Photos: 'Life-threatening' blizzard howls in California

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

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.

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).

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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