11 ms·
Mountain passes across Sierra will be closed, so you can't travel to Reno, as I-80, SR-50 (Sacramento to south lake Tahoe), SR-88 (Carson Pass) will be closed.
by raincom 4y ago
Mountain passes across Sierra will be closed, so you can't travel to Reno, as I-80, SR-50 (Sacramento to south lake Tahoe), SR-88 (Carson Pass) will be closed. Even Altamont pass/I-580 had a slide a few days ago. SR-99 will get flooded, as it is parallel to I-5 from Sacramento to Bakersfield. So, expect long delays on both I-5 and I-80, since other secondary roads get flooded.
If you are planning to Vegas, you gonna have problems on SR-152/I-580 to I-5. Also, expect problems on SR-58 between Bakersfield and Barstow on I-15. Even if you want to go to Sacramento, expect long delays on all routes.
Whichever freeway you pick, you will have problems: bad visibility, very slow traffic, partial closures due to puddles, complete closures due to floods (like the north of SFO airport last time).
That's why CHP, Caltrans, NWS advise people to postpone their travel unless extremely necessary. No storm tourism either.
- jmspring 4y agoCarson and the other smaller passes close in the winter and open sometime in spring. This happens all the time. I suspect 80 will be closed maybe overnight because way too many people think driving in snow is just like a dry road - spin outs and crashes (even semis). In general CalTrans does a good job keeping it mostly open. For context - I live north of Truckee and deal with 80 regularly.
- tafda 4y agoCarson pass (88) is plowed and stays open all winter. It's the road to Kirkwood and connects to South Lake Tahoe via 89. Agree all the other smaller Sierra passes are closed after first significant snowfall. Storm tourism —- another name for skiing!
- AlbertCory 4y ago"storm tourism" -- that's not really a thing here, unless you mean skiing (which is usually impossible to get to, for all the reasons you listed).