First Snow! Sierras & Rockies under Winter Storm Warnings

While the Northeast gets its first taste of sunshine in over a week, many out West are bracing for the first snow of the season.

The West Coast is expecting a storm more likely in mid-winter that will linger through Friday.

In California, the foothills of the southern Sierras could pick up between two and three inches. Snowfall in the central and southern Sierras could tally over 12 inches at elevations above 8,000 feet.

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Tuesday evening through Wednesday evening.

Heavy snow is also expected to accumulate over 10 inches above 7,000 feet in the mountains of Nevada through Thursday.

As the storm moves into the Intermountain West from Montana down to Arizona and New Mexico, heavy snow is expected to accumulate above 8,000 to 10,000 feet.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for much of the higher elevations of Colorado from Wednesday night through Thursday night.

A Winter Storm Warning goes into effect from midnight on Wednesday through 6 a.m. Friday for the San Juan and West Elk mountains in western Colorado.

The East Coast saw its first splash of snow in the mountains of West Virginia last week. On Saturday, the Pocahontas County ski mecca, Snowshoe Mountain Resort, received four inches of snow.

Snowshoe, at 4,848 feet above sea level, was forecast to receive just a few flakes. This was the earliest recorded snow on the East Coast in six years and the leaves in West Virginia have not even turned yet.

Other locations in the Appalachia reported up to nine inches, though most areas saw just a small dusting on Saturday.

Maine may see its first taste of snow on Wednesday as a system works its way out of the East Coast. Some wet snow is expected to mix in with rain in the northern mountains.

Elsewhere in the East, it should be nothing but sunshine skies and mild temperatures through early next week.