Blizzard leaves thousands of homes without power in California and Nevada

Vehicles make their way along a snow-covered road during a storm (Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP)

A powerful blizzard that a meteorologist called “as bad as it gets” has howled through the Sierra Nevada mountains in the US, closing major roads, forcing ski resorts to shut and leaving tens of thousands of homes without power.

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