Storm blowing through California dumps snow in Sierra

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Heavy snow fell in the Sierra Nevada as a winter storm packing powerful winds sent ski lift chairs swinging and closed mountain highways while downpours at lower elevations triggered flood watches across large swaths of California into Nevada. More than 250 miles of the Sierra remained under a winter storm warning at least until late Sunday from north of Reno south to Yosemite. On Saturday, the storm shut down highways, toppled trees and triggered flood watches and avalanche warnings. The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab says Sunday that more than 43 inches had fallen in 48 hours.