‘Major travel impacts’ expected as winter storm watch is issued for northern California

As people travel for the holiday weekend, much of Northern California is under a winter storm watch, with communities bracing for several feet of snow.

The National Weather Service warned people traveling to and from the Sierra Nevada and its popular ski resorts to expect “major travel impacts” and to use “extreme caution.”

But there is still time for people to get to their destinations for Presidents Day weekend.

Dakari Anderson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Sacramento office, told The Associated Press that Saturday through Sunday morning is going to be the “best travel window” ahead of the incoming cold weather system.

While there was some snow earlier in the week, conditions remained “quiet” on Saturday, Anderson said. But things are expected to pick up Sunday afternoon — with communities that are situated at elevations of 3,000 to 4,000 feet (914 to 1,219 meters) expecting to be blanketed with between 1 and 2 feet (30 and 60 centimeters) of snow.

“Our highest (snow) accumulations are going to be in those kind of more hard to reach places, but we’re still going to see some of those heavier amounts in communities that are populated,” Anderson said.

Communities in higher elevations could see much more snow — possibly 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters). Among them, Anderson said, may be Blue Canyon, a sparsely populated unincorporated community that sits at 4,695 feet (1,431 meters) of elevation and is about 51 miles (82 kilometers) west of Lake Tahoe.

The winter event is expected to span several days and could also impact portions of Western Nevada and Southern Oregon.

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Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.