Alva Review-Courier -

TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — A powerful blizzard that a meteorologist termed "as bad as it gets" howled in the Sierra Nevada mountains, closing a long stretch of Interstate 80 in Northern California, forcing ski resorts to shut down, and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

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.

"It's a blizzard," said Dubravka Tomasin, a resident of...