CALIFORNIA - I have been boarding for almost 20 years, and in recent years it has been rare that we see snow pre-Thanksgiving. Most fall holidays it is avoiding rocks, traversing the dry patches, making sure to grind or strip my board—but this year California has been blessed over a foot of snow before we even hit Halloween. 

“We’re expecting six to 12 inches of snow around the passes, which is quite a bit, and it’s an early-season storm, so it might catch a lot of people off-guard,” explained Travis Wilson, Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

Sunday saw the accumulating snow affecting both Highway 50 and Interstate 80, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Winter Storm Warning until 11 PM, KCRA 3 News. CalTrans also had their work cut out for them as we head into ski season. Several crashes on I-80 on Donner Summit in Placer County closed lanes in both directions from Kingvale Road to Donner Lake Road for a few hours, according to the California Highway Patrol, putting chain controls in effect. 

This weekend’s snowfall is a great jump-start for the Sierra snowpack, Wilson says, one of the  crucial factor in easing the state’s pervasive drought. According to the LA Times, the northern Sierra region is currently at 360 percent of average for precipitation levels. 

While the snowfall totals from over the weekend are still being counted, forecasters predicted accumulations of up to 10 inches above 6,000 feet, with more than a foot at the mountain peaks. 

And what about for Halloween night? KCRA 3’s Futurecast shows the potential for more rain Monday evening as many hope to go trick-or-treating. The source says that Monday could see about 1/4 inch of rain possibly starting about 5 PM.

Either way, this recent influx of snow is great news for snow lovers and California ag alike, and if this weekend was any indication of what the rest of the season will look like, strap on your snowboards and get ready for a wet and wild winter.