RENO, Nev. (AP) - The first of back-to-back storms expected to make for a wet Halloween weekend across much of northern Nevada moved into the Sierra on Friday, slowing traffic over the mountain passes, and triggering flash flood watches and winter weather advisories along the California-Nevada line.
The eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 were closed for several hours early Friday just west of the state line after one semi-truck rolled over and was hit by another in the rain near Floriston, Calif. No serious injuries were reported and all lanes were reopened by 3:30 a.m., the California Highway Patrol said.
Nearly a half-inch of rain had fallen by midday Friday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, making it the city’s second wettest October on record, the National Weather Service said. The 2.21 inches for the month is five times the norm. The October record was 2.65 inches in 2010.
Scattered showers were forecast Friday as far south as Las Vegas, and up to 2 inches of rain was possible in parts of northeast Nevada, where a 300-mile stretch north of I-80 remained under a flash flood watch into the evening from west of Winnemucca to the Utah line.
“The amount of moisture associated with system is unseasonably high,” the National Weather Service warned.
A winter advisory remained in effect until 11 p.m. Sunday around Lake Tahoe, where up to 2 inches of snow is forecast at lake level and anywhere from 6 to 18 inches in the upper elevations. Ridgetop winds could gust in excess of 80 mph, the service said.
A flood watch also was in effect until 5 p.m. Friday for parts of east-central and western Nevada, including areas where wildfires recently burned at Lake Tahoe near Emerald Bay and in the Washoe Valley north of Carson City, where 23 homes were destroyed earlier this month.
“Rainfall rates may exceed one inch in three hours on the burn scars, which could trigger debris flow and rock falls,” the weather service said.
The rain and snow is expected to intensify early Sunday morning and continue throughout the day in the foothills on the Sierra’s eastern front from Carson City to Reno, the service said.
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