Winter storm slams California, Nevada

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An unrelenting storm brought more rain and snow to Southern California yesterday, while residents in the Sierra Nevada dug out from as much as 8 feet of snow.

More wet weather was expected through the New Year's weekend for most of the state, giving skiers mountains of fresh snow — but dangerous driving conditions.

Storms this week have battered California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. Three to 4 feet of snow have fallen on Nevada mountains, and more than one foot of snow came down in parts of Colorado. At least nine people have died.

In Southern California, the National Weather Service posted winter-storm warnings and flood advisories through last night.

Heavy rain pounded Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, with up to an inch of rain an hour falling in western Los Angeles County. Snow was falling on Tejon Pass on Interstate 5, the main artery north of Los Angeles.

In the Sierra, up to 8 feet of snow had fallen since Thursday, temporarily shutting down the main highways to Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts and snarling holiday traffic. An avalanche warning was posted for backcountry ski areas from Yuba Pass to Sonora Pass.

The snowfall in Reno, Nev., was the city's heaviest in more than a decade; snow forced the airport to shut down Thursday night for the second time in 40 years, a spokesman said.

A break in the storm allowed Interstate 80 and U.S. 50 to reopen yesterday after being closed off and on for more than a day; the highways connect Sacramento, Calif., to the Reno-Tahoe area.

Another band of storms was forecast today in Northern California and to remain into tomorrow, weather service meteorologist Daniel Harty said.

Five people have died in the storms in California since Monday. Searchers in Arizona recovered two bodies believed to be those of college students who had vanished when their canoe capsized.

Two nationally known wildlife experts, Tom Thorne and Beth Williams, of Albany County, Wyo., died Wednesday when their pickup hit a jackknifed trailer on U.S. 287 in northern Colorado.