Sierra Nevada

American  

[see-er-uh nuh-vad-uh, -vah-duh, syer-rah ne-vah-thah] / siˈɛr ə nəˈvæd ə, -ˈvɑ də, ˈsyɛr rɑ nɛˈvɑ ðɑ /

noun

1. a mountain range in E California. Highest peak, Mt. Whitney, 14,495 feet (4,420 meters).

2. a mountain range in S Spain. Highest peak, Mulhacén, 11,420 feet (3,480 meters).

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Sierra Nevada British  

noun

1. a mountain range in E California, parallel to the Coast Ranges. Highest peak: Mount Whitney, 4418 m (14 495 ft)

2. a mountain range in SE Spain, mostly in Granada and Almería provinces. Highest peak: Cerro de Mulhacén, 3478 m (11 411 ft)

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Sierra Nevada Cultural  

1. Mountain range in eastern California.

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Location of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the United States outside of Alaska.

Example Sentences

A spring storm dropped up to 3.5 feet of snow in California’s Sierra Nevada, prompting Mammoth Mountain to announce it would remain open until at least Memorial Day.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

This 137-acre, safari-like property on the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains can be yours for $5.1 million.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026

Jerry Brown stood on brown, barren slopes of the Sierra Nevada to watch scientists measure the most meager snowpack in history.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026

With temperatures running far above normal, snow in the Sierra Nevada is likely to melt weeks earlier than usual, reducing the amount of water that can be gradually released into reservoirs later in the year.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

The crust beneath the Sierra Nevada Mountains, for instance, is only about nineteen to twenty-five miles thick, and no one knows why.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson