By Leila Sackur -
NBC News
A "significant winter storm" will dump heavy snow and make travel dangerous as it moves through the West over the weekend, forecasters warned early Saturday.
“High winds, heavy snow and heavy precipitation will reach the Pacific Northwest today and then affect California,” the National Weather Service said in a bulletin.
More than 5 feet of snow is expected in the Sierra Nevada, resulting in "extremely dangerous travel, especially through mountain passes," it added.
Weather over the Pacific coast of the United States on Saturday.NOAA
The US Forest Service issued a field avalanche watch Friday night in the central Sierra, including Tahoe, warning of increased avalanche danger from Saturday through Sunday.
"A winter storm with hurricane-force winds, high-intensity snowfall and feet of new snow accumulation can result in widespread avalanche activity in the mountains," the Forest Service's Sierra Avalanche Center said Friday.
"Triggering avalanches would be easy on steep slopes in exposed and protected areas where new snow rests on soft snow or where windblown snow exists near crests," he added.
30 inches of snow was recorded Thursday night and overnight in Yosemite atop Mammoth Mountain ski resort near Mammoth Lakes, the most snowfall recorded so far in the region, according to the Associated Press.
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Elsewhere, 1 to 3 feet of snow is expected in the West Coast mountain ranges, the NWS said.
As the system moved eastward, he added that "confidence was unusually high for high winds and significant snowfall to produce dangerous impacts" across the Central and Northern Plains and Midwest as of Monday afternoon. night.
In California, where the drought continues, heavy rains and unstable weather across the state last week improved drainage basin conditions and soil quality, according to the National Drought Monitor.
However, storms and extreme rainfall during times of drought could cause rivers to overflow their banks and cause flash flooding, increasing the dangers for travelers and residents in the region, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. of Diseases.