A powerful blizzard in California is ongoing, increasing the risk of floods and avalanches on Saturday. The already miserable situation is being compounded by frigid temperatures, with some areas expected to experience overnight lows below freezing.
Meanwhile, downtown San Francisco is expected to see record-breaking cold temperatures on Saturday morning. The National Weather Service predicts temperatures of 38 degrees Fahrenheit, which would make it the coldest the city has been since 2009.
Flood Risks
Flash flood warnings were in place from Friday through early Saturday morning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, which have a population of around 6 million people. Up to 7 inches of rain had already fallen in Ventura County, with a possibility of up to 10 inches before the storm cleared on Saturday.
Life-threatening flash floods were expected in Los Angeles County, particularly in areas near creeks, streams, urban areas, highways, and wildfire burn sites, including downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and many suburbs. The National Weather Service also warned of shallow landslides and mudslides.
Although no serious problems were immediately reported, residents in some areas were advised to be prepared to evacuate quickly. Meanwhile, people in eastern regions were still dealing with the aftermath of earlier storms.
Heavy Snow, Ice, Power Outage
After an ice storm knocked down some 3,000 power lines, over half a million people in Michigan were still without power late Friday night. However, promises of power restoration by Sunday, when low temperatures were expected to rise, offered little consolation. Meanwhile, California's wine country experienced strong winds and heavy snowfall, with one resident reporting more than a foot of snow and dozens of snapped oak trees.
The Weather Prediction Center of the National Weather Service predicted heavy snow over the Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevada into the weekend, while the low-pressure system driving inland from the Pacific Ocean is expected to bring rain and snow to southern Nevada and northwest Arizona.
Avalanches
The weather service issued an avalanche warning for the Sierra Nevada backcountry in the area around Lake Tahoe, which spans the border between California and Nevada, according to data from The Weather Channel. As of Friday, nearly 2 feet of new snow had fallen, and an additional 5 feet were expected with another storm that could bring gale-force winds and high-intensity flurries on Sunday.
In Arizona, forecasters predicted the heaviest snowfall to occur from late Saturday to midday Sunday, with up to a foot of new snow possible in Flagstaff. Although the upper Midwest to the Northeast was expected to see some snow over the weekend, parts of the central Appalachians could experience pockets of freezing rain.
As the cold weather avoids the southern states, there have been wild temperature differences across the US, with Falcon Lake, Texas experiencing a high of 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, while the temperature near Huntley, Montana dropped to minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Canceled Flights and Travel Hurdles
Wintry conditions have resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights at airports across the country and forced the closure of several major highways in multiple states. Some drivers were stranded overnight on State Route 17, a significant road in the San Francisco Bay Area mountains before it reopened Friday morning.
The Grapevine, a high mountain pass north of Los Angeles, was shut for over 12 hours before reopening on Friday evening under police escort. According to AP News, Interstate 80 remained closed for most of Friday across the Sierra Nevada mountain range between Sacramento, California, and Reno, Nevada.
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