US storm: Massive blizzard hits California and Nevada
A massive blizzard is continuing to batter parts of California and Nevada in the western United States.
It has shut major roads and ski resorts in the two states, and left more than 15,000 customers without power.
The snowstorm is especially severe in the mountainous Sierra Nevada region, with wind gusts reportedly reaching 305km/h (190mph).
People have been warned of a “high to extreme avalanche danger” there, including the greater Lake Tahoe area.
A power cut map shows nearly 15,000 customers in California and more than 1,000 in Nevada and without electricity.
A 75-mile (121km) stretch of the Interstate 80 highway was shut on Saturday. The California Highway Patrol Office in Truckee, close to the border with Nevada, said on X/Twitter that “emergency personnel and tow trucks had a difficult time getting to motorists due to blizzard conditions.”
The mountain areas were worst hit by the storm.
More than 3m (10ft) of snow was expected at higher elevations, a US National Weather Service meteorologist said on Saturday, which could create “life-threatening concern” for those living near Lake Tahoe.
Several ski resorts around the lake closed on Friday and remained shut on Saturday. Some hope to reopen later on Sunday.
“It’s snowing pretty hard out there, really windy, and power is out to about half the town,” Thomas Petkanas, a bartender at Alibi Ale Works in Incline Village, near Lake Tahoe, told the Associated Press news agency by phone.
“We’re one of the few spots open today,” he added.
Yosemite National Park was closed on Friday, and visitors were asked to leave by noon. It will remain closed at least until Sunday afternoon, and possibly even longer depending on the weather conditions.
Weather forecasters have urged people to remain where they are over the weekend, warning it could take significant time to dig commuters out of the snow if they got stuck in the storm.
Some other parts of the US continue to experience extreme weather.
Wildfires are raging in Texas, where firefighters are struggling to contain the massive blaze amid difficult weather conditions.
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