Snowfall is reportedly falling on I-80 and the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains, along the California-Nevada frontier, a week before autumn has officially begun.
Transportation officials posted on their Caltrans District 3 Twitter account footage of snow heaping up at the Interstate 80 and on the Donner summit. Along Highway 267 and Highway 50, surveillance camera's also caught a glimpse of the first snow.
Caltrans issued a warning for all traffic in the area to go easy on the gas pedal.
Sierra Nevada, which stands for "Snowy Mountains," is known for its ski resorts and early season snow-calls, but snowfall this early in the season is exceptional.
California Ski Resorts Close After They Get Too Much Snow
An unbelievable amount of snow dumped by a series of winter storms hitting Northern and Central California since Feb. 1 prompted at least a few ski resorts to close their facilities."Heavy snowfall picked up again last night (Feb. 4) dropping another 21" at Main Lodge and over 36" at the summit bringing our current storm total to about 7-10 feet," a statement on the resort's website reported.
The blizzard caused the resort to close its main lodge and upgrade the town's chain controls to R3, which requires all vehicles to be chained.
"Snow is extremely deep, be safe and do not ride alone," the statement continued.
"We're absolutely buried and will remain closed for today, Tuesday, February 5th," said June Mountain on its website. "Since Saturday, we have received over 10ft at the snow plot. Lift, Patrol, Cat, Maintenance, and Snow Removal Crews are hard at work making sure we're ready for tomorrow."