Big storm forecast to dump 3 feet of snow on Sierra Nevada

(KRON) -- Meteorologists said the first major storm of the 2024-2025 winter season will blanket high elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountains with three feet of snow this weekend.

UC Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Lab wrote Friday, "High snowfall rates of 1-3 (inches) per hour are expected to begin around midnight tonight and continue through late afternoon tomorrow. Models ECMWF, GFS, NBM are suggesting 30-48 (inches) of snowfall through tomorrow afternoon at the Snow Lab and its surroundings."

Snow has been falling steadily over the Sierra for the past two days and a band of higher intensities hit Donner Summit Friday afternoon. Maddy Condon, a spokesperson for Palisades Tahoe resort, said more than a foot of snow already fell within the past 24 hours. "Our slopes mirror a snowglobe, and the snow is expected to intensify and bring up to another two feet by the end of this storm system," Condon wrote.

The heaviest snowfall is forecast for Saturday morning. The storm's strength will weakened by Saturday night, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning that will remain in effect for the Sierra Nevada, Shasta County mountains, and southern Cascades until 10 p.m. Saturday.

All travel between Friday night and Saturday afternoon should be avoided unless it’s an emergency situation, according to the snow lab's experts.

"Dangerous conditions are expected with heavy snowfall rates and winds that could gust as high as 50 mph, which could result in whiteouts. Travel impacts are expected to be severe, particularly on Saturday morning when the heaviest rates are occurring and overnight snowfall has already occurred. Ideally, folks will heed the warning and stay of the road overnight to let CalTrans work their magic on I-80," the snow lab wrote.

The NWS cautioned anyone with dreams of hitting the slopes for skiing or snowboarding to "please reconsider any early weekend travel plans up into the mountains."