New Storm Hits N. California, Strands Many

Another powerful winter storm slammed into the High Sierra with gale-force winds and heavy snows Thursday afternoon, just as weary residents were digging out from one of the heaviest snowfalls in years.

The new storm punished the northern end of the state during the morning, blocking Interstate 5 with snow for 80 miles, cutting off power to rural towns and prompting flood warnings along the coast.

By midafternoon, the main force of the storm had begun to turn east, toward the Sierra, threatening a prolonged shutdown of Interstate 80 and U.S. 50--the two principal routes from the Bay Area to the east--for the second time in less than a week.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings Thursday night throughout the High Sierra, predicting that heavy snow would continue to fall until sometime today, with winds gusting up to 60 m.p.h.

The latest storm system came on the heels of another that was still wreaking havoc in the Rockies and the Wasatch Range.

Amtrak was forced to shut down its Empire Builder rail service between Minneapolis and the West Coast when snow blocked the tracks across the Continental Divide. And in Brian’s Head, Utah, four people spent six hours huddled in a horse trailer, with nothing to eat but some dinner mints, when they were trapped in a blizzard.

The earlier storm had set the stage for an avalanche that killed a man in the Sierra resort community of Mammoth Lakes on Wednesday.

Near Lake Tahoe, snowdrifts up to 10 feet deep strangled mountain roads, cutting off the supply of gasoline for thousands of visitors and residents who were attempting to put their lives back in order.

Many grocery stores in the Lake Tahoe area were running short of bread, milk and other basic foods Thursday, in large part because many visitors were stuck there, unable to drive out of the winter resort area.

“But there’s nothing for the consumer to get alarmed at,” said Chuck Collings, president of Raley’s Superstores, , which operates a number of markets in the area. “We have a bunch of trucks rolling,” he said. “We will even be shipping merchandise in on New Year’s Day.”

There was a good side to all the snow too. State water officials said the snowpack in the High Sierra--principal source of water for urban Californians--was continuing to pile up at more than normal depths for the first time in seven years, bringing hopes for an end to the state’s drought.

The new storm struck the northern part of the state before dawn Thursday, dropping heavy snow that shut I-5, the state’s main north-south highway, from Redding to Yreka, about 30 miles from the Oregon line.

With few alternate routes available, cars and trucks backed up for miles. Among the stranded were dozens of University of Washington football fans headed for today’s Rose Bowl game in Pasadena.

Winds up to 70 m.p.h. were reported near Lake Shastina, downing power lines and blowing snow back onto roads as fast as Caltrans plows could clear them.

“The CHP said it doesn’t look good because they sent two patrol cars up and they got stuck, and then they sent two trucks up and they got stuck too,” said Debe Hopkins, a state transportation official in Redding.

“The tow truck companies in the area can’t operate their fuel pumps because the power is out, so they can’t get to the abandoned cars,” said Marian McMinn, a CHP dispatcher in Yreka. “It’s a Catch-22 situation.”

Almost 30 inches of snow fell at Mt. Shasta City in 24 hours, raising the total snowfall there this month to 105 inches.

A radio station near Dunsmuir activated its emergency broadcast system, warning residents about road hazards, potential food shortages and the possibility that some roofs might collapse under the heavy snow.

Heavy rain fell along the Northern California coast, with three to six inches reported in Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties. Flood warnings were issued for the Eel, Napa and Russian rivers early in the day, but were canceled later Thursday night.

The rising waters briefly threatened to breach Mast Dam, a flood-control structure on Cahto Creek, about 150 miles north of San Francisco, but the dam held.

The storm moved south during the day, colliding with the already snow-buried High Sierra shortly before nightfall. Temperatures plummeted, with a reading of 9 below zero in the eastern Sierra ghost town of Bodie.

The biggest problem for motorists in Lake Tahoe was the shortage of gasoline. Tanker trucks had been unable to get through for several days.

“It looks just like the gas shortage days of the ‘70s,” said Bill Sharbrough, operator of Tahoe City Chevron, one of only two stations open on the lake’s north shore. “Our lines have ranged anywhere from two blocks to five blocks in length.”

“From what I hear, there were quite a few people who couldn’t get out of town because of the gas situation,” said Jay Kaltenbach, operator of the Donner Park Union station in Truckee. “As far as I know, most stations here are still out of gas.”

About 125 miles to the south, in Mammoth Lakes, officials warned visitors to avoid areas beneath slopes where more avalanches might occur.

A massive pile of snow broke loose and crashed down the steep face of Sherwin Bowl on Wednesday, burying a 20-year-old man and his 11-year-old nephew. The boy managed to “swim” with the avalanche and claw his way to safety, but his uncle, Edward Conrad of Lakeport, who was not dug out until three hours later, was killed.

Sherwin Bowl, the planned site for a new ski resort, is not considered especially susceptible to avalanches, according to Debbie Austin, a district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service.

“Actually, the entire Sierra is prone to avalanche danger,” Austin said. “It just depends on the conditions--the wetness of the snow, the steepness of the slope.

“In the planning for the Sherwin ski area, the avalanche paths have been noted and they’ve tried to avoid those areas,” she said.

Austin said that at the nearby Mammoth Mountain ski resort, one of the largest in the world, staff employees use artillery to blast down potential avalanches before they become a major hazard.

Despite the stormy conditions to the north on Thursday, Southern California apparently will escape largely unscathed.

Forecasters predicted partly cloudy skies, with temperatures rising from the 40s to the 60s, for today’s Tournament of Roses parade and Rose Bowl football game, with only a 30% chance of rain tonight and Saturday.

Times correspondent Forstenzer reported from Mammoth Lakes; Times staff writer Malnic reported from Los Angeles.