nevada passes damaged homes and grounded commercial airline flights in Reno.
Meanwhile at Lake Tahoe, surfers utilized those wild winds for some December surfing.
CONTINUING STORM COVERAGE:
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