The Latest: I-80 reopens in Sierra but with restrictions
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on winter weather across the U.S. West (all times local):
1:25 p.m.
A long stretch of Interstate 80 that had been closed for two days due to blizzard conditions in California's Sierra Nevada has reopened as a fierce winter storm moves east.
Still, travel remained limited Tuesday to only vehicles with snow tires or chains between the California-Nevada line near Reno and Colfax, California, east of Sacramento.
The travel restrictions also remained in place for mountain passes around Lake Tahoe, where more than 3 feet (1 meter) of snow has fallen in the past 24 hours and a backcountry avalanche warning has been issued.
City officials in South Lake Tahoe say snow was falling early Tuesday at a rate of 2 to 4 inches (2.5 to 10 centimeters) per hour.
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12:10 p.m.
A semi-trailer has slid off an icy highway in a northern Utah canyon and hit a deputy, sending the officer to the hospital and closing the road.
Utah Highway Patrol said in a news release Tuesday that the unnamed Rich County sheriff's deputy suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive. He was hit outside his patrol vehicle as he investigated a different semi-trailer that had lost control and rolled off the road.
The crash occurred on State Route 30 in Laketown Canyon, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) northeast of Salt Lake City.
It was one of several crashes statewide that occurred during a winter storm. It's expected to dump several inches of snow throughout the state.
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11:25 a.m.
A lengthy stretch of highway in California's Sierra Nevada is closed for the second day in a row because of a winter storm.
The 80-mile (128-kilometer) stretch of westbound Interstate 80 is shut down from the California-Nevada line just west of Reno to Colfax, California, east of Sacramento.
Chains or snow tires are required on eastbound I-80 and all mountain passes around Lake Tahoe, where more than 3 feet (1 meter) of snow fell in blizzard conditions over the past 24 hours.
A winter storm warning is in effect Tuesday.
More than 6 feet (2 meters) of snow has been reported at the top of some nearby ski resorts since the storm began Saturday.
Government offices in Reno and Carson City opened two hours late because of the weather and schools were either delayed or canceled.
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10:55 a.m.
A storm has dumped heavy rain and snow at Yosemite National Park, closing all roads, toppling trees and triggering a rockslide.
Officials at the popular Northern California park urged visitors to stay indoors Tuesday. They posted photos on Twitter of a snow-covered tree branch outside a cabin.
The storm brought the first notable snow to San Francisco in eight years after a peak got a light dusting.
National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mehle says a weather spotter reported snow at the 900-foot (275-meter) Twin Peaks at 3 a.m. He says the snow melted by later Tuesday.
Mehle says higher peaks around the San Francisco Bay Area received up to 4 inches of snow overnight.
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8:40 a.m.
Winter weather closed schools and disrupted travel across much of the West, with ice and snow stretching from Seattle to Arizona.
The Pacific Northwest shivered Tuesday under colder-than-normal conditions as snow and treacherous conditions led to another day of school closures.
Winter weather also disrupted parts of California, Utah and Arizona. A winter storm warning meant a snow day for many students in Southern California mountain communities. Much of Utah braced for heavy snows and Northern Arizona braced for a coming storm.
The greater Portland, Oregon, area saw snow overnight Monday and schools were closed in Portland, Vancouver, Washington, and other areas.
Temperatures that plunged into the teens in the Seattle area kept roads icy and caused schools to again close in Washington's largest city.
