Multiple Spinouts, Heavy Snow, and Strong Winds in the Sierra Nevada Mountains Suppress Sunday for High Altitude Vehicles and Flash Floods
A winter storm warning is in effect until 4 a.m. Sunday in the Sierra Nevada mountains from Yosemite National Park to Tulare County, where the Weather Service warned travel could be very difficult to impossible.
Sierra locations above 5,000 feet received around 20-45 inches of snow Saturday through early Sunday morning – and another round of lighter snow is on the way.
The California Department of Transport said that I 80 was partially shut down near the Nevada line on Saturday due to multiple spinouts.
The Forest Service issued a warning about the risks posed by several feet of new snow and strong winds in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe.
“Valley areas will likely see gusts as high as 45-50 mph, with gusts greater than 60 mph possible in wind prone areas,” the weather service office in Reno said. The wind gusts will likely surpass 150 mph when the strong subtropical jet moves overhead Monday. It is a big concern for high profile vehicles Monday.
The mountain areas could see up to 10 inches of rain, as well as heavy snow at high altitudes. Forecasters are urging people to show particular care in areas where fires recently burned vegetation, citing the heightened risk of flash flooding and mudslides.
The weather service issued a flash flood warning on Saturday when inches of rain fell on burn scars left from the fires north of Monterey and south of Big sur.
Santa Rosa During the First Big Storm: Power Outages, Trees, and Damaged Homes in San Francisco, Sonoma County, California
After the first winter storm hit the state, more than 70 thousand homes and businesses are still without power. While the state is getting a brief reprieve from the snow through the end of the week, another system is expected to move in this weekend.
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.
Monte Rio Fire Department Chief Steve Baxman told KRON-TV that no one was hurt when four down trees damaged houses in the area.
“This is our first big storm, we’ve had several years of drought and all these trees were dry. Now they’re filling up with water and starting to topple over,” Baxman told the television station.
California could 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.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for parts of Texas and Oklahoma. There is a chance of tornadoes, hail, and wind gusts up to 75 mph.
There is a slight risk that the storm will bring tornadoes, strong winds, and large hail to Dallas, Fort Worth, and New Orleans. Isolated tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds are possible in Houston, Memphis, and Little Rock.
Minneapolis: The city could pick up between 15 and 25 inches snow by Thursday. There are at least 1 and 2 inches that have fallen there.
The National Weather Service forecaster at the office in Reno said that the snowpack is more than double what they would expect in December.
It looks like Christmas out here. “It didn’t come with a lot of wind, and it stuck to everything. It is like a picture postcard.
While he noted the snow totals so far are impressive, Deutschendorf said he is “cautiously optimistic” about this precipitation putting a big dent in the state’s drought.
The Snow Overnight at the Anchorage Ski Resort: Predictions for the Deepest Snowfall in 24 Hours and the First Wind Storm since December 1, 2015
The ski resort posted photos on its website Sunday of thick snow covering the ski resort.
“This is definitely a storm to remember. We’ve now received 7.5 feet of snow since December 1st. Plus, in just 24 hours from Saturday morning to Sunday morning, we received more than 35 inches of snow — the 6th largest snowfall total in 24 hours that we have on record,” resort operators wrote.
The storm is causing dangerous conditions in the Great Plains, icy weather in the Midwest, and severe storms along the Gulf Coast.
The coast-to-coast storm that walloped the West over the weekend is expected to strengthen as it pushes eastward Tuesday and stall across the central Plains into Thursday, snarling travel amid blowing snow and freezing rain.
The first storm to hit the Western US with much-needed snow and rain prompted winter storm warnings from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.
Winter weather alerts are in place for Boston – where up to 6 inches could fall – and New York City, which could see the biggest snow event of a nearly snowless season. Central Park, which has only received 0.4 inches of snowfall this year, could see 3-5 inches of snowfall through Tuesday afternoon.
“By late Tuesday night and more exceptionally on Wednesday, the major winter storm will take shape and spread tremendous snowfall, both in coverage, rates, and amounts, across the High Plains and Upper Midwest.”
“We’re not expecting a quick burst of snowfall here,” Wills said in a Monday evening update. Snow is “going to accumulate the highest in the northern Nebraska panhandle – and it’s going to be blowing around like crazy because of the strong winds that we’re going to have as well,” he said.
The National Weather Service office in Rapid City, South Dakota, said travel through the area will be nearly impossible Tuesday and Wednesday, and possibly into Thursday.
• Road closures in several states: Perilous conditions triggered highway closures on several states Wednesday, including South Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, North Dakota and Minnesota.
Almost 38 million people from Texas and Oklahoma to as far east as Kentucky and West Virginia are under a winter weather alert, and they are warned of the dangers of ice accumulating on roads.
The snow that has hit the city of Anchorage in the last week is ” historic in nature” according to a spokesman for the mayor’s office.
There is a chance of widespread flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and roadway and urban flooding will be at its highest in the next week as all the rain and snow falls in a single storm, resulting in a flood event.
These areas need the moisture and have seen great relief to drought conditions in the past week. Tennessee went from being under a lot of extreme conditions to being at the end of the week at 42%.
The weather forecast agency warned that a life-threatening danger for travelers, individuals that work outside, and their animals will be created by the weather in the eastern and central United States.
“This is really a very serious weather alert here,” said President Biden, speaking to reporters Thursday morning in front of a national map of wind chill forecasts. “This is not like a snow day when you were a kid. This is serious stuff.
The temperatures across the Rockies have plummeted because of the fast moving cold front. The temperature in Wyoming dropped more than 30 degrees in nine minutes.
In Kentucky, a state of emergency was declared Friday because of the dangerous wind gusts, flash flooding and possible tornadoes. The state had five weather-related deaths and a semi truck blew off the highway.
Meantime, Texas’ primary electricity provider, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, told CNN it will be able to meet residents’ demand as temperatures plummet.
Peter Lake, the chairman of the state’s Public Utility Commission, said that the grid is ready and reliable. “We expect to have sufficient generation to meet demand throughout this entire winter weather event.”
The City of Oklahoma City is Stopped by More Than 800,000 Delays in the Week Leading Up to the Denver-Oklahoma Airshow
There have been many canceled flights at the airports in Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit. On Wednesday, more than 1,600 flights were canceled and an additional 5,200 were delayed. 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.
The temperature of minus 24 degrees recorded at Denver International Airport was the lowest since 1990. Over 500 flights were canceled at the airport on Thursday, 25 percent of which were out of the airport. Nearly 480 more were delayed.
The city has two major airports, O’Hare and Midway, which are hub airports for major airlines.
More than 350 pieces of snow removal equipment, 400,000 gallons of liquid deicer for runways, and 5,000 tons of salt will be at their disposal, according to Andrew Velasquez, the city’s deputy aviation commissioner.
Oklahoma City residents are under a Winter Weather Advisory through Wednesday afternoon, which means they can expect up to two tenths of an inch of ice.
Several area shelters had added beds this week; still, many reported being at or near capacity. The city’s streetcar was running Thursday after crews worked all morning to clear the route and platforms.
“The library is closed. So it’s only this or the bus, or you go into a parking garage, but you’ll probably get kicked out,” said Pete, who said he did not have a permanent place to live and declined to give his last name to KCUR. There’s not a lot you can do.
The Montana Winter Snowmass had a Hard Time, but a Truck Could Have Made It Through. The Destruction of Highway Traffic in West Yellowstone
In Montana, the sun was out Thursday as the snow had moved eastward toward the Midwest. But the frigid temperatures won’t thaw until the weekend, forecasts say.
“We’re very hardy here,” said Lisa Carter, who operates a snowmobile rental business in West Yellowstone. “We deal with cold like this all the time. We’re not doing anything extra because we’re used to it. We just don’t go outside.”
Hank is a rancher, and he said he would be working through the cold to get hay for his cattle.
NPR’s Ivy Winfrey is in Washington, D.C., and additional reporting by NPR’s David Schaper in Chicago, Montana Public Radio’s John Hooks in Butte, and KCUR’s Savannah Baisden in Kansas City.
All modes of travel – planes, trains and automobiles – were being disrupted: There were hundreds of miles of road closures and flight cancellations were growing rapidly. Flooding on the Long Island Rail Road shut down part of the Long Beach branch.
“Christmas is canceled,” said Mick Saunders, a Buffalo, New York, resident who was two hours into blizzard conditions that are expected to last through Sunday morning. “All family and friends agreed it’s safer this way.”
There were three deaths in Kentucky due to the storm, two of which were vehicle crashes, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Police said that an autopsy would be done on the man who was found outside with no obvious signs of trauma.
The Kansas City Police Department said one person died after losing control of their car on an icy road. The Dodge went down the embankment, over the cement retaining wall, and landed in the creek, according to police.
Superstorm Brian Trzeciak: The Great Lakes and the Rio Grande as a Winter Weather Blazar in the Outer Limits of Michigan
About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory over the holiday weekend. Drastically low temperatures stretched from the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande.
Almost 400,000 customers were without power in Michigan as of early Saturday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us. The two main utilities in the state hope to have the lights back on for most of their customers by Sunday night.
The agency said the Watch Warning graphic depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever.
Hochul said that the storm was throwing everything at them but the kitchen sink. Mother nature could wallop at us this weekend, with ice, flooding, snow, and freezing temperatures.
For Brian Trzeciak, the storm was “living up to the warnings” at his home in Hamburg, New York. The airport reported no visibility shortly after noon on Friday.
He was in the middle of a road with feet of snow when he announced he was going to miss Christmas with his people.
Snow, ice and wind on the West Coast as a possible cause of death and injury in a blast-cyclone over the Pacific Ocean
A so-called “bomb cyclone” over the Pacific Ocean – named because of how rapidly it intensifies over a short period of time – will sling a series of fronts at the West Coast. The tropics are being fed by a potent atmospheric river that stretches west to Hawaii.
Friday will be a very cold day, with record low temperatures in large swaths of the US including from the Lower Mississippi Valley northeastward into the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys and stretching from the Southeast to the Central Appalachians.
High winds can pick up snow already on the ground, and make it difficult to see, even if the snow stops.
Nearly half of all flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were canceled when the runways were closed because of ice. All Sound Transit services were suspended on Friday due to icy conditions.
A winter storm warning is also in effect for northeastern Oregon, including Portland, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. PST. Total snow, sleet and iceAccumulations of between one and two inches is likely as well as winds gusting to 55 mph. The wind chilling as low as zero can lead to frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.
There were at least six deaths and at least four deaths in a pileup of 50 vehicles on the Ohio Turnpike.
The Challenge of Getting the Power Back On with High-Closure Winds: WPLN’s Blake Farmer and Paige Pfleger
WPLN’s Blake Farmer reported that as the front hit, parts of the South experienced wind chills of minus 20 degrees, and gusting winds knocked out power to thousands of homes across Tennessee and Kentucky. Emergency responders asked people in the region to stay home if possible.
Meanwhile, WPLN’s Paige Pfleger reported that plunging temperatures are putting pressure on a power grid not accustomed to this cold, and that the Tennessee Valley Authority has asked local utilities to cut their electricity use. There are 10 minutes of power cuts every few hours in Nashville.
The challenge of getting the power back on is a major one, according to Scott Aaronson, vice president of security and preparedness.
“Sometimes accessing these areas can be really challenging with downed power lines, with downed trees, with very icy roads. … If the wind is more than 35 miles an hour, crews cannot go up in bucket trucks. “And so those combination of things will limit the ability of crews to get out there and get the power back on.”
Flood waters rose as high as 9 feet along the coast due to heavy rains and high winds in New Jersey. Interior locations along the Hudson River also flooded.
“This is a life-threatening dangerous event,” Hochul said Friday afternoon at a news conference in Albany. Take care of yourselves, protect your families. Do not travel until the roads are open, you know it’s safe.
New York City Center Superintendent Ken Bangs: “Snow, and snow, fails to protect people in a storm-driven state, and how to get out of town,” M. Manahan, the director of the New York Airport
“So that, unfortunately, really affects anyone who’s got a connecting flight, and we’re going to see a lot of people missing connecting flights with these long delay times,” Bangs said.
Freezing conditions and day-old power outages had Buffalonians scrambling to get to anywhere that had heat amid what Hochul called the longest sustained blizzard conditions ever in the city. But with streets under a thick blanket of white, that wasn’t an option for people like Jeremy Manahan, who charged his phone in his parked car after almost 29 hours without electricity.
Storm-related deaths were reported in recent days all over the country: 12 in Erie County, New York, ranging in age from 26 to 93 years old, and another in Niagara County where a 27-year-old man was overcome by carbon monoxide after snow blocked his furnace; 10 in Ohio, including an electrocuted utility worker and those killed in multiple car crashes; six motorists killed in crashes in Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky; a Vermont woman struck by a falling branch; an apparently homeless man found amid Colorado’s subzero temperatures; and a woman who fell through Wisconsin river ice.
The Erie County executive said on Saturday that the storm may be the worst in the county’s history.
Some of the people trapped in cars since Friday were still being rescued as darkness descended on Saturday. As the snow continued falling, some residents prepared to spend another night at home without power, with no safe way to reach shelter elsewhere.
The struggle was complicated by drivers ignoring travel bans and becoming stuck or stranded, blocking roads cleared for emergency traffic, Mr. Poloncarz said.
The National Guard was asked to assist with rescue operations, even without heat or power. The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, said that the airport is closed until Monday.
New York City Christmas Eve without Heat, Electricity or Electricity: a Newly-Related Buffalo, Airport City, Babysitter for the Big Storm
“Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you’re from Buffalo, you’re used to this,’” said Tommy Bellonte, 37, who briefly emerged from his Buffalo home Saturday morning to check on a neighbor. “But you can’t get used to this.”
Americans in dozens of states on Saturday faced the frigid aftermath of the powerful, four-day storm that knocked out power to 1.5 million homes and businesses at its peak. The powerful weather system that was packing high winds upended travel plans for tens of thousands and left many Christmas without heat, electricity or the company of family members.
The possibility of leaving homes for Christmas was a concern for some people who live in beachfront areas of New York City.
The powerful storm system that brought large hail to the South and spawned at least one tornado in the northeastern part of the country has been blamed for the deaths of at least 10 people.
After spending the night in homes with fireplaces or huddled under blankets in the dark, residents sought shelter in fire stations and school gymnasiums, as the cold tightened its grip, and cities and towns opened warming shelters.
After a day without power, Shantel Moncrief and her husband attempted to sleep in their apartment in south Nashville on Friday night layered in sweaters and blankets. Too cold to rest, they moved into their car at 2 a.m., and at 6 a.m., relocated to her mother’s house.
At La Guardia Airport in New York, more than 50 flights were canceled Saturday morning, and travelers prepared to spend Christmas Eve at the airport or in nearby hotels.
Misty and Dan Ellis arrived at the airport for check-in at 3 a.m. with their teenage children. Hours later, their flight was canceled, and each member of the family was rebooked on a different flight, said Mr. Ellis.
The family decided to rent a car instead and drive 14 hours to their home in Nashville. The cost would be hefty, Mr. Ellis said, but he did not mind paying it.
Autopsy of a New York City Hall Studded in Deep Snow: Frank Anderson, 50, in his white pickup truck on Saturday night
As darkness fell in Western New York on Saturday and temperatures crept even lower, thousands of utility workers and plow drivers faced another long night of work to restore power and clear roads. Stores were mostly empty and the streets were largely quiet because of the snow forecast and travel bans still in effect.
Frank Anderson, 50, was stuck in deep snow in his large white pickup truck on Saturday for the second time since wrapping up his shift as a prison guard.
He had only a spare sweater in the back of his truck and was stuck on Hertel Avenue, unable to return to his wife and three children. He was a mile from home in the Tonawanda suburb.
Euan Ward , Eliza Fawcett , Isabella Grullón Paz , Bob Chiarito, Jamie McGee, Ellen Yan, April Rubin, Sharon Dunten and Maria Jimenez Moya contributed reporting.
Poloncarz said some were found in cars and some on the street. “We know there are people who have been stuck in cars for more than 2 days.”
“There’s one warming shelter, but that would be too far for me to get to. Manahan said that he can’t drive because he is stuck. “You can’t be out for more than 10 minutes without getting frostbit.”
Christmas in Buffalo: a generational storm for a family of stranded motorists in southern New York’s PJM Interconnection
Ditjak and his daughters traveled to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, for Christmas when their vehicle was stuck in Buffalo. Unable to get help, they spent hours with the engine running, buffeted by wind and nearly buried in snow.
By 4 a.m. Saturday, their fuel nearly gone, Ilunga made a desperate choice to risk the howling storm to reach a nearby shelter. He carried his daughter on his back, while Cindy clutched their puppy and followed his footprints.
“If I stay in this car I’m going to die here with my kids,” Ilunga recalled thinking. He cried when the family walked through the shelter doors. It’s something I will never forget in my life.
The PJM Interconnection said their utilities could meet the day’s peak electricity demand, which alleviated fears of rolling blackouts across eastern states. The grid operator called for 65 million consumers to cut back on energy.
In Jackson, Mississippi, city officials on Christmas Day announced that residents must now boil their drinking water due to water lines bursting in the frigid temperatures While in Tampa, Florida, the thermometer plunged below freezing for the first time in almost five years, according to the National Weather Service — a drop conducive to cold-blooded iguanas falling out of trees.
In Buffalo, William Kless was up at 3 a.m. Sunday. He called his children at their mother’s home to wish them a Merry Christmas and then rode his snowmobile to a church that was operating as a warming shelter, for a second day.
He brought about 15 people to the church in Buffalo on Saturday through heavy, wind-driven snow and one-by-one. He was able to get a man who needed treatment for his illness, who had been stranded in his car for 17 hours and was unable to leave.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told NPR’s Morning Edition that his city’s emergency responders have gone “car by car” to perform hundreds of rescues of stranded motorists.
“This has been called a generational storm — a once-in-a-generation storm,” Brown said. “It’s unlike anything that even the city of Buffalo is used to getting.”
The State of Washington in the Light of the New High-Wind-Surface Superstorms, and the Threat of Tropical Storms
“That number is now below 10,000, and we will continue to work aggressively and strategically with National Grid all day today to continue to reduce that number and get everyone’s power restored,” he added, referring to the local utility.
The National Weather Service said conditions are expected to remain frigid and hazardous on Monday, but start to moderate on Tuesday then continue to slowly improve as the week moves ahead.
The NWS still advises caution for anyone who wants to venture outside as high wind speeds and low temperatures can cause frostbite in just 10 minutes.
An atmospheric river is like a conveyor belt of moisture that originates over the tropical water of the Pacific Ocean. They can carry more than 20 times the Mississippi River’s amount of water. The state became vulnerable to flooding and mudslides as these storms battering the state quickly became over- saturated.
More than 60 million people are in the threat of storms Friday, with almost 80% of the country under a high wind alert.
The weather service in San Francisco said Friday that trees can be brought down if winds come on in the order of the previousstronger system.
“The consecutive dry summers that we’ve had, especially the heat events like the heat dome, that really damages trees and it takes up so much of their energy to fuel their immune systems to fight off pathogens,” Bourgeois said.
Oregon and Washington Wet Weather Forecasts for the Third-Wetest December Day of the Record-Breaking February 26, 1996 in the Rockies
Portland recorded 2.12 inches of rain, breaking the old record of 1.08 inches set on December 26, 1996. It was the third-wettest December day on record.
California and nearby areas are caught in a streak of wet weather. The quick succession of storms is particularly dangerous if you are in a place where the soil is already saturated with water. The risk rises even more in places where wildfires have left burn scars — land with even less ability to absorb moisture.
It was the first of several storms expected to roll across California over the next week. Hannah said the current system would be warmer and wet and next week’s storms would be cooler, which would lower snow levels.
All 11 Western states are under winter weather alerts Wednesday, with about half a million people along the higher elevations of the Rockies under high wind alerts as gusts could reach Category 1 hurricane strength. Already, electricity has been knocked out in parts of Oregon, Washington and California, according to PowerOutage.us.
Damaging winds and rain are expected Wednesday morning through the afternoon in parts of Oklahoma into western Arkansas, across Missouri and western Illinois, according to the National Weather Service
After this big system moves out, there is a chance of another big system on the horizon. Guidance is slowly increasing for a new system at the end of the week to impact Northern California, though it is still too far out for more details at this point.
The system that left thousands without power in Oregon and closed an interstate in Colorado will sweep through the East on Friday and Saturday. Thunderstorms will hit the South on Friday and then reach the Northeast as rain showers Saturday.
That means New Year’s Eve celebrations Saturday will likely be dampened in New York City and Washington, DC. Los Angeles is expected to experience a wet new year.
Flash Flood Watches and Warnings Along Sacramento Freeway and Elliptical Drive Roads in Sacramento and Buffalo, Calif., and Los Angeles, California, During the Recovery from Dec. 20, 2005 Blizzards
A Flash Flood Watch was in place along and west of 5 Freeway to the Sacramento River, where there were worries about excessive rainfall and flooding on the Cosumnes and Mokelumne Rivers.
Rain will also fall in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, adding to the melting snow and prompting localized flood concerns as the city continues to recover from its deadly blizzard. Additional rain is expected early next week.
The Weather Prediction Center says the area has highlights that are already high in soils, burn scars and urban areas.
Drivers were stuck in the snow for a ninth hour after a section of the interstate was closed in Colorado.
Dangerous conditions Tuesday in Oregon left five people dead, including a 4-year-old girl, after severe weather caused trees to fall on passing vehicles, state police said.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Landslides already had closed routes between Fremont and Sunol as well as in the Mendocino National Forest, where crews were able to clear debris on Friday night.
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. If the Eel River gets too high, the bridge may have to be closed again.
According to the California Highway Patrol, some of the roads in the eastern part of Sacramento were under water on Friday. By nightfall, nearly 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain had fallen over the past 24 hours in the Sierra foothills at Blue Canyon about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento, the weather service said.
The American River is where many unhoused people live and the fire officials plan to broadcast warnings from helicopter and boat in the event of flooding.
“Strong winds could cause tree damage and lead to power outages and high waves on Lake Tahoe may capsize small vessels,” the weather service in Reno said.
There are flood watches and warnings on the eastern front of the Sierra, with minor tomoderate flooding forecast for some rivers and streams into the weekend.
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.
The state of California is bracing for a series of storms to start the new year, which could cause flooding and mud and debris flows.
At one point Saturday, officials ordered residents in Wilton – roughly 20 miles from Sacramento – to leave the area immediately, warning that rising water may spill over onto roadways and cut off access to leave the area. Water wreaked havoc on the roads and residents were told to shelter in place.
US Highway 101 was temporarily closed in both directions in South San Francisco due to high tides and non-stop rains causing the water to not return to normal.
The Stockton Police Department posted photos of a flooded railroad underpass and a car that appeared stalled in more than a foot (30 centimeters) of water.
First Storm of the Month: Sacramento, California, Supervisors, Fire District, and Sacramento Valley, Calif., during the Sacramento Valley Flood and Aftermath
It was the first storm of several expected to hit the state within a week. Saturday’s system was warmer and wetter, while storms this week will be colder, said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
On top of urban flooding, several rivers began overflowing, including the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers and the Mormon Slough, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento. Flood warnings were issued for the southern Sacramento Valley and Sierra foothills.
Over 4,000 people were evacuated from two small central California towns because of multiple breeches in waterways and repair efforts were not successful with the amount of water.
Multiple flood victims were rescued by boats and helicopter over the weekend in the middle of the storm in the Sacramento County area, said the fire district.
Calling it “Stormageddon,” the Amador County Sheriff’s Office shared an image of cars up to their doorhandles in floodwaters and said there’s been reports of flooding, mudslides and trees blocking roadways.
Highway 50 was reopened just after midnight, hours after a section between Pollock Pines and Meyers was closed due to flooding from the American River, while another section was closed over Echo Summit for avalanche control work.
The county proclaimed a state of emergency, saying the atmospheric river has caused “significant transportation impacts, rising creek and river levels and flooding” in the Wilton area.
Downtown San Francisco received 5.46 inches Saturday, meaning it was on track to become the second wettest day on record for the area, according to the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
A foot of fresh snow fell at the Main Lodge, and the resort said on its Facebook page that work will also be done across the mountain because of the avalanche danger.
New Year’s Eve in Sacramento, California: A Sobering New-Year-Ended Storm That Hits the Sacramento River and the Russian River
There were a lot of vehicles stuck on the I-80 and county roads at the Nevada State line.
A group of drivers were rescued on New Year’s Eve along I 80 near Lake tahoe after their cars spun out in the snow. The key route back from the San Francisco Bay Area to the mountains is now open to passenger vehicles.
Emergency crews rescued people from vehicles that couldn’t move because of floodwaters. At least one death was linked to the weekend storm, after workers in southern Sacramento County found a person dead inside a vehicle submerged in water near Highway 99, as member station Capital Public Radio reports.
Spectators were drawn to their spots in Pasadena on New Year’s Day when the region was dry and no rain was expected during Monday’s Rose Parade.
Glanville Tract and Franklin Pond were under an evacuee warning as of Sunday, while Point Pleasant was under an order to leave.
“It is expected that the flooding from the Cosumnes River and the Mokelumne River is moving southwest toward I-5 and could reach these areas in the middle of the night,” the agency tweeted.
Forecasters in Northern California have a sobering new-year message for people who are reeling from floods and mudslides: the situation could get worse before it gets better.
It’s the third atmospheric river to hit the region since Dec. 26, the office said, adding that parts of the Russian River are now at particular flood risk. The NWS also says the storm’s high winds could inflict severe damage in areas where the soil is already saturated with rainwater.
On New Year’s Eve, Mary Spencer-Gode and other residents were on their street when an elm tree was destroyed by a storm.
“The wind was just going crazy,” she told Capital Public Radio. “We turned our TV off so we could hear it, and I was sitting in the kitchen, I heard a big ‘woosh’ and kind of the house moved.”
On the possibility of a megaflood in California during the next four decades, NWS Director Bob Oravec told NPR
“It’s just a narrow area of high moisture that gets transported away from the tropics towards the higher latitudes,” often before a cold front arrives, as NWS senior forecaster Bob Oravec recently told NPR.
For states along the West Coast, atmospheric rivers are “actually responsible for a good majority of the rainfall during the colder season, which is the season when they get most of their rain,” Oravec said.
NPR reported that a single atmospheric river can carry more water than the Mississippi River. The systems’ winds are very dangerous according to forecasters. In 2017, one of the storms toppled the legendary “Pioneer Cabin Tree” sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
Forecasters have been saying for days that the storm could hit land as early as Tuesday night. As of late Wednesday morning the system was still approaching the West Coast, and they predicted that it would move slowly.
The NWS office said the storm should surpass the Saturday night storm by at least an inch and likely more in the upslope areas.
The weather service in Los Angeles warned of an increased risk of rockslides in the mountains and canyon roadways due to the expected heavy rain.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm could trigger more widespread flooding, roads washing out, hillside collapsing, fallen trees, major power outages, “immediate disruption to commerce, and the worst of all, likely loss of human life.”
As wells run dry and reservoirs drain, Julie Kalansky, a climate scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said these storms are desperately needed more than ever to alleviate the drought, despite the hazards they bring in some areas.
“As much as folks feel like it’s been an unrelenting winter, we actually have gotten some at least weeklong breaks and, in some cases, multi-weeklong breaks in between these sequences,” he said. “Had we had this winter and everything that happened back-to-back without any breaks during the storm cycles at all, the level of flooding and the level of damage in California would be dramatically higher.”
A 2022 study authored by Swain found that climate change has already doubled the chances of a disastrous megaflood happening in California in the next four decades – a storm unlike anything anyone alive today has ever experienced.
In many areas, there is saturation point from the late December storm and New Year’s weekend because the ground can only absorb so much water. As a result, the influx of water is expected to unleash major flooding in some places.
Nancy Ward, the new director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said at a late-morning news conference that this may be the most challenging and impactful series of storms to hit the state in the last five years.
People who live in the coverage areas were warned on Wednesday that they should be prepared for power failures and travel delays due to debris, falling trees and power lines.
The National Weather Service has offices all along the coast from Los Angeles to Oregon, warning people about the possibility of damaging winds over the course of the day.
As the bomb cyclone hit the California coast on Wednesday night, it caused a lot of damage, including heavy downpours and Hurricane force winds.
The storm system moved in from the Pacific, bringing damaging winds and heavy snow to California and southern Oregon through Thursday.
Earlier in the day, California’s governor declared a statewide state of emergency, clearing the way for aid to be distributed to those affected by the storm.
State officials said that the firefighters and rescue equipment were near burn scars in seven counties, as well as five other counties with flooding concerns.
Among the areas ordered to evacuate is Montecito, the site of a mudslide in 2018 that killed 23 people as mud and boulders the size of houses plowed down the Santa Barbara hillsides, splintering more than 100 homes and rupturing a gas main, according to the state’s Office of Emergency Services.
“I’m urging folks to comply with the evacuation,” said Das Williams, first district supervisor in Santa Barbara County. “If you live in that red zone, the one thing that we should’ve learned these past five years is that it’s better to play it safe and to evacuate and comply with the order.”
Officials in Monterey County also started setting up evacuation points and emergency shelters ahead of the storm’s arrival, according to the sheriff’s Facebook page.
Rockslides forced the closure of a long stretch of coastal Highway 1 in both directions from Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County to south of Big Sur in Monterey County, according to the California Department of Transportation.
The Oakland Fire Department declared a local emergency on Wednesday evening, and the Bay Area had a storm warning warned from 3:30pm on Twitter
The city had already seen some localized flooding, a couple mudslides and sinkholes as of Wednesday evening, said Mary Ellen Carol, executive director of San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management.
A tree that was on top of a car trapping a family was removed by a San Francisco fire crew.
There were reports of glass falling from a high rise in Fox Plaza but no one was hurt. According to the San Francisco Fire Department it is unknown at this time if it is wind related.
Oakland city officials declared a local emergency Wednesday as they worried about storm damage and potential problems to public safety.
Most of the state’s population of more than 35 million people were under some type of weather alert, including a brief tornado warning, as the storm downed trees and power lines across California.
“We’re seeing a significant number of trees falling into our lines, as well as other impacts on our power system,” PG&E’s Teresa Alvarado said on Twitter. A major repair and restoration effort is being organized by us.
Hundreds of crews are staged around the Bay Area region, including some from Southern California Electricity who are also helping in the response, according to a vice president of the region.
The storms that we are seeing are going to be ranked up there with the one that I will remember.
The intense weather was brought on by an atmospheric river called the Pineapple Express, which brings a lot of water to the Pacific Coast, according to the National Weather Service.
The Los Angeles Times reports a 19-year-old woman killed in mudslides and flash floods in the lead up to the storm parade
In downtown San Francisco, winds snapped a mature landscaping tree off at its base and dropped it onto a Honda sedan, trapping a family in their car next to the San Francisco Public Library’s main branch. Firefighters who used chainsaws to rescue the family reported that the occupants were OK.
About 50 miles east-southeast of that tragedy, a 19-year-old woman died after driving onto a partly flooded road in Fairfield, Calif., on Wednesday morning. As KQED reports, the driver’s vehicle hydroplaned and hit a utility pole.
Emergency officials are asking people to stay out of the roads. Along with flash floods and mudslides, roads were littered with broken trees, power lines and other debris. Whiteout conditions have caused highways at higher altitudes to close.
Officials in California’s Santa Cruz County are seeing “significant damage” from the storm, adding that enormous waves and high tides have damaged piers along the coastline.
In Sausalito, rough conditions dislodged the city’s landmark bronze sea lion sculpture from its base; officials say it “is still attached by several bolts” and can be repaired.
In the past, meteoriteologists have called it the “storm parade”, which refers to the fact that we have a series of atmospheric rivers back to back. We’re looking at having another series of big storms this weekend, and possibly into next week.
After a pair of storms dumped a lot of rain and damaged buildings in California, daytime Friday will give some relief before another storm strikes at night.
Losing a Child After a Redwood Tree Fall on a California Sonoma County Fire Department. Emergency Management Effects of the Super-Winter Rainfall Over the Weekend
A young child – about age 1 or 2 – was killed Wednesday after a redwood tree fell on a home in Sonoma County in Northern California, Occidental Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ron Lunardi said.
Mary Ellen Carol is the executive director of the city’s emergency management department.
Southern California was expected to remain storm-free even if there was a light rain on Saturday.
Even a 40 mph wind can do damage when the ground is so saturated from record rainfall earlier this week and the cumulative effect of the new rainfall expected this weekend.
The rainfall over the weekend brought renewed flood concerns for local streams, creeks, and rivers. The Colgan Creek, Berryessa Creek, Mark West Creek, Green Valley Creek, and the Cosumnes River all have gauges that are currently above flood stage or expected to be in the next few days.
Guidelines for the overall forecast during a seasonal time period are available from the Climate Prediction Center.
“During a La Niña, typically the Pacific Northwest sees wetter than normal conditions and Southern California sees drier than normal conditions,” Marybeth Arcodia, a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University said. “This is due to the jet stream being pushed farther north and having a wavier pattern. It’s “.
During El Nios or La Nias, the atmospheric rivers can form during the winter months and can be influenced by bigger patterns in the Pacific.
Influencing the State of Emergency Management Throughout Monday’s Incoming Storm: Professor Tippett Explains Why Forecast Patterns Matter
Michael Tippett, a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, points out that the forecast patterns are not meant to be used on a day-to-day forecast scale but rather the entire season as a whole. This is why researching the patterns is so important.
Tippett told CNN there is an element of randomness that is not explained by the patterns. “This might help us understand why one year is different than the other.”
State climatologist Michael Anderson told a news briefing late Saturday that officials were closely monitoring Monday’s incoming storm and another behind it and were keeping an eye on three other systems farther out in the Pacific.
The city’s communications infrastructure is underground so “as we get more inundation from the rain, we’re seeing more failure at what we call lifeline systems” for power and communication.
This has led the prediction center to issue a Level 3 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall for over 15 million people in the state on Monday including those in San Francisco, Sacramento, Monterey, Fresno, and Oxnard. The prediction center wrote in their discussion Sunday morning that a Level 4 out of 4 high risk notice might become necessary for Monday if forecast guidance continues to increase rain totals.
“Overall, there is high confidence (60-80%) that this wetter-than-normal pattern will continue through the next couple of weeks,” the weather service in San Francisco said. “While we don’t have details on how much rain above normal will fall, suffice it to say that the continuation of saturated soils could continue to pose hazards into the third week of January.”
Amid such conditions, the governor has requested the state’s emergency management division to increase its resources so it can be ready to respond through Thursday.
As ice began forming on roads in Little Rock, Arkansas, the governor declared a state of emergency Monday and activated the winter weather support teams of the state’s National Guard to be prepared in helping police in their response to the storm.
It’s important for Arkansans to avoid travel when there is winter weather, says Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation (DAMS) Office of Emergency Management (ADAMS) Report on the Arkansas Ice Storm During February 1st
The emergency order directs $250,000 toward discretionary use by the head of the state’s Division of Emergency Management to provide funding for program and administrative costs, the order stated.
“The real enemy is going to be that ice,” said Dave Parker, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Transportation. This could be a very dangerous situation.
A half an inch of ice is expected on roads in Dallas, Austin, San Angelo and San Antonio while San Antonio can expect a tenth of an inch of ice.
And while the forecast shows there will be periods of reprieve over the next two days, roads will likely remain dangerously slick throughout the storm as temperatures remain low.
It is expected to be the toughest day for driving on Tuesday as Texas bridges and roads become icy, says the weather service.
We are expecting enough generation to meet forecasted demand and are watching forecasts this week. We aren’t asking for aConservation at the moment. The agency said in an email that it was letting the public know when they were going to be without power.
Icing up to two-tenths of an inch could be seen in Louisville, Kentucky, while Charleston, West Virginia, can see sleet up to an inch and ice up to a tenth of an inch.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article originally appeared in the weekly weather newsletter, the CNN Weather Brief, which is released every Monday. You can get them every week and during storms.
The storm is already showing signs of life along the West Coast, as snow and rain is already falling across the Pacific Northwest, adding to their already blockbuster snow season.
The highest elevation of the Cascade Mountains could see three feet of snow, while winds could gust up to 60 mph in the Pacific Northwest. Waves will cause beach erosion due to the high seas just offshore.
The amount of snow will cause the passes to be closed and will impact traffic getting to and from Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service.
In the southern part of Wyoming, two feet of snow and gale force winds will create blinding conditions. The wind chill is predicted to fall to 25 degrees below zero.
Some big cities will see a lot of icy weather on Thursday. Ice could also be a problem for parts of the Ohio Valley, yet pinpointing exactly where it will occur is challenging this far out. If you live in these areas, keep an eye on the forecast to ensure your travel plans are unaffected by rain and sleet.
Winter storm watches are in effect for parts of New York and New England through Wednesday afternoon as the storm moves eastward. In total, these isolated areas can see up to 10 inches of snowfall.
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.
At the same time, it will feel more like early summer across the Southeast and up into the Midwest, as nearly 150 million Americans will see a high above 70 degrees this week. Across the country, the high will be below zero in the Dakotas and the 90’s in central Florida.
Heavy precipitation can come from the storms in western Arkansas through eastern Oklahoma to northern Illinois, southern Michigan and northern Indiana.
Florida State Winter High Temperatures and Snowfall Prepared for a Next Generation of Heavy Ion Collisions, Floods, and Volcanoes
High temperatures across the region will climb well into the 70s and 80s beginning Tuesday before peaking on Thursday, and cities across the Florida peninsula could reach into the 90s. Typically highs occur in May or early June, when these temperatures run 20 to 35 degrees above normal.
Gov. Tim Walz directed the state’s National Guard, the transportation department and the state patrol to be prepared to respond storm impacts, he said on Twitter.
The cancellations come as more than five million people are under ice storm warnings across northeastern Iowa, southern Wisconsin, northwestern Illinois and southern Michigan. And more than two million people are under blizzard warnings across parts of Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas.
The snow is falling fast near the Great Lakes and it’s getting gusts of 40-50 mph. Significant impacts will include disruptions to travel, infrastructure, livestock and recreation according to the NWS.
Government executive branch offices will be closing in more than 50 of the state’s 66 counties, with plans to have employees work remotely. Additionally, Interstates 29 and 90 partially closed Tuesday night to prepare for the expected snow.
Eastern Wyoming College announced the closure of its main campus. The Natrona County school district in Casper will conduct a virtual learning day Wednesday due to hazardous weather and road conditions throughout the area, the district said.
The Minnesota Highway Patrol and State of the Geometry: Snow, Snow, Blizzards, and Sleptogenesis During the Early Stages of Winter Storms
The highway patrol said search and rescue had begun in several counties to recover motorists that become trapped in heavy snow.
There were more than 160 vehicle crashes and dozens of cars spun off roads as of early Thursday in Minnesota, which was in a swath of 3-7 inches of locally higher amounts. The Lt. is a person. Gordon Shank said in a series of tweets.
In Wisconsin – similarly hit by snow since Tuesday in the north and freezing rain Wednesday in the south – Gov. Tony Evers declared a statewide energy emergency Wednesday, saying it will “allow for a more swift and efficient restoration of any electric power outages throughout the state,” a news release from his office said.
Out west, in an extremely rare event, California’s Los Angeles and Ventura Counties will be under blizzard warnings from Friday morning through Saturday afternoon, the weather said. Since 1989, the weather service office in Los Angeles has only issued a storm warning.
The difference in temperature between the north and south was created by the dueling winter storm and southern heat wave.
Green Bay’s international airport canceled the rest of its daily flights Wednesday evening and most of its flights Thursday morning.
State offices in Maine will be closed Thursday as the storm is expected to bring a lot of snow.
Tropical Storms and Floods in Southern and Mid-Atlantic States: Indications of Weather Service, Flood Warnings, and Marine Emergency Preparedness
Atlanta had an all-time record in February of 81 degrees. Washington, D.C., reached 78 degrees, New Orleans was at 83 degrees and Nashville was at 80 degrees.
Just as noteworthy were the unusual warm temperatures seen in Southern and Mid-Atlantic states, the National Weather Service said. On Thursday, both Nashville and Va. saw temperatures hit over 80 degrees.
Parts of Southern California likely will see an intense brew of rain, snow and winds that may cause flooding, according to the National Weather Service.
On Friday, forecasters also urged mariners near the coast of the state’s San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties to “seek safe harbor immediately” — warning of severe thunderstorms that could produce sudden waterspouts, powerful enough to “easily overturn boats.” The two counties are also at risk of seeing small tornadoes on land.
The region has been put on a freeze warning for Friday evening through Saturday morning. Unsheltered populations, crops, and unprotected outdoor plumbing will be at risk in the sub-freezing conditions.
The storm moved into Michigan on Friday afternoon, blanketing the state in snow, causing more than a 100,000 customers to lose power and forcing the Detroit Metropolitan Airport to close temporarily. Last week, an ice storm left 800,000 homes and businesses without power.
In addition to the snow, some Los Angeles-area roads turned into rivers on Friday after bouts of heavy rain, prompting the weather service to issue a flash flood warning.
Multiple storms this week have impacted many Midwest residents in the same way as California, California, and California, with Michigan’s largest electricity provider DTE
The same weather system that hit California and other states this week is still affecting many people in the Midwest.
Utility company DTE, one of Michigan’s largest electricity providers, said 630,000 of its customers have been impacted by the storms so far. The utility said they had restored power to about 600,000 customers by Sunday night.
Michigan’s largest electric provider said it will not be able to restore service to most customers until Sunday due to the severity of the storm.
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.
There were storm warnings in the mountains and flood advisories, but the storm was expected to diminish 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.
Allison Rinker’s house was using a generator to keep it warm after two nights in the cold.
Temperatures Differences from Cold Weather in the Central 48 Hours of April – May 28 at Falcon Lake, Texas, and Huntley, Montana
“We were all surviving, but spirits were low on the second day,” she said. It was like a full flip in attitude when we were able to have one or two lights running.
“The ice that was falling off the trees as it was melting was hitting our windshield so hard, I was afraid it was going to crack,” she said. Half of the tree limbs are falling down. The destruction is insane.”
Yet the cold weather blasting the North and West avoided the southern states, leading to wild temperatures differences. On Friday the temperature 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.
The weather service in Oregon warned that blowing snow could reduce visibility, so a section of the 5 freeway was closed.
Tim Varner sat huddled with blankets in a Portland storefront doorway shielding him from some of the wind, ice and snow. The 57-year-old homeless man said that it was difficult to reach one of the overnight shelters because he did not have a shopping cart.
Weather and Storms in Los Padres National Forest, Oklahoma, and the Great Lakes: Airborne Storms and Power Line Debris
“Anything is 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. You’re stuck.
The storm made for dangerous travel conditions in some areas. 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.
Police in the Oklahoma city of Norman warned of multiple road blockades, downed power lines and debris after a tornado hit the area.
More than 100 other storm reports – including wind and hail – were recorded in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas as hurricane-force winds and severe thunderstorms tore through the states. A storm of 114 mph was recorded in Memphis, Texas.
The Air Force moved most of its aircraft to protect them from damage and ensure they still can be deployed in the event of a disaster, according to the base.
Some mountain residents in Southern California may be stuck in their homes for another week because of the rare snowstorm that hit earlier in the week. The park was closed indefinitely after it got up to 15 feet of snow.
The Storm Prediction Center forecast a severe storm event, a derecho, which was expected to sweep through the region Sunday afternoon and into the evening.
The students at the University of Oklahoma in Norman were told to take shelter as a tornado watch was in effect.
Roughly a dozen families displaced by a tornado in Liberal, Kansas, are being accommodated and about 10 trailers were also damaged, City Manager Rusty Varnado said. At least one person was injured by broken glass, he said, noting the injuries are minor.
This week, the Great Lakes are poised to be hit all over again, including Michigan where about 146,000 homes and businesses still do not have power after the prior storms damaged trees and utility lines.
A Snowstorm and High Winds triggered by a School Bus Outage in Crestline, Californio, Calif. (France)
Another round of mixed precipitation is expected to move into the region Monday, with those under winter weather alerts possibly seeing between 2 to 8 inches of snowfall.
Kathy Hochul told residents to be prepared for hazardous travel conditions in New York because of winter weather that includes freezing rain, snowfall rates of at least 1 inch per hour and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour.
In Crestline, a community in San Bernardino County, the only grocery store is closing because of the heavy snow and residents fear they won’t get the supplies they need.
More snow plows and road crews are being brought in by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and personnel from Cal Fire and the California National Guard are ready to support operations.
Among those trapped were more than 600 students who were scheduled to return home last Friday but got stuck at their camps due to the storm. California Highway Patrol escorted the children’s buses down the mountain on Monday so they could reunite with their families, according to an Irvine Unified School District spokeswoman.
“Travel could be impossible with near zero visibility at times through early Wednesday morning. Strong winds could cause tree damage and power outages. If you risk travel you could become stranded in vehicles for hours,” the National Weather Service office in Reno said.
“Bring chains and know how to use them. Bring an emergency kit that includes warm clothes, snacks and water in case you are delayed. Make sure your vehicle is ready with good tires and working wiper blades,” the Oregon Department of Transportation said.
Emergency Services in the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office as Highway 168 is Closed: The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security
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.
Approximately 150 people were rescued from their neighborhoods Saturday and an additional 22 residents were taken to shelters or off the mountain on Sunday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said. Over the weekend, they gave food to residents.
“We’re responding to medical calls. We are extinguishing fires in trapped vehicles. Munsey said the people were to be evacuated from their houses where trees had been through them or some sort of roof collapse.
“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 plowed, you still have a 10-foot (3-meter) berm of snow that you need to make it over.”
The Office of Emergency Services in the County reported that China Peak in the Sierra Nevada had between 10 to 12 feet of snow, which led to the closing of Highway 168.
Flood Watches in Placer County, South Carolina, and the Area Contaminated by a Storm. An 80-Year-old Woman Died in a Snow-Dominated Fire
Nearly 25 million people are under flood watches from Oklahoma to Ohio, where there is a slight risk of excessive rainfall. The strongest storms could bring 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour.
More than eight million people were in the watch area, including southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, western North and South Carolina and northern Georgia. The watch includes Birmingham in Alabama, Chattanooga and Knoxville in Tennessee, and Cartersville and Carrollton in Georgia.
There was a lot of damage when the power went out and many homes, businesses, and the city hall were damaged.
The streets are still snow covered in some neighborhoods and the disabled and elderly cannot go to food distribution sites or seek help if they’re stuck.
An 80-year-old woman, Lois Barton, died in a “weather-related” incident in Placer County, sheriff’s office spokesperson Angela Musallam told CNN. She did not share the circumstances of the death, though where the incident occurred saw heavy snow and temperatures around freezing on Tuesday, CNN meteorologists said.
According to CNN, the San Bernardino County fire department says a number of structure fires seem to be storm-related. The department said the number of fires is atypical, but that it did not know the exact number.
Gas leaks are believed to be responsible for several house fires in the mountain communities, according to Fire Chief Dan Munsey. There are many of them in areas with bad roads. Firefighters are responding to homes using snowcats and often drudging in by foot with shovels and hoses and digging hydrants out of the snow to extinguish flames, Munsey said.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a press conference on Friday that rescuers are supplied with meals ready-to- eat to help people who can’t get food. He said that first responders will be setting up distribution points for food and that a convoy of supplies will be escorted up the mountain.
Snowplows, Snowcats and Firefighters: An Overview from a California Blizzard in the San Bernardino Mountains
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. She believes a plow comes every day or two when it snows.
The only way to get around is by shoveling walkways for emergency exits, Solo said. He added, “Everyone every day has been shoveling, and then it’ll snow another two feet.”
A late-February blast of arctic air produced a rare blizzard east of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino Mountains, where thousands of people live at high elevations in forest communities or visit for year-round recreation.
All highways leading up to the mountains were closed by last weekend and have been open intermittently since then for residents and convoys of trucks with food or other supplies.
The estimated time range for residents who were stranded was as little as two weeks, according to the sheriff.
“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 said that progress has been made, but they also said that the severe conditions are making it hard for firefighters to respond to emergency scenes such as fires in snowcats.
“The enormity of this event is hard to comprehend,” said state Assemblyman Tom Lackey. “We are thinking, ‘We’re in Southern California’ but yet we have had an inundation that has generated a severe amount of anxiety, frustration and difficulty, especially to the victims and those who are actually trapped in their own home.”
Some California Mountain Residents Could Be Snowed In For Another Week Because Of The Snow: A Facebook Post by the Mono County Sheriff’s Office
The Mono County Sheriff’s Office posted on their Facebook page that people in Mono City have been without power for a week because of the snow. The mountain communities dealing with the conditions have smaller populations and are more accustomed to snow than the northern areas.
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.
It took Devine Horvath and her son 30 minutes to walk down the street so that they could check on a neighbor.
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.
“We are going to dig you out and we are on our way,” Dicus said. We’re making tremendous progress. I saw this from the air yesterday. The roads are being cleared.
It was necessary to use front-end loader and dump trucks in order to remove the huge amount of snow.
California Department of Transportation official Jim Rogers said crews working 24-hour shifts have removed more than 2.6 million cubic yards (1.9 million cubic meters) of snow from state highways.
The difficulties in reopening smaller roads include buried vehicles and downed power lines. People were asked to mark the locations of cars.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161119770/some-california-mountain-residents-could-be-snowed-in-for-another-week
Snowshoeing in the San Bernardino Mountains: Planned Response of a California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force
The California National Guard crew that usually works with the California wildfire & forest resilience task force was being brought in with more snowcats. The crew will help shovel snow.
About 80,000 people live in the San Bernardino Mountains either part or full time. The county does not know how many people are in the mountains because a lot of residences are vacation homes.
Several Maine counties plus parts of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire saw more than a foot of snow Saturday, forcing hundreds of business closures and canceled flights.
Emergency crews in San Bernardino County, where communities are isolated by heavy snow and need assistance, will only see light snow showers Monday morning before getting a break for most of the week.
“People are getting desperate. They need medication. “They need food for their children and we need to feed them.” He has been snowshoeing for days out of his home to find groceries and check on elderly neighbors.
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.
Roads in the mountains of San Bernardino county, Calif.: The Vargas’s mom and dad cried when she saw the snow
One of the most critical tasks has been plowing 500 miles of roads in the San Bernardino County mountain areas.
By Sunday, about 80% of the county-maintained roadways had been made passable, the county said in an update. Passable means one lane open with little or no snow, which can be steered by four-wheel drive vehicles with chains. The updated said so.
“We were promised that help is coming. But we’re getting a little impatient here,” he said. “We maybe have a week’s food left. Many of our stores have closed because of roof collapse and the gas stations are short on fuel.
San Bernardino County resident Iliana Vargas and her family have been unable to return to their home for days after they ventured out to get supplies, only to be told they could not return to the house due to road closures.
We have our entire lives up there, my job, my computer, everything is there, said the man. She wants to stay in her house because she’s concerned that it may fall due to the weight of the snow on it.
The Alpaugh-Antenna Valley Floods: An Extraordinary Number of Storms, Rains, Snow, and Air Showers in Tulare County
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said that thousands were under orders in Alpaugh and Allensworth as officials worried that the roads might be too hard to navigate. First responders from dozens of agencies, including the California National Guard, were out Sunday afternoon helping residents evacuate – a sight that has become familiar in the flood-ravaged state this winter season.
“The devastation is indescribable,” Tulare County farmer Brandon Mendonsa told CNN affiliate KFSN. The water is still on the way.
Many welcomed this winter’s heavy rain and snow since it was so desperately needed to replenish the state’s severely drained reservoirs and depleted groundwater.
“This is an unusually high number of storms this winter in California,” said Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles. No matter how you slice it, this is an extraordinary number.
Hecht said this year has already outpaced the state’s average annual number of atmospheric rivers. In early January there were a number of storms.
He said that moderate storms bring beneficial precipitation to the state. Meanwhile, the high-end atmospheric rivers are the big rain and snow producers, which lead to more severe impacts.
“We typically refer to these successive types of atmospheric rivers as ‘AR families,’” Hecht told CNN. The stretch of nine that we had around New Year was a lot more active than we usually see, and while the AR families are not all that uncommon, we do not see them every year.
California Atmospheric River Day: When You Can’t Get Out of Here, But You Can Keep Getting There
In San Francisco, four people were critically injured and five other people were hurt when trees fell during the storm, according to the San Francisco fire department.
According to the FAA, the San Francisco International Airport experienced a ground delay of more than four hours on average because of high winds.
In Santa Barbara County, 26 homes were damaged by high winds Tuesday at a mobile home park in Carpinteria. No one was injured but several carports and awnings were damaged, according to a Facebook post from the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District.
“Visibility is at a big ‘nope’ today,” the state transportation department for the region wrote on Twitter. When conditions are favorable, travel should be considered. If you must travel, be prepared and stay safe.”
The soil is not able to absorb rain at a normal rate, making it unstable, according to the Yucaipa Fire Chief.
Firefighters across the state have been patrolling burn scars every time a river threatens to take aim at the state.
Thousands of firefighters and crew members from the National Guard and Cal Fire are out in force responding to storms throughout the state.
It is not like a fire where you can see the building and get closer to it. This is a done deal. It is too late to react to it, according to Malinowski.
Malinowski said that it was important for residents to obey orders to evacuate and perform rescues in mudslides.
“We understand the gravity of asking people to voluntarily leave their homes, but it’s also weighed with the ability for us to rescue people, knowing that it’s going to be a very difficult – if not impossible – task to get through just tons of tons of dirt and debris where we just literally can’t make access,” Malinowski said.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/21/weather/california-atmospheric-river-tuesday/index.html
The next few weeks: Snow plowing, storm patrol, flood control district and multiple sheriff deputies on the county lattice
The county said it is activating public works employees for 24-hour snow plowing and storm patrol, having County Flood Control District crews active on split shifts during the storm and adding additional sheriff deputies to routine patrols for the next two weeks.