Blizzard warning issued in Sierra, areas of Butte, Tehama counties

CHICO — A storm warning has been upgraded to a blizzard warning by the National Weather Service Sacramento, scheduled to begin Thursday and end Sunday in the Sierra Nevada including parts of Butte and Tehama counties 2,000 feet elevation and above.

The warning cites dangerous and impossible mountain travel with 5-10 feet of snow forecast above 5,000 feet and 1-4 feet above 3,000 feet.

“This will be the coldest storm of the season so far,” with snow levels dropping into Sierra foothill communities, said meteorologist Courtney Carpenter in a video address, “different from a lot of the warmer systems we’ve seen so far this season.”

In some foothill communities, tree damage and downed power lines may result from a combination of windy conditions and low elevation snow, according to Carpenter.

The Paradise ridge, which Butte County declared an emergency in 2023 because of snowfall, appears to be just outside the blizzard warning area, according to Meteorologist Karl Swanberg.

Precipitation in Paradise on Thursday and Friday, during the wettest part of the storm, is forecast to come in the form of rain rather than snow, Swanberg said.

By late Saturday and Early Sunday, snow will be more likely in the ridge communities as snow levels are forecast to drop as low as 1,000 feet in that time.

“Right now it looks like most of it is going to fall in the form of liquid,” Swanberg said about the possibility of snow in Paradise, but by then, precipitation will be lighter.

Swanberg said heavy snow is forecast above 2,000 feet, at which tree damage and downed power lines are more likely.

Along with snow in the mountains, high winds are forecast in the valley with 45-55 mph wind gusts forecast Thursday in Red Bluff and Chico with a 35% and 22% chance respectively of gusts more than 55 mph.

In higher elevations, a 100% chance of wind gusts more than 55 mph is forecast.

“If you need to travel, we suggest doing it Wednesday into early Thursday and avoiding it until this system clears out sometime on Sunday,” Carpenter said.