A rare blizzard warning has been issued for much of the Sierra and Lake Tahoe beginning Wednesday evening.
National Weather Service forecasters in Reno said Tuesday as much as 5 feet of snow is now possible in the upper elevations around Tahoe Wednesday night into Thursday, with winds gusting up to 110 mph over the ridge tops.
They say dangerous and potentially life-threatening blizzard conditions are forecast at elevations above 7,000 feet, with high avalanche danger throughout the region.
Between 8 and 18 inches of snow is expected at lake level at Tahoe. Up to 6 inches is forecast for the valley floors around Reno and Carson City.
The Sierra blizzard warning runs from 7 p.m. Wednesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.
A series of winter weather advisories and storm warnings began at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
