Sierra passes face blizzard conditions Friday as the Northeast gets mountain snow and the East turns colder

Winter weather is lining up on both coasts this week, and the worst of it for freight is aimed at the Sierra Nevada. In its Nov. 11 short-range discussion, the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center said a strong Pacific storm arriving Friday, Nov. 13, will bring heavy snow and high winds to the range, with blizzard conditions at the higher elevations. The center called travel there "dangerous to impossible."

The Weather Service's Reno office has a winter storm watch out for the greater Lake Tahoe area, which takes in I-80 through Truckee and U.S. 50 into South Lake Tahoe. The watch runs from Friday morning through Saturday afternoon and calls for about 12 inches of snow above 7,000 to 7,500 feet, up to 6 inches lower down, ridge gusts of 60 to 80 mph and 35 to 45 mph gusts in Truckee and the lake towns, POWDER reported Nov. 11.

Timing is the key for dispatch. In a Nov. 10 forecast discussion, the Reno office said the high passes would get snow first, starting Friday afternoon, with lower Sierra towns and roads hit overnight into Saturday morning, when the heaviest snow is most likely. Its advice for anyone who has to cross was to go before Friday or expect serious delays. A second storm is due Sunday evening, it said.

Wind is the other risk, mostly for empty and light trailers east of the crest. In the same Nov. 10 discussion, the Reno office gave gusts above 45 mph a 40% or better chance on Friday afternoon across northeast California, the Sierra and far western Nevada, and put the odds of gusts of 60 mph or more in Reno and along U.S. 395 and I-580 at 20% to 30%.

In the East, the Weather Prediction Center expects a coastal storm to soak the Northeast on Thursday and Friday, with rain turning to snow Thursday night on the high ground of New York and northern New England, where snow is likely to make roads slick. It also sees snow possible in the central and southern Appalachians into the weekend and heavy lake-effect snow in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The Weather Channel said Nov. 11 it does not expect snow in the big I-95 metros but warned of strong gusts and coastal flooding at high tide from North Carolina's northern Outer Banks to New England. Behind the cold front, the Weather Prediction Center said Nov. 11, overnight lows will reach the 20s across much of the central U.S., with widespread frost and freezes in the South and Southeast this weekend.

What it means for carriers

- Move Sierra freight before Friday where you can. After that, plan for chain controls and possible holds on I-80 and U.S. 50 into Saturday, and check Caltrans and NDOT before dispatch.
- Keep empty and light trailers off exposed stretches of U.S. 395 and I-580 around Reno during Friday afternoon's wind.
- Don't count on a quick recovery. The Reno office saw a crossing window from late Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, if roads improve.
- In the Northeast, expect slick mountain routes Thursday night and Friday, and gusty wind near the coast.

What shippers and brokers should watch

- Build extra transit time into Friday and Saturday appointments for freight moving between Northern California and Nevada.
- Flag protect-from-freeze loads such as beverages, paint and liquid chemicals now, as the cold spreads south and east.
- Watch spot quotes and tender rejections on Sierra and Northeast lanes if the storms hold trucks into the weekend.