Photos: 'Life-threatening' blizzard howls in California

Blowing snow was creating 'extremely dangerous to impossible' driving conditions

Last updated: March 03, 2024 | 07:28

Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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Truckee, Calif. : A powerful blizzard that a meteorologist termed “as bad as it gets” howled in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

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More than 10 feet (3 meters) of snow was expected at higher elevations, National Weather Service meteorologist William Churchill said Saturday, creating a “life-threatening concern” for residents near Lake Tahoe and blocking travel on the key east-west freeway.

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Earlier, the weather service warned that blowing snow was creating “extremely dangerous to impossible" driving conditions, with wind gusts in the high mountains at more than 100 mph (160 kph).

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A customer pushes their grocery cart through the snow to their car as a blizzard hits Mammoth Lakes, California.

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Snow falls north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains during a powerful winter storm.

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A pedestrian crosses train tracks as snow falls north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains during a powerful winter storm.

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A man removes snow as a blizzard hits Mammoth Lakes, California.

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A truck is left buried as a blizzard hits Mammoth Lakes, California.

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Vehicles drive on I-80 as snow falls north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains during a powerful winter storm in Truckee, California.

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A person walks through the winds as a blizzard hits Mammoth Lakes, California.

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