California, Neighboring States Brace For Major Winter Storm; Up To 25 Inches Of Snow Possible

Weather forecasters have warned heavy snowfall could batter the western states of California, Oregon and Nevada from Thursday through the weekend. There could be "major" winter storm impacts in the Cascade Range and up to 25 inches of snow accumulations in parts of the affected states.

"Looking toward the west, the next Pacific system arriving along the West Coast is on track to spread low elevation rainfall and heavy high elevation snows to the Pacific Northwest into Central California beginning tonight," the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a report Wednesday.

The agency warned of a "major winter storm" that is expected to hit California this weekend, adding travel will either be difficult or impossible due to "whiteout conditions."

Whiteouts refer to severe storm conditions that include wind drifts, blowing snow, high winds and reduced visibility, according to state-designated off-road safety education provider Offroad-ed.

Aside from whiteout conditions, up to 24 inches of snow accumulations are possible above 3,500 feet in the Sierra mountain range.

Oregon could witness up to 12 inches of snow accumulations in the Santiam Pass and up to eight inches in the Willamette Pass area.

The NWS office in Medford has also released a timeline of winter storms that are expected to hit the state this week. It forecasted that strong winds mixed with moderate to heavy rain and snow will affect Shasta Valley, the Oregon Coast and the East Side region.

In Nevada, strong winds could cause damage to trees and lead to power outages.

California winter alerts

Winter storm watch effective from Friday afternoon through 4 p.m. Saturday:

• Western Siskiyou County
• Shasta Valley – I-5 near Hilt, near highway 96 and 263 and near Weed (wind gusts of up to 60 mph possible)
• South Central Siskiyou County (up to 25 inches of snow accumulations possible)
• North Central and Southeast Siskiyou County (up to 19 inches of snow possible)
• Northwest Modoc Counties

Winter storm watch effective from Friday afternoon through 4 a.m. Sunday:

• Northern Trinity (up to 24 inches of snow possible)

Winter storm watch effective from Friday afternoon through 4 a.m. Monday:

• Eastern Sierra Slopes – White Mountains of Inyo County (up to 16 inches of snowpossible)
• Sierra Counties – Lassen-Eastern and Plumas-Eastern (up to 8 inches of snow possible)
• Greater Lake Tahoe Area – on the side of California (wind gusts of up to 45 mph possible)
• Mono County (up to 18 inches of snow accumulations possible)
• Sequoia NP – Grant Grove Area, Kaiser to Rodgers Ridge, Kings Canyon NP, San Joaquin River Canyon and South End of the Upper Sierra
• Yosemite Valley – Mariposa-Madera Lower Siera, Upper San Joaquin River and Yosemite NP outside of the valley
• Burney Basin – Eastern Shasta County, West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada, Lassen Park and Western Plumas County (up to 24 inches of snow accumulations above 3,500 feet possible)

Oregon winter alerts

Winter storm watch effective from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon:

• Siskiyou Mountains – Southern Oregon Cascades (up to 17 inches of snow possible)

High wind advisory effective from Friday afternoon through 4 a.m. Saturday:

• Highway 101 – South Central Oregon Coast and Curry County Coast (up to 75 mph possible in the headlands)

Nevada winter alerts

Winter storm watch effective from Friday evening through 4 a.m. Monday:

• Greater Lake Tahoe – on the side of Nevada (up to 30 inches of snow accumulations possible)