California will be hit by ANOTHER storm tonight after enduring record snowfall, flooding and cold
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California is expected to be hit by another storm Sunday night after historic winter weather brought freezing temperatures, dumped several feet of snow, triggered widespread flooding and left tens of thousands of people without power.
Much of the state is still reeling from the effects of a multi-day winter storm that saw snow cover the Hollywood sign and four feet of snow in the northern mountains.
Videos posted online also showed recreational vehicles swept into Los Angeles-area rivers amid widespread flooding and sparks flying from downed power lines.
Major highways remained closed Sunday morning after drivers were stranded for hours on end.
Those roads may continue to be closed for the next few days as another storm starting Sunday night and lasting through Wednesday brings even more rain and snow.
LOS ANGELES: A father and son stop to look at the snow during a rare snowstorm on Saturday
ANGWIN: Snow covered a vineyard in California’s famous Napa Valley on Friday
California is now expected to be inundated with even more storms in the coming days.
The dangerous storms have already dumped nearly five feet of snow on Donner Summit, according to the Central Sierra Snow Lab at the University of California Berkeley.
Mount Baldy, near downtown Los Angeles, also measured more than three feet and Mount Laguna in San Diego County saw more than two feet of snow. Magic Mountain, outside of Los Angeles, also recorded wind gusts of up to 86 mph.
And at Mountain High Resort in Wrightwood, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, more than six feet of snow fell in less than a week. The complex said it was forced to close Saturday to “use the available personnel we have to dig and clean up.” nbc news reports.
The city of Big Bear Lake also warned that all roads to the community surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest were closed due to snow, without an estimate of when it might reopen, and Yosemite National Park in Northern California will remain. Closed at least until Wednesday. .
As of Sunday, Interstate 5, the largest highway leading north from Los Angeles, remained closed on the steep grade known as Grapevine due to heavy snowfall, while southernmost points of the freeway in and around the city were closed due to flooding.
The city recorded 4.3 inches of rain, while Pasadena recorded 7.84 inches. A possible tornado was also reported in the Los Angeles County community of Whittier.
Los Angeles County officials were finally forced to close 24 miles of beach from Nicholas Canyon in Malibu to White Point Beach in San Pedro for nearly two hours Saturday afternoon after lightning was observed off the coast.
By Saturday night, more than 120,000 people across the state were without power. But as of Sunday morning, that number has dwindled to just over 75,000 residents and businesses, mostly in Madera County, according to poweroutage.usa website that tracks utility data across the country.
At the same time, a flood warning for Southern California was in effect until 11 a.m. local time.
CASTAIC: A mobile home is shown beginning to fall into the Santa Clara River as the ground beneath it is washed away by floodwaters
LOS ANGELES: A boy played in the snow during Saturday’s storm
GREEN VALLEY: A woman was forced to clean the windshield of her car in the Sierra Pelona mountains on Saturday
GREEN VALLEY: Two Good Samaritans helped a driver when his truck got stuck in the snow
CASTIAC: The Santa Clara River flooded due to heavy rains near a trailer park
LOS ANGELES: Evan Shornstein, a tourist from New York, walked along the Los Angeles River during Saturday’s treacherous storm.
REDONDO BEACH: A surfer gestures as he prepares to ride the waves in the dangerous storm
Authorities say extreme weather toppled three RVs parked at the Valencia Travel Village RV complex in Castaic, in far north Los Angeles County, into the Santa Clara River.
Video obtained by KCAL News showed one of the RVs flipping over and rapidly backing into the swollen river.
Search and rescue teams from the Ventura County Fire Department responded to the area and found the trailer, but luckily no one was inside the RV at the time.
A search and rescue team also lifted two homeless men stranded on islands of dry land in the Hanson flood control basin to safety on Saturday.
The men were uninjured and were released at the scene.
And in San Luis Obispo, a large tree fell on an apartment complex, displacing seven people, KSBY reports. Red Cross representatives helped them with housing.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA: Snow covered a house in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, even covering some palm trees
GREEN VALLEY: A car skidded off the snowy road into a pond in the Sierra Pelona mountains on Saturday
PLAYA REDONDO: A driver braved hail and rain during the winter storm on Saturday
LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles River experienced overflow amid heavy rain
The National Weather Service is now warning residents of the state capital in Sacramento to avoid traveling Sunday through Wednesday as rain and snow have started again.
“Extreme impacts from heavy snow and wind will cause extremely dangerous or impossible driving conditions and likely widespread road closures and infrastructure impacts!” the agency said on Twitter.
These new storms are expected to bring wind gusts of up to 50 mph in the Sacramento Valley and up to 70 mph in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains.
A massive low pressure system boosted from the Arctic is responsible for the unusual conditions, said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
In southern California, “this is a rare case of a significant cold storm,” he said.