246webagency
[ad_1]
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – The death toll from an onslaught of violent storms sweeping across California rose to 12 as “two major episodes” promised more devastation and up to a foot of rain.
The National Weather Service warned that parts of the Sacramento area, which has been battered by high winds and overwhelming rains, could see 12 inches of rain by Wednesday night.
“Two of the more energetic and moisture-laden parade of cyclones … are aiming directly for California,” the weather service forecast said. “The cumulative effect of successive heavy rainfall events will lead to … rapid water rises, mudslides and the potential for major river flooding.”
The first episode, already affecting the state early Monday, was expected to dump up to 5 inches of rain on the central California coast, the weather service warned. Another, due Tuesday, will primarily target locations farther south into Southern California.
“Flooding from Northern to Central California is expected to be widespread, even catastrophic in some locations around the coastal mountains and the northern and central Sierra,” AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Bauer said. He said more than a dozen monitored river locations are forecast to be above flood stage.
President Joe. Biden, citing “emergency conditions resulting from successive and severe winter storms, flooding, and mudslides” declared a federal emergency late Sunday, ordering federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local response efforts.
NEWSOME DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY:California Gov. Newsom asks Biden administration to declare federal emergency ahead of brutal storms
Other developments:
►More than 140,000 homes and businesses across the state were without power early Monday, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.
►The Los Angeles area braced for up to 8 inches of rain in foothill areas. High surf was expected through Tuesday.
►The California Office of Emergency Services and state leaders for the first time gave a press conference entirely in Spanish.
WHAT IS AN ‘ATMOSPHERIC RIVER’? These rivers of water vapor can extend thousands of miles.
Six feet of snow forecast in Sierra
The Sierra Nevada will likely see heavy snow exceeding 6 feet across the higher elevations before the snow tapers off Wednesday morning, forecasters said. The state Department of Transportation warned motorists to stay off mountain roads after closing a stretch of U.S. 395 in Mono County, along the Eastern Sierra, because of heavy snow, ice and whiteout conditions.
Mammoth Mountain, an Eastern Sierra ski resort, already has received nearly 10 feet of snow, the National Weather Service reported.
Why could the latest storm be so damaging?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had sought the federal emergency designation earlier Sunday, said the death toll from almost two weeks of storms had reached 12.
“California is in the middle of a deadly barrage of winter storms, and we are using every resource at our disposal to protect lives and limit damage,” Newsom said.
AccuWeather experts say the unrelenting “atmospheric rivers” have saturated much of the state and bloated rivers and streams, leaving state susceptible to “extreme and historic levels” of storm damage.
A CLOSER LOOK:Graphics show how the coastal state has been drenched
HOW AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER DEVELOPS:Graphics show atmospheric river soaking California’s Bay Area
Atmospheric rivers are ribbons of water vapor in the sky that can extend thousands of miles from the tropics to the western U.S. At 250 to 375 miles wide, they provide the fuel for massive rain and snowstorms that can cause flooding along the West Coast.
On Sunday alone, one thunderstorm moving into the Sacramento region was producing up to a half-inch of rain per hour.
Sacramento County struggles to recover
In the state capital, tens of thousands of electric customers remained without power Monday, down from more than 350,000 after gusts of 60 mph knocked trees into power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Sacramento City schools were closed Monday because six campuses had no electricity.
The weather service posted a flood advisory for much of the Sacramento Valley, northern San Joaquin Valley and surrounding foothills. The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services ordered residents of Wilton, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Sacramento, to evacuate Sunday night. Wilton is home to about 6,000 people.
“Flooding is imminent. Out of an abundance of caution, residents must leave now before roads become impassable,” the office of emergency services said in its evacuation order.
Contributing: The Associated Press
[ad_2]
Source link
