More than 126,000 without power in California as storm brings rain, heavy snow, damaging winds
More than 126,000 customers are without power in California as a major storm brings record rainfall, heavy snow and damaging winds. The storm will be moving from southern California across the entire country over the next few days, eventually moving northeast by Tuesday.
As of Saturday morning, more than 30 million Americans are under weather alerts in the West, ranging from blizzard warnings in the mountains near Los Angeles to wind chill alerts in the Northern Plains.
The Los Angeles area saw record rainfall on Friday, and it came along with 50- to 70-mile-per-hour winds. Burbank, California, saw 4.6 inches of rain Friday -- stranding cars in floods and causing dozens of flight delays and cancellations.
Records for daily rainfall were also set at the Los Angeles International Airport and the cities of Fresno, Bakersfield, Modesto and Oxnard.
Depending on where you are around the Los Angeles area, between 2 to 5 inches of rain have fallen in the last 24 hours alone. Five to eight inches of rain have fallen at higher elevations north of the city. The Flash Flood Warning from Saturday morning has been allowed to expire, but a Flood Watch continues through the afternoon.
Multiple stretches of I-5 in Los Angeles County were shuttered on Saturday due to rain and snow. A portion of I-5 near Atwater Village in Metro LA was blocked off in both directions for several hours after flooding inundated all lanes of the highway, preventing motorists from passing. The southbound lane has since reopened, but the northbound lane remains closed.
Further north along the same stretch of freeway, more than 25 miles of I-5 Grapevine remains sealed off to travelers due to "heavy snow and ice," per California Highway Patrol.
Heavy rain continues in southern California, with heavy snow in the mountains, mainly above 2,000 feet elevation. A few light snow showers may be found across the northeast this morning, with scattered minor accumulations.
In the mountains outside of Los Angeles, anywhere from 2 to 6 feet of snow have fallen since Wednesday. Blizzard Warnings remain in effect until 4 p.m. local time due to the heavy snow and winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. Snow has been falling at rates of 2.5 inches in places, like Lake Arrowhead, California.
Rain and snow will not be letting up on Saturday. More flooding rain is possible in the Los Angeles area, although the heaviest rain looks to move to the east of the city by end of day.
In the mountains, incredibly heavy snow is leading to treacherous travel. The central and southern Sierra Nevada Mountains are looking at an additional 2 to 4 feet of snow Saturday.
On Sunday, the majority of the rain from this major storm will be moving through Arizona, bringing rain in the “lower elevations” and snow in the mountainous terrain. Meanwhile, another wave of rain and snow will arrive in northern California during the morning hours, with precipitation from Sacramento all the way north to Seattle.
That storm moves eastward by Sunday, but will deliver a severe weather threat to Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas on Sunday afternoon. Tornadoes and damaging winds are possible.
