Winter storm slams western U.S., bringing heavy snow to Northern California

A fire captain Chris Coombs removes limbs from a large redwood tree that fell in a front yard in Monte Rio, Calif., on Saturday. (Kent Porter/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 Sunday across large swaths of California into Nevada.

More than 250 miles (400 km) of the Sierra from north of Reno south to Yosemite National Park remained under winter storm warnings either until late Sunday or early Monday.