Drivers make their way up and down a snow-packed street in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. Skiers eager to hit the slopes had to sit out a Presidents’ Day holiday weekend as heavy snow and rain fell for a fourth straight day Friday in California’s mountains, where the snow was so deep in some areas plows couldn’t go out and cities were running out of places to pile it. (Ryan Hoffman/The Tahoe Tribune via AP)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Winter weather enveloping California’s mountains for a fourth straight day Friday kept skiers from hitting the slopes at the start of the Presidents Day holiday weekend, with snow so deep that plows could not tackle it and cities scrambled to find places to pile it.
Several routes to the ski mecca of Lake Tahoe shut down, including about 70 miles (110 kilometers) of Interstate 80 from Colfax, California, to the Nevada state line.
I-80 was reopened to passenger vehicles Thursday evening.
Chains were required for travel in many other parts of the towering Sierra Nevada.
“All avid skiers are itching to get out on the mountain, but the roads are pretty treacherous right now,” said Kevin Cooper, marketing director for Lake Tahoe TV.