Another moderate storm moved into California Sunday night, bringing more rain to Los Angeles, the coast and inland valleys, and potentially dropping up to 2 feet of snow in the mountainous regions of Northern California before continuing on its path. heading east on Monday.
The National Weather Service in Los Angeles issued a winter storm warning for elevations above 5,000 feet, including Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear, Running Springs and Wrightwood. The service warned motorists traveling to and from the San Bernardino Mountains to expect high winds and limited visibility, and warned of potential snow in the Grapevine I-15 corridor Monday and Tuesday.
But forecasters also say there’s good news on the horizon. The series of storms that have ravaged the state, inundating communities, forcing evacuations, closing major highways and causing at least 19 deaths, should come to an end this week.
“It looks like a dry spell is coming that we haven’t seen since the day after Christmas when this all started,” said Eric Kurth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
The dry spell is expected to start in Southern California on Tuesday, while those living along the north and central coasts, and in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento region, will likely have to wait. until Thursday. A light rain system is expected to hit these already saturated areas on Wednesday.
Once the rains have dissipated, state and local officials will begin evaluating long-term rebuilding efforts in the areas most damaged by the storms.
The Biden administration on Saturday approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for a presidential disaster declaration to support the state’s response to flooding, mudslides and mudslides in California, where 41 counties are under emergency declarations.
Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said the state continues to monitor the Monterey Peninsula and the Salinas River, where a flood warning remains in effect near the town of Spreckels.
Concerns that the river’s rise could cut off communities, such as Monterey and Carmel, on the peninsula have subsided, though the state continues to closely monitor water levels in the river.
Debris flows along Highway 1 slowed and stopped traffic in Monterey County, while the National Weather Service forecast snow on the upper peaks of the Santa Lucia Mountains, which run along the coast. central from Carmel to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County.
Farther south, mudslides are a major concern in Santa Barbara.
“Santa Barbara is a different challenge and perhaps a more difficult situation, because the threats there have to do with earth movement,” Ferguson said, adding that landslides present a significant risk, even after the storms have passed. storms.
He said the California National Guard is working to remove debris from flood control channels and improve drainage to lessen the impact of mudslides. In total, the state has recorded 402 landslides since December 30.
In Merced County, the levee break in Bear Creek caused several feet of water to hit homes and schools, necessitating another long-term recovery effort, he said.
Santa Cruz experienced “high tides, storm surge, wind and water all at the same time,” causing significant damage to the state beach and the city of Capitola, Ferguson said.
“The movement of water from the Santa Cruz Mountains is so fast that significant damage is caused to roads, bridges and other works that may take longer to recover,” he explained.
In southern California, an Orange County swift water rescue team airlifted a woman to safety from torrential waters in a creek bed Saturday. Using a harness, the helicopter crew rescued the woman, who was clinging to a tree, and hoisted her to a clear spot where firefighters and paramedics were waiting.
That same afternoon, a giant tree crushed at least 10 vehicles and caused minor damage to a building in the El Camino shopping center in Woodland Hills.
On Sunday morning, severe weather conditions led authorities in San Luis Obispo to once again call off the search for 5-year-old Kyle Doan. His mother lost control of her vehicle as she was driving him to school Monday morning and the boy was swept away near San Miguel Creek. The search for Kyle has been repeatedly interrupted due to dangerous conditions.
Another flood warning remains in effect along the Sacramento River, affecting Glenn, Butte and Tehama counties.
Coastal flood advisories remain in effect for beaches in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Monterey and San Francisco counties. The National Weather Service warned of high tide flooding in parking lots, beaches and low-lying promenades and increased risk of flooding from rip currents.
Ferguson said that while Californians have learned to avoid danger during more common disasters like wildfires, authorities are still trying to educate people about flood risks.
“The hardest thing is still human behavior,” Ferguson said. “There have been a lot of people who have put themselves in danger by driving on the wrong roads or by ignoring closures, and that is where I see work needs to be done to help Californians understand that flooding is so deadly. and challenging like forest fires or earthquakes.”
Powerful atmospheric river storms that have dumped trillions of gallons of precipitation on the state have offset another persistent California problem: drought.
The Sacramento National Weather Service has recorded 11.33 inches of rain from December 26 through Saturday, which is more than half the rainfall the region typically receives in an entire year. Monterey logged 7.56 inches in that same period.
As of Thursday, 0% of the state was in exceptional drought, and only a small part of far northern California, 0.32%, was in extreme drought, according to the US Drought Monitor.
It’s the first time this has happened since April 4, 2020, when no part of the state was classified in those categories, according to Richard Tinker, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and one of the authors of the drought monitor.
Staff writers Hayley Smith and Susanne Rust contributed to this report.
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