Winter storm brings ‘very heavy’ snow and more rain to California | California

California is blanketed in a winter storm that brought the coldest air mass to the state in three years, along with heavy snowfall, road closures and power outages.

Two Pacific storms are expected to bring more than 10 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevadas and heavy rainfall to lower-elevation parts of the state, including Los Angeles and San Diego; Flooding may occur here due to recent burn scars.

National Weather Service guess “Very heavy snow totals greater than 12 inches over several days” from the southern Cascades to southern California and east to the Rocky Mountains. The heaviest snowfall is expected in the Sierras.

According to the National Weather Service Hanford office, heavy snowfall of up to 3-5 ft is expected for locations above 6,000 ft elevation, while up to 7 ft of snowfall is expected at higher elevations. winter storm warning For areas close to Yosemite national park. The warning was valid until 22:00 local time on Thursday.

University of California Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, near Donner Pass reported 28 inches of snow will fall on Tuesday, with another 3 ft of snow expected over the next two days. I-80 closed Colfax to Nevada state line due to snow.

Many alpine skiers were lost following an avalanche on Tuesday afternoon. local news It was reported, citing the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. The group was in the Castle Peak area and an avalanche was reported at around 11.30.

Sierra Avalanche Center gave an avalanche warning to 4 a.m. Wednesday for the Central Sierra Nevadas. The statement said: “It is a common natural avalanche The cycle is expected to occur within the next 24 hours.”

Some ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area announced closures as a result of the weather conditions, while others warned skiers to check road conditions before heading up the mountain. All lifts in Palisades and Alpine closed around 12pm on Tuesday “due to conditions, visibility and wind”.

Yosemite national park remains open with tire chain requirements and road closure warnings, but visitors hoping to see Fire Falls at Horsetail Falls in February may be disappointed. The brief moment when the waterfall shines golden under the rays of the setting sun will likely be marred by weather conditions.

“Horsetail Falls is unlikely to be illuminated at sunset due to cloudy skies over the next few days and possibly through the weekend,” the park said. a social media post. “Due to weather conditions, the pedestrian path on the road to the viewing area was closed.”

Even in places where snow was not expected, storm conditions were affecting the rest of the state.

Stanford University closed for about two hours Tuesday morning due to a power outage. Inside a statement“It was reported that one of the main PG&E transmission lines feeding the campus was impacted, causing an outage,” the university said. he said. According to the university’s website, the outage began around 9.16am local time and the campus reopened at 11.39am.

Further south, parts of Highway 1 remained closed Tuesday, after Caltrans closed a 45-mile stretch of the coastal highway following a landslide on Monday. The road is still closed in two segments: from 2.2 miles north of Lucia to 16.3 miles south of Big Sur, and from 1.8 miles north of the Route 135 and Soloman Road intersection to Black Road, 12.9 miles south of Guadalupe.

Caltrans had reopened a section of the highway just weeks earlier after three years of repairs due to a mudslide caused by heavy rains.

In Southern California, the National Weather Service Los Angeles/Oxnard office said heavy snowfall was “possible” along the I-5 and I-14 corridors and winds “up to 60 to 70 mph are possible.”

Flood watches were in effect in Los Angeles, which the county had issued. evacuation warning in Palisades, Eaton and other fire-affected areas due to possible flooding in burn scars.

“Areas close to the Canyon, Bethany, Eaton, Palisades, Kenneth, Sunset, Lidia, Hurst, Franklin and Bridge fires should prepare to evacuate if an Evacuation Order is issued.” district website To read.

As local NBC station noted, floodwaters had already engulfed parts of Los Angeles on Monday, wreaking havoc even on non-humans. local food delivery robot He was stranded by flooding in West Hollywood.