This panoramic photo taken at Carson High School and made on a cell phone shows the clouds over Carson City at 11 a.m. Saturday.
RENO — A storm dropped up to 3 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada, helping build up the slopes and giving a fun run to skiers and snowboarders Saturday.
In Carson City, 6-7 inches of snow was reported.
Around Lake Tahoe, Kirkwood resort reported getting 2 to 3 feet of snow over a 24-hour period ending Saturday morning. Heavenly resort reported 24 inches to 30 inches of new snow, and Squaw Valley resort saw 20 inches.
“This is setting us up for a great holiday season,” Kirkwood spokesman Kevin Cooper said Saturday. “Our mountain operations teams are out on snow now preparing to open more terrain and lifts tomorrow.”
While most major Sierra ski resorts have opened for the season, they need more snow to swing into full operation. On Saturday, two of 15 lifts were operating at Kirkwood, seven of 29 lifts were open at Heavenly and 11 of 30 lifts were active at Squaw Valley.
The storm also slowed traffic on mountain highways, including Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, as motorists were required to either have snow tires or install chains on tires.
Along the eastern Sierra, the storm left from 1.5 to 6 inches of snow around Reno; 6 to 10 inches in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.; and 10.5 inches in Truckee, Calif., according to the National Weather Service.
