Record dry spell ends

About a half-inch of snow fell in Carson City overnight Sunday into Monday.

The snow fall ended the longest recorded winter dry spell in area history - a 56-day stretch that forced area ski resorts to make their own snow and prompted unusual January warnings about wildfire threats.

Although just a dusting, the snowfall forced the closure of a stretch of U.S. Interstate 80 as state troopers responded to nearly a dozen accidents, including one involving a patrolman's car.

The trooper was out of his vehicle investigating a wreck near Lockwood when a semi-trailer struck his cruiser from behind, said Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen.

About an inch of snow reported at the Mount Rose Ski Resort near Reno, Squaw Valley USA near Tahoe City, Calif., and Boreal near Truckee, Calif.

Monday's snowfall was the first precipitation in the area since Nov. 20. The previous record dry spell between the months of November and March was 54 days, ending on Jan. 24, 1961, the weather service said.

More snowfall is in the forecast by the end of the week.

"We are expecting a major pattern change this week," said Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "We are definitely going to go through a period from Wednesday into the weekend of significant wet weather and higher-elevation snow."

He said rain is expected at lower elevations and snow above 7,000 feet.

Officials at Heavenly ski resort at South Lake Tahoe said they couldn't wait. They opened the Skyline Trail linking the Nevada and California sides of the mountain on Monday after snowmaking crews and groomers combined to cover more than 4,830 feet of the run.

Heavenly General Manager Pete Sonntag said crews used a chairlift to help transport the snow to the top of the mountain then pushed it down the run.

"We hope this is a project we never have to do again. But with natural snow being tough to come by this season, we felt that opening Skyline was a critical component to the overall experience for our guests," Sonntag said.

5-day forecast

Snow likely on weekend, see page A23.