With the ski resort closed Saturday, the shop was busy with tourists, Abadilla said. “They say, ‘We’re tired of staying in our hotel room watching the same movies.’”

At the same time, local residents were avoiding shopping or even going out because of the dangerous conditions. “We just want to stay home,” she said.

Despite the storm, the Mammoth Film Festival scheduled through Monday, continued with its schedule, said Tanner Beard, the event’s co-founder.

Caltrans workers assisted, Beard said, when some people expected to work at a festival event got stuck in Bishop and were able to follow behind snow plows up the mountain to get to Mammoth Lakes.

Beard said it was the third blizzard to hit at the time of the annual film festival in the last six years.

“Nothing will stop filmmakers,” he said. “The show must go on.”

The rare blizzard warning issued by the National Weather Service office in Reno will last through Sunday morning. The blizzard warning extends from Lassen Volcanic National Park in Shasta County to Kings Canyon National Park in Fresno County.

Blizzard warnings for the Sierra Nevada are issued only once annually or once every other year.

There should be a bit of a lull starting Sunday morning, but there will still be chances of snow showers that will continue into Wednesday, the weather service said, especially for the Sierra north of Highway 50. Drier weather is expected after that.

Thousands of customers in the Tahoe area were without power Saturday, according to the Truckee Donner Public Utility District and Liberty Utilities.

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