Saturday Afternoon/Evening - Sunday Evening Storm:

Saturday looks dry through most of the afternoon. Then later Saturday afternoon into the evening around 4-6 PM the snow moves in with the next storm. Heavier snow is expected Saturday night into Sunday morning. Then lighter snow showers later in the day become more scattered and end Sunday evening by around 7 PM.

Snow levels drop near 6000 ft. Saturday evening, and continue to drop overnight. They could hover around 4100-4600 ft. through the day on Sunday and then drop below 4000 ft. by the end Sunday evening. We are expecting slow travel and chain controls from Saturday evening into Sunday night.

Chain controls will likely set up pretty quickly as the snow starts from around Kingvale to Donner Lake, and then dropping to just west of Blue Canyon all the way to the NV state line overnight and through Sunday, possibly a bit lower in elevation by Sunday evening.

Be prepared for winter travel conditions, snowy and slick roads, blowing snow with low visibility, and chain controls through the Sierra from Saturday evening into early Monday morning. I wouldn't be surprised if the highway closes at some point later Saturday night into Sunday morning with the intense band of snow that moves through.

Next Week:

We are expecting a drier pattern again next week from Monday through at least Saturday the 11th. The roads will continue to improve into Monday morning with chain controls dropping at some point. Then no weather-related travel impacts are expected for the rest of the week. We'll let you know if that changes.

Long-Range:

We're keeping an eye on a storm that will be near the CA coast by next Sunday the 12th. It may take until Monday the 13th to move inland, and it could miss us to our south. We'll keep you updated on the trends all week.

A more active pattern could develop by mid-month through the 3rd week of February, and possibly into the last week of the month. We'll continue to watch the trends.

BA

P.S. NWS Graphs and Caltrans live cams are below (we don't control them)...

I-80 Road Cams:

Dutch Flat, Exit 145 - 3,323'

Blue Canyon, Exit 154 - 5,022'

Kingvale, Exit 171 - 6,095'

Castle Peak, Exit 176 - 7,165'

Donner Summit - 7,221'

Donner Lake, Exit 180 - 6,394'

Truckee, Exit 184 - 5,905'

Truckee, Exit 188 - 5,928'

Truckee Scales, Exit 191 - 5,826'

Floriston, Exit 199 - 5,291'

If you are traveling through the Sierra please use the links below for travel advisories as we do not give our opinions on the "safest" or "best" travel times for liability reasons. The storm timing, road conditions, & chain control areas are not guaranteed and are subject to change.

NWS Reno: https://www.weather.gov/rev/
NWS Sacramento: https://www.weather.gov/sto/
CA road conditions: http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-b... (and 1-800-427-7623)
NV road conditions: https://nvroads.com/
OSS weather share: http://oss.weathershare.org/#