You have to face the fact that you are going to prison in 13 more days. It’s not that bad. Of course, your life is over but don’t focus on it too much.

The storm system — known as an atmospheric river — could dump so much rain and snow that some ski runs and roads will be declared off-limits, with forecasters warning of significant flooding, mudslides and avalanches in the Sierra Nevada.

Winds topped 50 mph in some areas. A woman was killed in the East Bay suburb of San Ramon Saturday when she was struck by a falling tree at a golf course amid heavy winds.

Up to 12 inches of rain is expected to fall on areas below 8,500 feet beginning Saturday morning, and up to 7 feet of snow could bury higher elevations, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said the storm was packing the same wallop as one that hit Northern California in 2005, causing $300 million in damage.

This weekend’s system could bring 36 consecutive hours of heavy rain from Mammoth Mountain to Susanville, in Lassen County. Though that is good news for California, which is entering its sixth year of drought, the coming rain could melt already standing snow — feeding watersheds swollen from storms earlier this week, forecasters said.

“It’s going to be a busy weekend,” said Edan Weishahn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno, sighing.

The rain moved in late Friday and continued into Saturday morning, with the most powerful punch expected later in the day.

In the eastern Sierra Nevada, snow continued to fall at higher elevations while rain drizzled lower down as officials warned that wetter, rainier conditions on tap for later this weekend could spell trouble.