LOS ANGELES (AP) — The final storm in a series of three-week-long winter storms hit California hard on Monday, threatening mountains even when the sun was out in some areas. , increased risk of flooding near swollen rivers.
Heavy snow fell in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the National Weather Service discouraged travel. Interstate 80, the main highway from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Lake Tahoe ski resort, has reopened at the chain’s requirement after regular weekend closures due to whiteout conditions.
The Sacramento Weather Department tweeted: “If you must travel, be prepared for dangerous travel conditions, significant travel delays and road closures.
The University of California, Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab tweeted Monday morning that it had hit 49.6 inches (126 cm) of fresh snow since Friday.
A backcountry avalanche warning has been issued for the Central Sierra, including the Greater Tahoe region.
A series of nine atmospheric river storms have brought rain and snow to California since late December, cutting power to thousands, flooding roads, uprooting trees, unleashing debris flows and causing landslides. Monday’s system was relatively weak compared to previous storms, but the risk of flooding and landslides remained as the state was so saturated, forecasters said.
Since October 1, when California begins recording annual precipitation, 20.3 inches (51.5 cm) of rain has fallen at San Francisco airports. The yearly average for the “water year” was 19.6 inches (49.8 cm) for him, “8 more months to beat the yearly total,” tweeted the San Francisco Office of the Meteorological Service.
Up to 2 inches (5 cm) more rain fell in the flooded Sacramento Valley on Sunday, and residents of Wilton and surrounding communities were warned to prepare to vacate if the Cosmnes River swelled further.
The swollen Salinas River has flooded Monterey County farmlands. In the east, a flood warning was issued for Merced County in the Agricultural Central Valley, where Gov. Gavin Newsom visited on Saturday.
Newsom on Monday signed an executive order to further strengthen the state’s emergency storm response and help affected communities. President Joe Biden has declared a statewide catastrophe and ordered federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts.
In Southern California, the sun was shining over Los Angeles, but winter storm warnings and advisories still applied to the mountains. His two northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Castaic in northern LA County were closed indefinitely after a hillside collapsed.
Downtown Los Angeles had a record amount of rain on Saturday, hitting 1.82 inches (4.6 cm), according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
At least 20 people died in connection with the storm, and a 5-year-old boy swept out of his mother’s car in San Luis Obispo County floods remains missing.
Dry days are included in this week’s weather forecast for California starting Tuesday.
suggest a fix
https://wgnradio.com/news/national/ap-last-in-series-of-california-storms-dumps-more-rain-snow/ The final in a series of California storms will bring more rain and snow. WGN Radio 720