The worst of the winter storm that brought record snowfall and low temperatures to Western United States appears to have passed. However, travel delays, frigid temperature and lighter snowfall can still be expected in the days ahead.
The National Weather Service in Reno (Nev.) stated that accumulation of snowfall had largely stopped, with a few snow showers possible on Thursday morning.
“The greater risk will, however, be from refreeze of moisture on roadways, leading to icy travel conditions across the Sierra and Western Nevada,” the Weather Service said, adding that, while major highways had reopened, drivers should “prepare for slow travel conditions across the region for the morning commute.”
The Weather Service predicted a chilly introduction to the new year in Nevada, with the “coldest air in nearly five years” expected to arrive this weekend. Forecasters expected temperatures to dip into the single digits for “much of western Nevada” and below zero in some areas of the Sierra Nevada.
It was clear that little to no snow was expected, which brought relief to an area that had been in severe drought since the weekend. The Weather Service forecast cloudy skies for the Greater Lake Tahoe Area with a slight chance snow showers Thursday night, Friday morning, and clear skies the rest of the weekend.
It would be a calm end to a historically snowy December. The Central Sierra Snow Lab of the University of California, Berkeley, has recorded 210 inches of snow in December, the area’s third-snowiest month in recorded history and its snowiest December.
Travel was disrupted by the blizzards this week. An 81-mile section of interstate in Sierra Nevada was closed for several days.
The winter storm system swept across the West Coast, up to Washington. Seattle set a record for the lowest temperature on Monday. A record-breaking low of 17 degrees Fahrenheit was set at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday, breaking a 53-year-old mark.
According to FlightAware, nearly 300 outbound and inbound flights were cancelled at the airport on Thursday. This was in addition to dozens of delays and cancellations that had occurred over the past week.
Source: NY Times
