Interstate 80 remains closed through Sierra as threat of snow, showers linger for Northern California

Interstate 80 remained closed through the Sierra Nevada on Monday morning after a punishing blizzard that dropped several feet of snow across the Lake Tahoe region, limiting travel between the popular tourist spot and much of the rest of the state.

A blizzard warning for the northern Sierra expired shortly before 12:30 a.m. Monday, and was replaced by the National Weather Service with a winter storm warning as the threat of snow continued to hound the region. Another 4 to 10 inches of powder was expected to fall over Donner Pass between Monday morning and early Wednesday morning, according to Dakari Anderson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

“We’re on the downtrend of things,” Anderson said. “Hopefully they will be able to get out there and really start to dig out of the snow.”

While I-80 remained closed Monday morning, Highway 50 out of South Lake Tahoe remained open, albeit with chain restrictions.

The storm system that swung into California from the Gulf of Alaska late last week marked the biggest dumping of snow for the Sierra Nevada this season, with remarkable totals at ski resorts across the Lake Tahoe region.

Sugarbowl Summit received 10.5 feet of snow over the last four days, while Palisades Tahoe received nearly 8 feet of snow, Anderson said. Kirkwood, near Carson Pass on the southern side of Lake Tahoe, received nearly 5 feet of snow, he said.

Further west, cloudy skies and light showers were expected to linger through Wednesday for much of the Bay Area.