"Your safe travel window is over in the Sierra," the National Weather Service in Reno warned residents on X on Thursday morning, adding: "Best to hunker down where you are."

The storm began on Thursday afternoon and is expected to last through the weekend. A blizzard warning covers a 300-mile stretch from north of Lake Tahoe to south of Yosemite National Park.

"We're expecting 5-12 FEET of snow above 5000', locally higher over peaks," the National Weather Service in Sacramento warned on X. 

Here's Fox Weather's latest snowfall forecast for the region. 

"This will be a legitimate blizzard," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said during an online briefing Thursday.