Snowfall returns to the Sierra with 'Valentine's Day Storm'

Editor's note: Three graphics from National Weather Service Sacramento have been added to this report. The long winter dry spell in the Mother Lode has ended with up to 10 feet of snow forecast for the Sierra Nevada over the next two weeks. As of Wednesday evening, Feb. 11, Weather.com forecast up to eight feet of snow piling up at Soda Springs on Interstate 80 at Donner Summit by Feb. 25. Some weather officials have dubbed the cold northern system the "Valentine's Day Storm." The agency also predicted similar totals with 11 consecutive days of snowfall at Twin Bridges near Echo Summit on Highway 50. Earlier this week, the Sacramento and Reno National Weather Service offices predicted up to 10 feet of snow at higher elevations through the rest of the month. The NWS Reno office issued blizzard warnings indicating snow totals could approach or exceed 10 feet along the Sierra crest. Newsweek also forecast a potential 10 feet with the wet pattern shift. Up to nine inches of snow already fell with a modest kickoff storm through the region by Wednesday morning. Northstar Ski Resort near Truckee reported nine inches, with eight inches measured at Sierra-at-Tahoe resort near South Shore Lake Tahoe. Six inches were reported at Sugar Bowl at Donner Pass and at Diamond Peak resort in Incline Village, Nevada. Authorities urge people to check the latest road conditions online with Caltrans daily reports before traveling the region the next two weeks. Meanwhile, officials say the windfall of snow can potentially bring the shrinking Sierra snowpack back up close to normal for the March 1 snow survey following a full month of little or no measurable rainfall. After the overall Sierra snowpack was reported at near normal of average in early January by the Dept. of Water Resources, a very dry month brought the Feb. 1 check down to 59 percent of normal, authorities said. The coming storm system is not an atmospheric river from the Pacific tropics but what experts refer to as a cold, "inside slider" or "cold core low" sliding down from the Pacific Northwest.