Storm continues to make travel difficult through Northern Nevada and Sierra

The Nevada Highway Patrol remains busy today attending to a number of weather-related accidents between Carson City and Reno, Trooper Chuck Allen reports.

With a winter storm warning in effect until 4 p.m. today followed by a blast of cold weather through Wednesday, conditions on Northern Nevada roads remain icy and will likely continue that way through the holiday travel period.

"Obviously it's treacherous the higher you go," Allen said. "We're going to have a lot of people traveling on the highways and so my advice to them would be to take a close look at the road reports and make a sound decision before you depart."

Allen said motorists should make sure their vehicles are well-fueled, and that they carry with them essential items such as snow chains, a cell phone and charger, warm clothes, a shovel, food and water.

"Motorists should be prepared to expect delays and slowdowns and figure them into their travel plans," he said.

Click here for the latest road restrictions and closures.

Here's the latest run down as reported by Allen on problems experienced today:

Washoe Valley:
Traffic on U S 395 in Washoe Valley was detoured at approximately 8:12 am due to very poor visibility, slide-offs, and several spin-outs and accidents. Southbound traffic was re-routed onto State Route 429 while northbound was re-routed onto East Lake Blvd. This traffic plan was utilized to prevent or minimize the risks of head-on collision between north and south bound traffic on SR 429. Northbound traffic was allowed to proceed on U S 395 at approximately 10:17 am, and southbound traffic on US 395 resumed at around 10:58 am. Several accidents and many spin-outs were reported.

Mt. Rose Highway-State Route 431:
Due to extremely poor visibility and white-out conditions this morning, a portion of the Mount Rose Highway was closed during the following time frames. At approximately 9:42 am, the Reno side of the highway was blocked at Joy Lake Road and the Incline Village side was closed near mile marker 5, or 5 miles from the intersection of Highway 28. The Reno side was re-opened at approximately 12:18 am, and the Incline side was re-opened at approximately 12:32 pm. There was an accident involving a NDOT snow plow truck and a white Chevrolet pickup shortly before the road closure.

A motorist had apparently abandoned his pickup briefly near the right portion of the roadway in an effort to assist another motorist who was installing traction control devices. Due to the poor visibility, and the fact that the vehicle was parked partially in the travel lane, the front of the snow plow struck the rear of the vehicle causing very minor damage to the parked pickup and no damage to the plow truck. No one was injured. Additionally, many, many slide-offs and spin-outs were reported on the highway this morning.

Interstate 80 at the state line:
Westbound traffic has been closed to big rigs most of the day. Passenger vehicles proceeded west were being screened and must be 4-wheel-drive or have traction control devices. Numerous spinouts and slide-offs reported all morning between Verdi and the state line.

Downed power line on Interstate 80:
At approximately 11:19 am NHP was alerted to a power line that had broken and was lying on a portion of one of the westbound travel lanes approximately .5 mile west of Robb Drive. Although the line had snapped, it was partially draped over the existing power lines above.

Initially it was safe to allow westbound traffic to proceed past the event utilizing the far right portion of the freeway. As the winds picked up speed, the wire moved toward the center of the highway where it became necessary to stop all west bound travelers from continuing. This closure lasted for approximately 15 minutes while the NV Energy personnel responded to the scene. As soon as they arrived they were able to safely move the downed wire out of the travel lanes. Both lanes were reopened at approximately 11:51 am. Sometime this afternoon, NV Energy will re-string another wire across the highway which will require a 5-10 minute road closure.