A major concern on the roads tonight.
This is a live look on Hwy
50 in South Lake Tahoe.
People have been stuck in bumper
to bumper traffic just as more
snow is about to hit overnight.
Within the last couple of hours,
Nevada's governor declared he intends
to issue a state of emergency related
to the storm and storm conditions.
This declaration will allow Nevada state
officials to order cars on Hwy 50,
Highway 207 and Hwy 28 to turn
around and head back into Nevada.
They say this will help prevent
drivers from becoming stranded
overnight on the roadways.
Potentially running out of gas in
subfreezing temperatures without
access to emergency services,
we reached out to Governor Newsome's
office and just heard back from Cal OES,
who says they continue to monitor
the situation.
Now these are the conditions that
we've been seeing all day bumper to
bumper traffic on Hwy 50 and we've also
seen major traffic backups today on I-80,
just hours after the Interstate
reopened to essential travel.
Only.
Keep in mind people have been trying
to get home after these roads were
closed for days due to our record snow.
And we have live team coverage tonight,
ABC 10 meteorologist Carly Gomez
is tracking that incoming snow
and rain in the valley ABC 10s.
Luke Cleary has been along Hwy 50
speaking with travelers today,
but we begin with ABC 10s,
Giacomo Luca, just off I-80,
and Applegate, Giacomo?
What do you see tonight?
Well Mike, you can see just
behind us are those semis.
They're being stopped off of I-80 not
being allowed to pass as Caltrans
halts all nonessential big rigs as
they urge others to avoid traveling.
Tonight still, thousands made the track
nearly turning 80 into a parking lot.
Traffic slowed to a crawl along
I-80 just hours after eastbound
lanes reopened Tuesday night.
Many of these cars full of families
and other holiday travelers
who have been stuck since.
Mother Nature dumped mounds
of snow over the weekend.
We knew the traffic is gonna be super bad,
but we're just trying to
get home back to Truckee.
Stuck at his in-laws and
Orville since Christmas Eve,
Ryan Kostich is prepared
to wait hours to get home.
Yeah, we're doing all we can just
to get back tonight so we're
comfortable a central travel.
Only urges Caltrans as transportation
crews continue working to clear feet
of snow and countless downed trees,
so I was stuck until they told me
Leon Wars are learned the hard way.
Getting stuck in deep slush on
the way to his coal fax home,
only able to get out after
a little help from the CHP.
The resident of 12 years says he hasn't
seen snow like this here before.
I've had four inches.
I've had five inches but it didn't last.
Meanwhile,
dozens of truckers like Shahbag Singh.
Are being halted at Applegate
until it's safe.
He's trying to get home to Canada.
New Years is coming so I I want
to be home as soon as possible.
Let's see if that happens.
I for us I know so many people are
going to be crossing their fingers
this evening hoping that Mother Nature
will give us a window to let so many
people get across the mountain range
before a big storm potentially could
hit next week or in the coming days.
Gonna watch out for thank you and we want
to take a live look along I-80 tonight.
This is at kingvale some good news here is
things on I-80 right now are looking somewhat
better than they were earlier tonight,
but again, agencies are warning that
I-80 is for essential travel only.
If you do not need to travel
through the Sierra tonight,
do not get on the roads. Meanwhile,
we continue to track massive power outages
in the Sierra and the foothills tonight.
And this is a live look at
the PG and E outage map.
PG and E is encouraging people to
check the status of their outages.
On the PG and E map,
if you're without power and you
think it needs to be reported,
you can do so on PG and E's website.
This is new video tonight out of
downtown Grass Valley, the area,
looking like a virtual ghost town.
Emergency crews have been working around
the clock to get the power back on.
Still, it's been days for 10s of
thousands of people to sit in the
dark in freezing cold temperatures,
and these are new images tonight
from Cal Fire.
They say engine crews have
been out with hand crews,
including staff from the
National Guard to clear roads.
These pictures were taken in Nevada
County around Alta Sierra where
tree removal continues tonight.
Cal Fire says they're coordinating
and sharing resources across
the Highway 174 and Hwy.
49 corridors into Nevada County.
As they prepare for the next storm tonight,
they add they have all of their
county volunteer and state
engine companies fully staffed.
Let's check in with Carla Gomez
who's watching what's happening.
Carla, how worried should we be tonight?
You know, all those people stuck out there.
I am just praying for them
because it is definitely cold.
We know that 80 now has been open and
some people trying to get through
before the next storm arrives.
And it is here we're already starting
to see some of that Slush had.
Lower elevations right now and more of that
snow hitting some of the higher elevations.
Taking a look at 80 at Applegate cars
trying to get through as well and
a lot of people have destinations.
They're just trying to come back from
or go to so we understand that this
has been a pretty historic event and
heavy snow over the last few days.
And really the last week has
brought those snow totals up.
Looking at our radar right now you
can see some of the rain and showers
spreading to northern areas of the
Sacramento Valley and now through the Sierra.
This morning we're the overnight
hours into your morning hours.
I should say we do expect some of
the heaviest snow from midnight.
To 7:00 AM,
we'll see that winter storm warning
continue to be in effect until
Wednesday 10:00 PM and then the
Winter Weather advisory.
You can see here in this purple shade
this extends all the way down the
coastal range at some lower elevations
from Orland north along I-5 we could
even see a dusting of snow in the valley.
Spots along I-5 N here.
So do you expect that to be in effect
until 12:00 PM on Wednesday right now
in the Gilmore backyard a nice evening.
The wind kind of picking up just a
tiny bit mid to low 40s right now.
Cold temperatures to come this week.
We'll talk more about that.
Coming up Mike,
hey close attention and we want to
take another live look in South Lake
Tahoe tonight as we've been mentioning,
cars have been crawling along for hours.
Families are trying to get home after
the highway was closed for days.
Many of them not returning home
since before Christmas again.
Nevada's governors reportedly announcing
plans to get people off the roads tonight
in Nevada before that next storm hits
overnight and take a look at this.
This is new video tonight from Nicole Goff,
who says she was stuck in traffic.
For at least seven hours today
in the Tahoe area,
she shot this video showing a semi
truck trying to cut through the mess,
creating its own lane in the process.
Again, officials are stressing that
if you do not need to travel through
the Sierra tonight, do not do it.
ABC tends.
Luke Cleary was along Hwy 50 today
looking at the conditions there.
We sent out this morning to cover the
record snowfall from deep in the Sierra,
but this traffic jam stood in our way.
People here have been waiting for as long
as three hours in bumper to bumper traffic.
On a long and potentially dangerous
journey to the mountains. On the way
to go so you know it is what it is.
When Interstate 80 closed,
it changed a lot of plants.
Well, the plan was to go to 80,
so this was the second
round but it didn't stop.
Thousands of people from
trying to get to Lake Tahoe.
It is bumper to bumper.
Some people honked their horns
'cause the game adding up,
but that's alright.
Cars and trucks crawl along
the winding mountain roads,
some pulling off at
Placerville's Apple Bistro.
Oh, it's it's been crazy.
Owner Jeanette Waldo says many
could end up getting stuck.
They need to be prepared.
You know, you gotta bring your chains,
and when it gets really bad,
they want chains on all four wheels.
Let's plan.
Nothing much just hanging out the snow,
but there is a lot of traffic
so we just decided to stop here
for Diego Martinez and his family.
Snowball fights are helping pass
the time before they head back
home to Arbuckle.
For people who live in the area,
though, things could get
worse before they get better,
we're having lunch 'cause we
have no power in our home.
GAIL Gloria found refuge at
Apple Bistro after she says 17
trees fell in her neighborhood,
taking out power and
blocking the only driveway
out. She and some others trudged
up the hill with their kids. People
might say hey, you live on the
mountains or used to smell strong.
Oh no, this is our very first year.
We moved here a year ago.
The locals that I've known the
older mountain people that
are on our hill that have been
here for 10 years 20 years.
They just hunker down.
They have it.
They're prepared, they stay
away from all this as
much as possible. Hwy 50
remains open to Lake Tahoe while
parts of eastbound I-80 now reopened,
but Caltrans says if you don't absolutely
have to make this journey tonight,
you should probably wait.
So if you're looking for road conditions,
check the Caltrans quick
map before you travel.
This is what it looks like,
and the web address is there
on your screen for days.
We've been reporting that navigation apps
are taking people on the back roads,
causing unneeded rescues for emergency
crews so you can find a link to
this quick map on abc10.com link.