Heavy Hail Drifts Look Like Snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Eric Chaney
Published: July 22,2015

A severe storm swept through the Sierra Nevada Tuesday afternoon, dumping at least 3 inches of hail around Truckee and Donner Summit, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

"Moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Dolores helped spawn thunderstorms over the mountains,” said Nick Wiltgen, senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel. “Meanwhile, there was enough cold air in the upper atmosphere to generate hail – in fact, the air was below freezing only a few thousand feet above the ground in the Sierra, so most of the hail made it to the ground without melting into raindrops."
(MORE: California Gets 'Super Historic' July Rainfall Thanks to Former Hurricane Dolores)
The result was snow-like drifts of hail, individual pieces of which were up to an inch in diameter, that buried backyards, parking lots and roadways. The hail drifts also caused traffic problems along Interstate 80. The westbound lanes at Donner Summit slowed to a virtual standstill for several hours, according to KRCA, and at least one accident was reported due to the weather. Several area counties were under flash flood warnings until nearly 5 p.m.
Below is a slideshow with more images from Tuesday's hailstorm.