Major Sierra storm expected to snarl high country traffic Christmas Eve, Day

CBS News Sacramento's First Alert Weather Team is expecting there to be difficult to impossible travel on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day into Friday in much of the high country, with several feet of snow predicted for the higher elevations and possibly more than a foot of snow in Truckee with snowfall trickling down to Blue Canyon on Christmas. 

The storm will start moving in late Tuesday night, impacting the higher elevations first. It is expected to be the largest snow event of the season. 

Despite the highway headaches, Skiers in town from the Bay Area have fresh powder at the very top of their Christmas wish list. 

"I think tomorrow is going to be good and then obviously with the big storm coming on Christmas, after Christmas it will be awesome," said Tim Lee, in town from Palo Alto with his daughter Imogen, who is on a ski team. 

Struggling ski resorts like Boreal are excited to see potentially several feet of snowfall by Friday. Boreal had to close down the past several days due to the previous storm and its impacts. 

As for the roads? 

"Yeah, we know the drill!" said Lee. 

Sierra traffic is expected to be majorly impacted with potentially blizzard-like and white-out conditions during the storm's peak on Wednesday and Thursday. 

"You don't want to have to leave your house for supplies. I learned that the hard way last year when I got stuck for a while," said Alice Miller, in town with her family from the Bay Area and staying at their cabin near Donner Summit. "We have all of our food and all our things, so we don't really need to leave once the snow starts, which will be great."

These families say they're prepared to hunker down until the storm passes. 

"Do some grocery shopping ahead of time and download a bunch of movies, I guess, watch Netflix. We had a similar experience in South Lake Tahoe a few years ago, and both highways were shut down. We just hunkered down in the hotel for the most part," said Lee. 

"The 80 will probably be closed, everyone is gonna try to zoom up here. It's good to be safe and slow," said Lisa Zengel, in town fromthe Bay Area with her family. 

The Zengel family is headed home early Tuesday to take advantage of the calm conditions while they have them, so they don't get stuck. 

"Seems like there is a break in the storm. We have [my son's] great-grandmother coming into town, who is 99, almost 100 years old, so we have to prioritize getting home to her," said Zengel. 

It's a White Christmas warning to stay safe on the roads and try to check Sierra travel off your to-do list by Tuesday night. 

If that is not an option, come prepared. Make sure to travel with chains and plenty of extra food and water. 

CHP Truckee encourages drivers to prepare now if driving through the area is unavoidable and always check conditions before leaving.