Winter break indeed. Flags indicate a north wind bringing heavy snow to Gardnerville on Friday morning.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
A push from a snowplow managed to get a jack-knifed semi out of Kingsbury Grade allowing traffic to move.
The incident occurred at around 1 p.m. as the brunt of a blizzard arrived in at Lake Tahoe.
Truck traffic was halted at the Nevada state line going south on Highway 88 after several vehicles got stuck near Crystal Springs.
Highway 395 remains closed south of Walker, Calif., for possible avalanches through Walker Canyon.
While state offices closed, Douglas offices remained open as a winter storm warning featured more wind than actual snow in Carson Valley over its first four hours.
There’s plenty of time for the storm to catch up, though, as the warning continues throughout Tuesday.
Douglas schools in Carson Valley were closed on Monday, following the state’s lead. District officials had already decided to close schools at Lake Tahoe.
Students would have been coming off winter break.
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A front-loader clearing a Gardnerville parking lot could be seen spinning its big knobby tires trying to get traction to make another pass.
There was no clearer indication that travel through Carson Valley is treacherous this morning.
Douglas County sent all nonessential workers home at noon Friday and those offices will close, though the courts will remain open.
“Aside from essential public safety, corrections personnel, and courts, all nonessential county offices will close early,” county officials said.
Douglas County Sheriff Daniel Coverley advised motorists to avoid travel in unnecessary and non-emergency situations.
Nearly a half-foot of snow had fallen in southern Carson Valley, with Fredericksburg resident Jeff Garvin reporting 5.5 inches at 10:20 a.m. and that it was still coming down. A site a mile north of Genoa recorded 3.5 inches.
The Legislature, Western Nevada College and UNR were closed as snow fell across Western Nevada on Friday morning.
Douglas County schools were closed this week for winter break.
Despite slick and near white-out conditions on Highway 395 north of Minden, there weren’t any collisions reported in the Valley.
Road controls were expanded on Highway 395 from Carson City through Carson Valley south to Topaz Lake and south on Highway 88. Chains or snow tires were required in the Valley. Add four-wheel drive to travel Kingsbury Grade and Highway 50 at Lake Tahoe.
Interstate 80 reopened after being closed early on Friday.
