California To Receive 12 Feet of Snow in 48 Hours: 'Unfathomable'

Mountain regions of California are set to receive around 10 feet of snow through to Saturday as another strong winter storm from the Pacific Ocean powers across the West Coast.

On Wednesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) station in Sacramento issued a forecast which showed snow totals were expected to reach into double digits across higher elevations of northern and eastern California.

Later the same day, it said that up to 12 feet could fall above 5,000 feet along the Sierra Nevada, with potentially even higher local totals.

"Strong winds and heavy snow will cause extremely dangerous travel conditions, as well as downed trees and branches, and power outages," it warned. "AVOID mountain travel this weekend, and be prepared if you live there."

"Easily the most extreme blizzard forecast I've ever seen in California," Colin McCarthy, a storm chaser and atmospheric science student, wrote. "Unfathomable amounts of snow and wind—not a storm you want to mess with."

Winter storm warnings have been issued across northern California and into Oregon, Washington and western Nevada, with snowfall rates expected to surpass three inches an hour at times.

Blizzard warnings are also in place across California's Sierra Nevada region as winds gusting as high as 75 miles an hour in places are expected to cause blowing and drifting snow, making travel impossible.

The NWS said that the storm would make landfall in the northwest on Wednesday and Thursday, impacting Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, before moving into the northern and central Californian mountains on Friday.

Snow levels are expected to lower on Saturday as temperatures are expected to drop to 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit below normal. As the storm continues to move southwards, snow levels are set to lower into some northern California and Sierra Nevada foothill areas.

It comes after another winter storm from the Pacific made landfall earlier this week before moving into the Intermountain West, bringing intense snowfall from Utah to Wyoming and Colorado.

Western states have already faced several bouts of heavy snowfall so far this winter, having been subjected to a "prolific series" of atmospheric rivers that brought a rare blizzard warning for Seattle in early January.

The NWS said the latest storm will also bring coastal rain to parts of the Pacific Northwest from Wednesday, developing over California from Thursday into Saturday.

It follows a pair of powerful atmospheric river storms from the Pacific Ocean which brought widespread flooding to California earlier in the month.