A new map shows areas in California are expected to be hit hardest by the bomb cyclone weather system currently ravaging the Golden State.
The hardest hit areas will be around the Eureka area in the northern part of the state, close to the Oregon border and throughout Los Angeles and surrounding areas where more than 10 inches of rain is expected to fall this week.
The storm flooded the streets and destroyed trees and power lines in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday, where winds reached up to 60 miles per hour in some areas. Wind gusts of more than 130 km/h were recorded in the mountains.
Just south of San Jose, emergency crews pulled the occupants from the windows of a car stranded by water and rescued people from a homeless encampment along a rising river.
The storm then moved into Southern California, where officials warned of potentially devastating flooding and ordered evacuations for canyons burned in recent wildfires that are at high risk for mud and debris flows.
The hardest hit areas will be around the Eureka area in the northern part of the state, close to the Oregon border, and throughout Los Angeles and surrounding areas where more than 10 inches of rain is expected to fall this week.
The California coast seen at 9:40 am. The second of consecutive atmospheric rivers ravaged California on Sunday
Classes were canceled Monday for schools in Santa Barbara County, which was devastated in 2018 by mudslides caused by powerful storms.
Farther along the coast, high winds and heavy rain made for treacherous conditions in the city of Ventura, said Alexis Herrera, who tried to save his sedan, which was filled with flood water.
“All the highways here are flooded,” Herrera said in Spanish. “I don’t know how to move my car.”
More than 845,000 customers statewide were without electricity Sunday evening, according to poweroutage.us.
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. There were also delays at San Jose and Sacramento airports.
Palisades Tahoe, a ski area about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, said Sunday it expected the heaviest snowfall yet this season, with accumulations of 6 inches per hour for a total of up to 20 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.
Palm trees blown away by strong winds as the second and most powerful of two atmospheric river storms hits Santa Barbara, California
More than 845,000 customers statewide were without electricity Sunday evening, according to poweroutage.us
The latest storm, dubbed a “Pineapple Express” because its plume of moisture extends across the Pacific Ocean to near Hawaii, arrived off the coast of Northern California on Saturday as most of the state was under some sort of wind, surf or flood watch.
The weather service issued a rare “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.
Meanwhile, the southern part of the state 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 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.
“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 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 placed personnel and equipment in areas most at risk.
The storm was expected to move along the coast, bringing heavy rain, possible flash flooding and mountain snow to the Los Angeles area late Sunday before hitting Orange and San Diego counties on Monday.
On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, said it planned to open schools as usual on Monday. The decision would be reevaluated at 6 a.m. Monday, Chief Inspector Alberto Carvalho said.
The weather service predicts up to 8 inches of rain 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.