A massive storm lashed Northern California with rain and snow on Wednesday night, threatening flooding and rockfalls in the latest wave of damaging weather to wash up on the West Coast.
The National Weather Service has extended a flood watch north of San Francisco through Saturday as the strongest storm surge — a huge plume of moisture drifting ashore — that California and the Pacific Northwest has hit the region this season. Seen sinking. The storm system that blew through Washington state the night before killed two people and left hundreds of thousands without power.
Up to 16 inches (about 41 cm) of rain was forecast for northern California and southwestern Oregon by Friday. As of Wednesday evening, some areas of Northern California received heavy rainfall, including Santa Rosa, which saw about 5 inches (about 13 cm) in 24 hours, according to Mark Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. According to
Officials warned that dangerous flooding, rock falls and debris flows are possible. About a dozen small landslides occurred in Northern California in the past 24 hours, including a vehicle on Highway 281 early Wednesday morning, Chennard said.
The National Weather Service warned people in the Bay Area that the atmospheric river was centered in the northern Gulf and that “heavy rain is expected to continue tonight Thursday into Friday. This will result in mudslides, road closures, and more.” will.”
The storm system, which made landfall for the first time on Tuesday, is considered a “bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a storm rapidly intensifies.
A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 m), where 15 inches (38 cm) of snow was possible over two days. Wind gusts could top 75 mph (121 km/h) in mountainous areas, forecasters said.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm had dumped more than a foot of snow along the falls by Wednesday evening. Forecasters warned of blizzard and whiteout conditions and impossible travel on the pass’s surface.
In Washington, about 376,000 power outages were reported Wednesday evening, according to poweroutage.us, the result of strong winds and rain the night before. At least two people were killed when a tree fell in western Washington, destroying homes and debris-strewn roads. A woman in Lynnwood was killed when a large tree fell on a homeless camp, while another woman was killed when a tree fell on her home in Bellevue.
More than a dozen schools in the Seattle area were closed Wednesday, and some chose to extend those closures into Thursday.
About 21,000 power outages were reported in California as of Wednesday evening.
According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, southbound Interstate 5 was closed Wednesday morning for 11 miles (18 km) from Ashland, Oregon, to the California border due to severe winter conditions in Northern California. , according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. The department said it was expected to be a long-term closure.
Hundreds of flights were delayed and dozens canceled at San Francisco International Airport, according to FlightAware.
The weather service issued a flash flood watch for parts of southwestern Oregon through Friday evening, when high winds and seas temporarily blocked the ferry route in northwest Washington between Port Townsend and Copeville.
