Sunday, November 29, 2015

Classic November Storm Brings Blizzard Conditions to the High Plains; Snow to the West

http://www.weather.com/forecast/regional/news/snow-mountain-west-high-plains-nov2015


Farther east on the plains of northeast Colorado, a storm spotter located about 8 miles southeast of Watkins reported blizzard conditions Wednesday morning with winds gusting to 47 mph, reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile. Another local storm report from the National Weather Service said that blizzard conditions were observed near Grant, Nebraska, late Wednesday morning.
Thundersnow was also reported in the Plains of eastern Colorado and western Nebraska Wednesday morning and afternoon.
The snow and wind forced the closure of I-80 in Wyoming Wednesday from near Cheyenne to near Rock Springs, the Wyoming DOT reported. Portions of I-70 were closed west of Denver at times Wednesday morning, and the Colorado DOT said that all vehicles must have snow tires, four-wheel drive or chains between Vail and Georgetown. A rockslide was reported on the eastbound lanes of I-70 near Glenwood Canyon, temporarily closing those lanes.
Snow and wind also affected Interstate 25 between Denver and Cheyenne early Wednesday morning, but conditions rapidly improved late morning as skies cleared and snow melted from the roadway.
Prior to bringing snow and strong winds to the High Plains, the same storm system dumped snow on many western states Monday into early Wednesday.
Up to 10 inches of snow was measured in parts of the Reno, Nevada, metro area as of late Monday night. At the National Weather Service office, 4 inches of snow fell in one hour Monday evening. Only 2.7 inches of snow fell all last season at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, their second least snowy season on record. The official storm total in Reno was 4.2 inches.
In California's Sierra Nevada, 26-36 inches of snow was measured at Mammoth Ski Area.
Ely, Nevada, about 250 miles north of Las Vegas, set a record calendar-day November snowfall Monday, picking up 12.3 inches. This was the seventh heaviest calendar-day snow, there, dating to 1893, and their heaviest one-day snow event since April 7, 2011. The two-day storm total was 12.9 inches. Only 19.7 inches of snow fell, there, all last season. 
In Utah, some of the heaviest snow fell in the Wasatch Mountains, where as much as 15 inches was reported at Snowbird. An estimated 30 inches of snow fell at the La Sal Mountain Snotel in eastern Utah.

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