First EVER hurricane alert issued for Central California as 97 PERCENT of state’s population put under flood warning – as ‘bomb cyclone’ prepares to batter LA and millionaire playground of Santa Barbara – sparking emergency alert from Gov. Newsom
The second of consecutive atmospheric rivers battered California on Sunday, prompting the first-ever hurricane winds warning in the state’s history.
California is preparing for days of heavy rain, road flooding and power outages for nearly 800,000 people, with 97 percent of the state’s population under flood warnings.
The current ‘bomb cyclone’ – a term denoting a storm that rapidly intensifies over 24 hours – could dump more than 8 trillion liters of rainfall on the state.
The storm swamped streets and downed trees and power lines in the San Francisco Bay Area, where winds exceeded 60 mph in some areas, blowing what appeared to be a white tarpaulin flag off a building. Wind gusts of more than 130 km/h were recorded in the mountains.
A video from Los Angeles showed chilling footage of planes flying into the city as they tried to navigate the horrific conditions.
The second of consecutive atmospheric rivers battered California on Sunday, prompting the first-ever hurricane winds warning in state history
California is preparing for what could be days of heavy rain, road flooding and power outages for nearly 800,000 people, with 97 percent of the state’s population under flood warnings
The current “bomb cyclone” — a term describing a storm that rapidly intensifies within 24 hours — could dump more than 8 trillion gallons of rainfall on the state, including San Francisco
In Southern California, officials warned of potentially devastating flooding and ordered evacuations for canyons burned in recent wildfires that are at high risk of mud and debris flows.
The National Weather Service office for Los Angeles warned that “all systems are ready for one of the most dramatic weather days in recent memory.”
One Home Depot in Santa Barbara, where the worst of the chaos was seen in videos posted online, sold out of sandbags and offered customers potting soil and fertilizer instead.
“This storm is forecast to be one of the largest and most significant in our county’s history, and our goal is to get through it without fatalities or serious injuries,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said Saturday to reporters.
Classes were canceled Monday for schools across the province destroyed by mudslides caused by powerful storms in 2018.
Strong winds and heavy rain created treacherous conditions in the coastal city of Ventura, west of Los Angeles.
As of Sunday evening, more than 790,000 customers were without electricity statewide, with most outages concentrated in coastal areas. poweroutage.us.
Six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area were at little risk of waterspouts making landfall and becoming tornadoes, the Storm Prediction Center said.
Search and rescue workers evacuate men from a homeless camp surrounded by floodwaters from the Guadalupe River
A boater stands on the bow of an anchored sailboat as waves crash over a breakwater in Alameda
Search and rescue workers investigate a car surrounded by floodwaters
A vehicle drives through water on a flooded street in Ventura
The last time the center predicted a tornado risk in the region was in February 2015, the report said. San Francisco Chronicle.
Winds caused hours of delays at San Francisco International Airport. As of 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, 155 departing flights had been delayed and 69 canceled, according to tracking website FlightAware.
The visibly bad weather didn’t stop large numbers of San Francisco 49ers fans from braving the storm and sending their team to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Palisades Tahoe, a ski area about 200 miles northeast of San Francisco, said it expected the heaviest snowfall yet this season, with accumulations of 6 inches per hour for a total of as much as 2 feet.
Heavy snow was expected across the Sierra Nevada until Monday and motorists were urged to avoid mountain roads.
Much of the state was drying out from the system that blew in last week, causing flooding and dumping welcome snow on the mountains.
The last storm, also called a ‘Pineapple Express’ Because the moisture plume extends across the Pacific Ocean to near Hawaii, it arrived off the coast of Northern California on Saturday, when most of the state was under some sort of wind, surf or flood watch.
The weather service issued a rare message on Sunday ‘hurricane force wind warning’ for the Central Coast, with gusts up to 90 mph possible from the Monterey Peninsula to northern San Luis Obispo County.
A man with an umbrella stands high above a flooded street in Ventura
Rescuers assist a boater, left, after his sailboat drifted toward a breakwater while dragging anchor
A man looks at a fallen tree and power lines blocking a road in Pebble Beach
San Francisco 49ers fans brave the treacherous weather to send their team to the Super Bowl on Sunday
San Francisco firefighters posted this video of the waves coming in from the bay on Sunday
The rain forced the organizers to do so postpone the last round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Monterey County through Monday.
Meanwhile, Southern California was at risk of significant flooding that started late Sunday because of the system’s sluggishness, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Los Angeles-area office.
‘The core of the low-pressure system is very deep, it moves very slowly and it is very close to us. And that’s why we have those very strong winds. And its slow nature is actually giving us the highest rainfall totals and flood risk,” he said at a Sunday briefing.
Evacuation orders and warnings were in effect for the mountain and canyon areas of Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
LA County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath urged residents near wildfire-burned areas of the Topanga and Soledad canyons to follow orders to avoid possible mudslides.
A drift boat washes ashore during a rainstorm in Santa Barbara
People fill sandbags during a rainstorm in Santa Barbara
Fallen trees and power lines block a road in Pebble Beach
Palisades Tahoe, a ski area about 200 miles northeast of San Francisco, said it expected the heaviest snowfall yet this season, with accumulations of 6 inches per hour for a total of as much as 2 feet.
“If you have not already left, please gather your family, your pets and your medications and leave immediately,” Horvath said during a Sunday briefing. The province set up shelters where evacuees could spend the night.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Sunday for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated its operations center and deployed personnel and equipment to areas most at risk.
The weather service predicts up to 8 inches of precipitation in the coastal and valley areas of Southern California, with 14 inches possible in the foothills and mountains.
Heavy to moderate rain is expected in Southern California through Tuesday.