A man walks as high gusts of wind blow snow around during a blizzard in Mammoth Lakes, California, USA, on March 2, 2024. Caroline Brehman, EPA-EFE/file

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, USA — Wicked weather continued to batter Northern California and Nevada on Monday, with heavy snow and winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for the Sierra Nevada through Sunday night and more snow is expected to drop in the area on Monday.

 "High to extreme avalanche danger" has been declared in the Greater Lake Tahoe area, where up to twelve feet of snow were expected in the highest accumulations at elevations above 5,000 feet, as lower levels were drenched with heavy rain.

A Filipino-American family from the San Francisco Bay Area was vacationing in South Lake Tahoe for the weekend when they got caught up in the intense blizzard.

Husband and wife Edwin and Mary Joy Asis, and their three children, Stephen, Scarlette, and Skyler were about to head home on Sunday when they realized the roads were much more dangerous to drive.

Authorities shut down 100 miles of Interstate 80 citing "extremely dangerous to impossible travel conditions." There were also brief closures on Highway 50 for avalanche control.

It took the Asis family seven hours to travel from Tahoe to Reno, on what would have normally been an hour and a half road trip.

Even if their van has tire chains, Edwin says driving was still a scary experience. 

"We were behind a car that was skidding. I was driving very carefully as it was so dark," he said.

Rather than drive back to the Bay Area, the Asis family decided to get a hotel in Reno for the night, panic-stricken, but thankful that they made it out there safely despite zero visibility on the road.

Power outages were also reported in Truckee, Tahoe City, and Zephyr Cove throughout the weekend. - report from Henni Espinosa, ABS-CBN News 

RELATED VIDEO