The Day The Temperature Rose 103 Degrees

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.​

A winter storm tracking into the West is bringing blizzard conditions to California's Sierra Nevada, while also spreading snow and strong winds through other parts of the region.

T​his system has been named Winter Storm Quest by The Weather Channel.

Q​uest will eventually become a coast-to-coast storm that spreads snow and ice into the Midwest and East later this week. See this link for a look at that part of the forecast.

H​ere's a breakdown of what we expect from this storm in the West.

W​est Forecast

Alerts: B​lizzard warnings are posted in California's Sierra Nevada, where a combination of snow and high winds will make travel treacherous, if not impossible, into Wednesday.

Winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories and winter storm watches are in effect from lower elevations of the Pacific Northwest into the Rockies.

What To Expect: Multiple waves of snow will impact parts of the Northwest, California's Sierra and the Rockies from now through Wednesday.

T​hat means you can expect heavy snow and strong winds at times in the Sierra and in other mountainous areas. Lower elevations of California will see periods of rain.

Snow levels are still very low in the West, so travel impacts aren't just limited to mountain passes.

Snow Totals Forecast: T​he heaviest snow is expected in California's Sierra, where several feet of additional snow will pile up through Wednesday. Storm totals could be up to 6 or 7 feet.

M​ore than a foot of snow could coat higher elevations of the Rockies and Wasatch, including Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.