Snowfall tops 6.5 feet in California and there’s 5 inches of rain in the southern part of the state
Winter storm warnings in the Sierra North and South, and higher-altitude flooding and fire warnings for Sacramento and Yosemite
A winter storm warning was in effect into Sunday for the upper elevations of the Sierra from south of Yosemite National Park to north of Lake Tahoe, where as much as 5 feet (1.5 meters) of snow is possible atop the mountains, the National Weather Service said in Reno, Nevada.
The ski resorts of the West could see as much as a foot of snow in the next five days, making for an especially dangerous time for skiers and snowboarders. isolated areas will get over 3 feet of snow, while more mountainous high altitudes will only get 1 to 3 feet.
A 70-mile (112-kilometer) stretch of eastbound U.S. Interstate 80 was closed “due to zero visibility” from Colfax, California to the Nevada state line, transportation officials said. Chains were required on much of the rest of I-80 in the mountains from Reno toward Sacramento.
Many parts of California were buried under a significant amount of snow in recent days, and some places received more than 100 inches in the last week, according to the National Weather Service, leading authorities to warn residents about possible avalanches. The sheriff’s office said that residents in the three-story apartment building in Olympic Valley had to be evacuated after they were struck by a slide Tuesday evening. The building’s occupants were uninjured.
On Saturday gusts of wind of 50 to 80 mph sent trees into homes, and the National Weather Service said they could reach 100 mph by Sunday.
The region will get up to 4-7 inches of rain with isolated areas getting up to 6 inches. The Northern California area could receive up to 7 inches of rain.
On Saturday the weather service issued a flash flood warning after rain on burn scars south of Monterey and to the south of Big Sur.
The SMUD/UCSF Outage Counts for the First Big Storm and It’s Forecast to Be a Picture Postcard for California
The online map from the Utility District showed that 153,000 customers were without power on Saturday. “SMUD crews are responding to outages across the region during this powerful winter storm,” the utility said in a Twitter message, adding that it was preparing additional resources while working to restore power.
San Francisco Bay Area officials reported power outages and fallen trees, some of which damaged cars and homes. In Monte Rio, a small town along the Russian River in Sonoma County, firefighters responded to several reports of downed trees crashing into homes in 50 mph wind gusts.
Four different down trees caused damage to houses and no one was hurt, according to the Chief of the Monte Rio Fire Department.
“This is our first big storm and we’ve had several years of low precipitation, the trees were dry.” They’re filling up with water now, and they’restarting to topple over,” he said.
California may be able to benefit from the storms. The critical source of water that has suffered under severe drought was running more than 150% of normal levels late last week, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
A line of storms, which will spread eastward from middle Tennessee and northwest Alabama with damaging winds and tornadoes, is the primary hazard, the storm center said.
Though the storm is walloping some areas with severe weather, it’s forecast to track across drought-stricken areas, bringing much needed relief – including to the Mississippi River Valley area, where excessive rainfall is possible Wednesday.
As the storm pushes northward, it “will produce a swath of heavy snow from the Upper Midwest through New England Friday and Saturday,” the National Weather Service said. “Significant sleet and freezing rain is possible just south of the heaviest snow.”
Mark was forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Reno, and he said the water content is two thirds of normal.
It looks like Christmas out here. It did not come with much wind, and it stuck to everything. It’s like a picture postcard.”
While he noted that the snow totals so far are impressive,Deutschendorf said he is cautiously optimistic about this precipitation putting a big dent in the state.
We’re Buried’: A Snowmass at the Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort, Olympic Valley, California During the First Day of Breakout
“We’re Buried,” the Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort wrote on its website Sunday, sharing photos of thick snow covering the ski resort in Olympic Valley, California.
This has been an incredible season here at the camp. We’ve already surpassed our annual seasonal snowfalls,” she said, noting the summits have received about 550 inches. We are back in it for the next week or two, after we had some much-needed sunshine.
The storm spurred wind gusts strong enough to topple tractor-trailer trucks, leaving more than 1 million people without power and threatening to bring more torrential rain, tornadoes and heavy snow.
The warning comes as this week’s severe weather across the state triggered numerous power outages, which persisted for more than 100,000 homes and businesses in several counties early Saturday as temperatures are expected to plummet, with Northern California possibly seeing below-freezing temperatures.
Heavy rain and mountain snow are predicted in the coming week by the National Weather Service. Atmospheric river storms are long plumes of moisture stretching out into the Pacific and are capable of dropping staggering amounts of rain and snow.
It was the first of several storms expected to roll across California over the next week. The current system is expected to be warm and moist while next week’s storms will be cooler, which will lower snow levels in the mountains.
The first wave is impacting parts of Southern California and the Four Corners region that includes parts of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Low elevation rainfall and high elevation snowfall will move out of California by late Wednesday morning and remain in the Four Corners area until Thursday.
A flood watch was in effect across much of Northern California through New Year’s Eve. Officials warned that rivers and streams could overflow and urged residents to get sandbags ready.
The San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in Mendocino County near the unincorporated community of Piercy and in the Mendocino National Forest were closed due to landslides.
Humboldt County, where a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck on Dec. 20, also saw roadways begin to flood, according to the National Weather Service’s Eureka office. A bridge that was temporarily closed last week due to earthquake damage may be closed again if the Eel River, which it crosses, gets too high, officials said.
The state transportation agency reported numerous road closures, including Highway 70 east of Chico, which was partially closed by a slide, and the northbound side of Highway 49, east of Sacramento, which was closed because of flooding. A section of Highway 50 was closed east of the state capital because of flooding.
The American River where a lot of the unhoused people live is prone to flooding so the fire department plans to broadcast emergency notifications from a helicopter and a boat.
The weather service in Reno said strong winds could cause tree damage and lead to power outages.
On the Sierra’s eastern front, flood watches and warnings were issued into the weekend north and south of Reno, Nevada, where minor to moderate flooding was forecast along some rivers and streams.
At Susanville, California about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Reno, the Susan River was forecast to rise from about 5 feet (1.5 meters) Friday to a foot (30 centimeters) above the flood stage of 12 feet (3.6 meters) by Saturday morning, causing moderate flooding that could affect some homes, roads and bridges, the National Weather Service said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office says it’s snowing and raining in the first three weeks of the California drought-parched season
The rain was welcomed in drought-parched California, but much more precipitation is needed to make a significant difference. The past three years have been the driest on record in California.
“Too many road closures to count at this point,” the weather agency in Sacramento said in an afternoon tweet. Sacramento County urged residents in the unincorporated community of Wilton to evacuate, warning that flooded roadways could “cut off access to leave the area.”
The California Highway Patrol said a section of U.S. 101 — one of the state’s main traffic arteries — was closed indefinitely south of San Francisco because of flooding. Videos on Twitter showed mud-colored water streaming along San Francisco streets, and a staircase in Oakland turned into a veritable waterfall by heavy rains.
The photos of the flooded railroad underpass and the car that was stuck in the water were posted by the police department.
It was the first of several storms expected to roll across California over the next week. Hannah said the current system is expected to be warmer and wetter than next week’s storms.
The state climatologist Michael Anderson told a news briefing late Saturday that officials were keeping an eye on three other systems in the Pacific and were closely monitoring Monday’s incoming storm.
Tardy said that this isn’t a question of if it’s raining or snowing, but how much it is.
East of Los Angeles, Mount Baldy could get up to 4.5 feet of snow by Saturday. This has Mount Baldy Ski Lifts General Manager Robby Ellingson concerned.
South Lake Tahoe’s snow operations team is ready to plow roadways, bike trails and sidewalks, said Assistant City Manager Lindsey Baker. And their first priority is ensuring emergency vehicles can get where they need to go.
Pedestrians Can’t Stop Talking About Winter Break in the Minneapolis-Milwau County Snowfields: The Nature of the Snow and its Implications
The emerging storm, she said, is “not anything unusual” – and the city anticipates it won’t be the same kind of “non-stop, all hands-on deck situation” they experienced earlier this year.
According to Lauren Burke, the mountain is over its average snowfall of 400 inches for the year.
The region got 17 feet of snow in two weeks, which caused road and ski lift closings, as well as heaps of snow to be shoveled.
But this February’s storm should be more manageable for the region – even if its summit gets between 15 and 21 inches of snow Friday, as the National Weather Service predicts. The “perfect amount of snow to get out there and ski and ride” should come from the storm.
Heavy snow is falling at rates of 1-2 inches an hour near the Great Lakes, and combined with 40-50 mph winds. The NWS wrote, “That will cause significant impacts that will include major disruptions to travel, infrastructure, livestock and recreation.”
Airports across the Midwest, including in Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit have faced a plethora of cancellations. More than 1,600 flights were canceled on Wednesday. Thursday brought more of the same — more than 1,700 flights were canceled and almost 10,000 delayed as of Thursday morning, according to FlightAware.
Record-breaking Temperatures in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Ohio Valley of the Northern Hemisphere on Wednesday: Southern California and Los Angeles
Simultaneously, parts of the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley are seeing record-setting warmth: The NWS says temperatures on Thursday are forecasted to be as much as 40 degrees above normal.
Atlanta was 81 degrees on Wednesday, a new record. Washington, D.C., reached 79 degrees, New Orleans reached 83 degrees and Nashville, Tenn., was 80 degrees on Wednesday.
The storm came with a rare blizzard warning for southern California and the Los Angeles region.
On Friday, the forecasters warned of severe storms that could produce waterspouts, which can cause boats to overturn, and urged boaters to seek a safe harbor immediately. The two counties are also at risk of seeing small tornadoes on land.
San Jose and other areas of the region have been put on a freeze warning. Unsheltered populations, crops, and outdoor plumbing will be at risk due to the sub-freezing conditions.
Michigan in particular was hit with freezing rain and ice that disrupted travel and was risky for livestock and infrastructure. Port Austin and Midland had the most snow, with over 8 inches of it. Meanwhile southern portions of the state saw high accumulations of ice, according to the National Weather Service.
There is a chance that there is light snow in some areas. Meanwhile, across the state, temperatures will be below freezing on Friday. The weather is expected to warm up by Sunday.
The warnings are expected to continue through Saturday. The Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service has not issued a warning in nearly two decades.
An onset of severe weather across the West Coast has spawned unfamiliar wintry conditions at higher elevations, particularly over mountainous areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, where up to a foot of snow may pair with 80 mph winds, the National Weather Service said.
Travelers could not travel due to near zero visibility through early Wednesday morning. There could be power outages and tree damage if there are strong winds. If you plan on travelling, the National Weather Service office in Reno warned that you could become stranded for hours.
Some Los Angeles-area roads were turned into rivers on Friday after bouts of heavy rain, prompting the weather service to issue a flash flood warning.
“Prolonged heavy rainfall rates associated with training showers and thunderstorms may also lead to flash flooding throughout much of the Mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys stretching eastward into the Mid-Atlantic,” the Weather Prediction Center said Friday morning.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the Midwest have been affected by the weather system that struck California and many other states earlier this week.
As of Saturday afternoon, almost 400,000 customers were without power in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us. The two utilities in Michigan, Consumers Energy and DTE, hope to have the lights on in most of their customers by Sunday night.
DTE, one of Michigan’s largest electric providers, is restoring power to stricken areas but cautioned it will not be able to return service to most customers before Sunday.
A Californian Snowstorm After Two Days of Rain and Its Ends: Search-and-rescue in Wyoming, Minnesota, and Los Angeles
Crews in Wyoming were in search-and-rescue mode after more than 40 inches of snow fell in the southern parts of the state over the course of several days and motorists were trapped in heavy snow, the state highway patrol said on Twitter.
In Minnesota, Minneapolis officials declared a one-day snow emergency Friday due to heavy snow, and city crews have been plowing and treating streets. The city received more than 13 inches over the course of a three-day period.
In New England, icy conditions likely contributed to a massive 15-vehicle pileup on the Massachusetts Turnpike Thursday night, according to a tweet by the Massachusetts State Police.
In Los Angeles. A powerful winter storm that wreaked havoc on the West Coast over the course of a few days last week shifted its focus to southern California on Saturday, swelling rivers and piling up snow.
Blizzard warnings continued in the mountains and flood advisories blanketed the region, but forecasters offered some relief, predicting the storm would taper off later in the day.
Flash flooding did hit nearby Ventura County early Saturday, where up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain fell, but by 6 a.m. Saturday, the weather service said the heavy rain in both counties had ended and that flooding was no longer a threat.
Brian Wheeler, a spokesman for Consumers Energy, said half an inch (1.27 centimeters) of ice weighed down some power lines — equivalent to the weight of a baby grand piano.
In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Allison Rinker used a generator to keep her home warm after two nights of darkness.
The Nevada High-Temperature Game kicked off in the early stages of low-pressure ice meltdown and high-frequency tornadoes
“We were all surviving, but spirits were low on the second day,” she said. It was like a complete flip in mindset when the heat came back, we had just one or two lights running.
The ice that fell off the trees was hitting our window so hard that I was afraid it would crack. Half of the trees are falling down. The destruction is out of control.
The low-pressure system was expected to bring widespread rain and snow in southern Nevada by Saturday afternoon and across northwest Arizona Saturday night and Sunday morning, the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas said.
Southern states were unaffected by the cold weather of the North and West. The high temperature for the U.S. on Friday was 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius) at Falcon Lake, Texas, while the low was minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 Celsius) near Huntley, Montana.
A storm system bringing golf ball-sized hail and tornadoes to the South has led to 10 deaths in multiple states as it marches towards the Northeast.
Much of Portland was shut down with icy roads not expected to thaw until Saturday after the city’s second-heaviest snowfall on record this week: nearly 11 inches (28 centimeters).
Tim Varner, a homeless man, and the effects of severe weather in Los Padres, Central Park, New England, and State Route 33
Tim Varner was hiding in a doorway in a Portland storefront to shield him from the wind and ice. Local officials opened six overnight shelters but the 57-year-old, who has been homeless for two decades, said it was too hard to push a shopping cart containing his belongings to reach one.
“It’s impossible,” he said. “The snow gets built up on the wheels of your cart and then you find slippery spots and can’t get no traction. So you’re stuck.”
Travel conditions were dangerous because of the storm. In Los Padres National Forest, State Route 33 was closed due to rock slides and erosion from this and previous storms, according to video from the California Department of Transportation.
The National Weather Service says there will be 4 to 8 inches of snow in northern New England on Tuesday as the cold airlocks over the region.
In Boston and New York City, Winter weather advisories are in effect, with the potential for up to 6 inches of snow. Central Park, which has only received 0.4 inches of snowfall this year, could see 3-5 inches of snowfall through Tuesday afternoon.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told residents to prepare for hazardous travel conditions as the state braces for freezing rain, snowfall rates of at least 1 inch per hour and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour.
All of the schools in Providence were closed Tuesday because of the Governor’s predictions of a difficult morning commute. In anticipation of a significant snowstorm that could bring up to 10 inches of snow, schools in Hartford and all state office buildings were closed.
Heavy snow will fall as far east as the Colorado Rockies and as far south as northern Arizona, resulting in hazardous travel conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the San Bernardino community of Crestline, residents have been immobilized by the copious snowfall and have started to become worried about access to supplies as their sole local grocery store has closed after its roof caved in from heavy snow, resident Paul Solo told CNN.
San Bernardino County is one of 13 counties where California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared states of emergency due to the impacts of severe weather, including massive snowfalls that have collapsed roofs due to too much weight.
The students were stuck at their camps for more than a day after the storm and were supposed to return to their homes last Friday. California Highway Patrol escort the children’s buses down the mountain on Monday so they could get to their families.
The National Weather Service warned that if you plan on traveling by road through West Coast states above 1,000 feet you need to be prepared for fast changing conditions and winter driving supplies.
“Bring chains and know how to use them. Bring a kit that has warm clothes, snacks, and water in case you get delayed. Make sure your vehicle is ready with good tires and working wiper blades,” the Oregon Department of Transportation said.
Collisionless Wind Storms in the Southern Plains. I. The South Plains, Collapsed and Firefighting Regimes
Officials in Oklahoma are still assessing the damage, though the most concentrated impacts appear to be in Norman, Shawnee and possibly Cheyenne, according to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
In total, more than 140 storm reports were made Sunday across the Southern Plains, mainly of wind across Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Several hailstones are reported in those states, with one of them being over two inches in diameter.
Weather experts will work to determine whether the system can be classified as a derecho, a widespread, long-lived windstorm, which typically causes damage in one direction across a relatively straight path.
The San Bernardino County Fire Chief said that almost 100 rescues had been conducted by Wednesday evening, but no serious injuries or deaths had been reported.
We respond to medical calls. These cars are trapped and there are fires in them. Munsey said they are going to the people’s houses with fallen trees and roof collapses so they can get out of the area.
San Bernardino County is one of 13 under a state of emergency issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, allowing for an influx of emergency personnel and resources, including the California National Guard, to support rescue and recovery.
Snowfallfall and Flood Watches in the Huntington Lake, Fresno, Tennessee, Southeast, South Carolina, and Northern Georgia
“We are going house to house, and we’re literally using shovels to shovel out driveways to make sure that people have access to their cars,” said county fire Chief Dan Munsey. As the roads are clearing, there is still a berm of snow that you need to make it over.
Huntington Lake in the Sierra Nevada saw 144 inches of snow, per a report from the Fresno County Office of Emergency Services, which reported 10 to 12 feet of snow near China Peak, leading to the closure of Highway 168.
Beshear said at least three Kentuckians were killed by the weather. The 41-year-old woman who was killed in Kentucky when a tree fell on her car was one of at least four deaths in the US related to fallen trees.
There is a slight risk of excessive rain in the area where nearly 25 million people are under flood watches. The strongest storms could bring 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour.
The Storm Prediction Center issued a tornado watch for more than 8 million people across southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, western North and South Carolina and northern Georgia until 8 p.m. ET. The watch includes Birmingham in Alabama, Chattanooga and Knoxville in Tennessee, and Cartersville and Carrollton in Georgia.
There are many homes and businesses that are no longer working in the west section of Fort Worth, Texas, where power was restored to medical facilities west of the city.
Some residents, however, say that though the main roads may be cleared, their neighborhood streets are still blanketed in snow, meaning they must either wait for help or trek miles to reach shelters or food distribution sites, which is not an option for those who are disabled or elderly.
A Snowstorm-Related Death in Northern California: Firefighters, Food Distributions, and Public Transportation in the San Bernardino Mountains
The Placer County sheriff’s office told CNN that a woman died in a weather related incident. She didn’t say anything about the death that took place on Tuesday when there was heavy snow and temperatures around freezing.
A number of structure fires in San Bernardino County appear to be storm-related, the county fire department told CNN. The department gave a number of fires as typical but didn’t give an exact number.
Gas leaks are believed to be responsible for several house fires in the mountain communities, according to Fire Chief Dan Munsey. In areas with unpassable roads a lot of them are. Munsey said that firefighters are often dispatched to fires using snowcats and digging hydrants in the snow to put out the flames.
Rescuers are supplied with meals-ready-to-eat to distribute with those unable to get food, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a press conference on Friday. First responders will be setting up food distribution points and a convoy with supplies to replenish supermarkets will be escorted up the mountain.
Shelah Riggs said the street she lives on in Crestline hasn’t seen a snowplow in eight days, leaving people in about 80 homes along the roadway with nowhere to go. Typically, a plow comes every day or two when it snows, she said.
The only way to get around is by shoveling walkways for emergency exits, Solo said. Everyone has been shoveling and it will snow another two feet.
Thousands of people live in high elevation areas of the San Bernardino Mountains and visit for year-round recreational opportunities due to a rare snow storm that hit east of Los Angeles in February.
Some California mountain residents could be snowed in for another week, but not for that amount of anxiety, frustration, frustration and frustration
By last weekend, all highways leading up into the mountains were closed and have opened intermittently since then to residents and convoys of trucks loaded with food or other supplies.
The sheriff’s estimate made an improvement in the outlook for residents who have been stranded for two weeks.
“We’ve said we could push it out as far as two weeks but because of the state’s efforts and the equipment that’s coming in behind us we’re hoping to drop that down to a week,” he told a press conference.
The sheriff and others stated that progress has been made but that severe conditions have forced firefighters to attend emergencies like fires in snowcats.
“The enormity of this event is hard to comprehend,” said state Assemblyman Tom Lackey. “You know, we’re thinking, ‘We’re in Southern California,’ but yet we have had an inundation that has really, really generated a severe amount of anxiety, frustration and difficulty, especially to the victims and those who are actually trapped in their own home.”
A few residents in Mono City, a small community on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, have been snowed in for a week without power, according to the Mono County Sheriff’s Office. In the north of the state, mountain communities that are grappling with the conditions have smaller populations and are more used to significant snowfall.
Riggs, who lives with her 14-year-old daughter, said everyone is working to keep snow and ice off their decks to prevent collapse and making sure the gas vents on their homes are kept clear.
The trek from Crestline to check on a neighbor is normally done in a few minutes, but Devine Horvath said it took them 30 minutes.
Horvath said she was lucky to make it to the local grocery store before its roof collapsed several days earlier but hadn’t been able to leave her street since.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161119770/some-california-mountain-residents-could-be-snowed-in-for-another-week
Putting it in the Roads. It’s Getting Started, but It Isn’t. The San Bernardino Mountains
“We’re going to dig you out and we are coming,” Dicus said. “We are making tremendous progress. Yesterday I saw it in the air. The roads are being cleared.”
Officials said the crews needed front-end loader and dump trucks for removal because of the depths of the snow.
Jim Rogers, a department official, said that crews have worked all night and for 24 hours removing snow from the state highways.
buried vehicles, downed power lines and other obstacles make it difficult to reopen smaller roads. Residents were urged to somehow mark the locations of cars.
More snowcats were being brought in, along with a California National Guard crew that usually works with the California wildfire and forest resilience task force. The crew will help shovel snow.
About 80,000 people live in the San Bernardino Mountains either part or full time. The county has not estimated how many people are currently in the mountains because many residences are vacation homes or rentals.
California Snow-Winter Weather Monday Morning: Driving Through Mountains with Chains and Strained Snow in San Bernardino County
The region has had several rounds of snow over the last few days, which has led to the closure of the national park. The park said it has received up to 15 feet of snowfall in some areas.
But further south in San Bernardino County, where emergency crews have been working to reach communities immobilized by heavy snow, mountainous areas may only see light snow showers Monday morning before getting a much-needed break for most of the week.
People are in desperate need of money. They need medication. They need food for their kids, said one resident in the community. He said he has been snowshoeing out of his home for days to get groceries and check on elderly neighbors.
The plowing of hundreds of miles of roads in the mountains is one of the most critical tasks, according to officials last week.
By Sunday, about 80% of the county-maintained roadways had been made passable, the county said in an update. “Passable means at least one lane open with less than 8 inches of snow, which can be navigated by four-wheel drive vehicles with chains.” The update was made public.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/weather/california-snow-winter-weather-monday/index.html
She explains why she and her husband are unable to return to their home in San Bernardino, California, after the snow blew up
“We were promised that help is coming. He said they are getting a bit impatient. “We maybe have a week’s food left. The gas stations are short of fuel and a lot of the stores are closed because of roof collapse.
Iliana has been unable to return to her home in San Bernardino after she ventured out to get supplies, because of road closings.
“We have our whole life up there, our businesses, my job, my laptop, everything is there,” Vargas said. She is concerned her house may collapse from the weight of the snow piled on it and is eager to get home to try to prevent it, Vargas said.
