First day of spring brings wind, chance of showers

Weather forecasters are calling for a chance of showers and lots of wind today - the first day of spring.

"There will be some pretty strong winds, so people need to be careful if they're out there driving," said Brian O'Hara, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno.

"We're expecting gusts up to 50 mph in the afternoon, so people might want to bring in the lawn furniture or tie it down," he said.

A low pressure system pushing a cold front through the area Saturday brought wind and snow, which dumped up to two feet of snow in some places in the Sierra, O'Hara said, and 1-2 inches in the valleys.

The Saturday morning weather forced the cancellation of high school sporting events at Carson and Douglas high schools.

Temperatures are expected to be in the low 50s today with overnight lows near the freezing mark.

The weather will be unsettled for the remainder of the week, with partly cloudy skies and storms possibly moving in on Wednesday and Friday, O'Hara said.

On Saturday, authorities identified the man who died Friday in a crash involving about 40 vehicles on a snowy Sierra Nevada highway. Rain and snow continue to make for slick road conditions throughout Northern California.

Placer County Sheriff's Sgt. Ed Clark on Saturday said the victim was Douglas Swasey, an Auburn-area resident in his late 60s.

More than a dozen people were hospitalized with minor to moderate injuries.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report