CNN Weather
Strongly atmospheric river takes aim at California's flooded coastline this week
CNN
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Two storms, including another long-lasting atmospheric river event, will flood much of California starting Saturday and into next week, raising the risk of flooding and landslides.
The state is still recovering from a particularly powerful storm that brought record rainfall and hundreds of landslides to Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California in early February.
Although the two storms are not expected to be as devastating as early February, the repeated rain and slow movement of the second storm will pose a significant threat of flooding.
As a result, the above 27 million people It is under a flood watch that extends from southern Northern California to parts of the Los Angeles area.
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Although the first storm is expected to be weaker than the second, the second storm will “increase soil moisture and raise water levels in streams and rivers ahead of heavier rain on Sunday,” the National Weather Service said. Stated. It is expected to enter the northern California coast early Saturday morning and soak the area an inch or two for the rest of the day. Moderate rainfall. Only light rain is expected on the Central Coast and Southern California.
Santa Barbara County emergency management officials on Saturday issued evacuation warnings for parts of the county ahead of expected storms.
second, more powerful storm Excessive precipitation is likely across much of the state into Wednesday as it arrives Sunday afternoon and stalls near the coast until early next week. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the county from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday morning.
Impactful weather in the northern part of the state is expected to occur primarily on Sunday, with 1 to 3 inches of rain expected in lower elevations and 3 to 5 inches in higher elevations.
The National Weather Service office in San Francisco said, “The soil around the Bay Area is near saturated, so rainfall will likely run off quickly and contribute to numerous shallow landslides along steep terrain.” Stated.
There will also be strong winds, but not as strong as the deadly hurricane-force winds from the early February storm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes. The San Francisco Weather Bureau said wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph are likely Sunday night into Monday, and “further downed trees and power outages are possible.”
The heaviest rain will begin moving south late Sunday into early Monday, enveloping parts of the Central Coast and Southern California. Santa Barbara, in particular, has a level 3/4 risk of heavy rain that will continue from Sunday into Monday night.
By Monday afternoon, heavy rain had reached Los Angeles, with a flood danger level of 4/4 in place from Tuesday into early Wednesday.
“Rainfall in the region could reach 0.5 to 1 inch per hour, with even more than 1 inch per hour possible,” the Weather Prediction Center said. Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches are expected in coastal areas and 4 to 6 inches in higher elevations Sunday through Wednesday.
“This amount of rain, combined with last week's rainfall totals, will pose significant concerns for flooding and landslides,” the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles said.
There will be significant rain along the coast, but even more snow is expected in higher elevations.
Saturday's storm will be the weaker of the two systems in terms of snowfall, with 4 to 10 inches of snow expected in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades by Sunday morning.
“Mount Shasta could easily see up to two feet of snow across the highlands Saturday night, which could make some ski slope happy,” the National Weather Service office in Medford, Oregon, said in a statement. It has said.
However, a second storm will bring even more snow to the region.
By Wednesday, snowfall totals in the Sierra Nevada could reach up to 1 to 2 feet in areas above 5,500 feet, with the highest peaks potentially seeing up to 4 feet of snow.
“Climbing is strongly discouraged while a warning is in effect,” the National Weather Service office in Sacramento says. “Potential impacts include difficult or impossible travel conditions, snow-covered roads, chain restrictions, and visibility.” This includes reduced traffic and road closures.”
