Lightning, tornadoes and wild storms: Incredible weather photos

After weeks of dry, warm weather, much of the West will see a wet, cool week with drenching rain and heavy mountain snow, forecasters warned.

“Snowfall in the Sierra, Cascades, and Rockies will be measured in feet and yards,” said Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue in an e-mail to USA TODAY.

“Expect major travel impacts from heavy snow, and mountain travel is highly discouraged during this time!” the National Weather Service in Sacramento, California, said.

In addition to snow, a multitude of other hazards could arise this week, ranging from localized flooding and tornadoes to gusty winds, according to AccuWeather.

California will bear the brunt of the storminess: “It will be a wet week across California as a series of storm systems slam into the state,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Kai Kerkow in an e-mail to USA TODAY. “Multiple inches of rain will fall across much of the state, with several feet of snow expected in the Sierra.”

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How much snow will fall?

Through Wednesday, Feb. 18, about 4 to 8 feet of snow is expected in the Sierra, with the heaviest period likely from Monday night, Feb. 16, through Tuesday, Feb. 17, AccuWeather said.

Snow levels will drop to 4,000 feet by Monday evening, Feb. 16. All Sierra passes could close at times on Monday, Feb. 16, to Wednesday, Feb. 18, including multiple closures of Donner Pass along Interstate 80, according to AccuWeather.

Hazardous but beneficial

Although the rain and snow will be hazardous, the precipitation will be helpful for California’s water needs: “The state’s snowpack is running well below average for this time of year due to a dry and warm weather pattern that lasted from the middle of January through the beginning of February, so the active weather pattern will be beneficial for the summer water supply,” added Kerkow.

The storms will “make up for lost ground from the past several weeks of extraordinary warmth,” Maue said.

Further inland, much of the Rockies is in urgent need of moisture, AccuWeather said. Before this week, water stored in snowpack was near record-minimum levels in Colorado and Utah, a critical portion of the Colorado River basin that serves approximately 40 million people.