LOS ANGELES (AP) — A powerful winter storm that brought flooding and freezing temperatures to the West Coast unleashed its fury Saturday on California, which saw rivers rise to dangerous levels and snow fall even in low-lying areas around Los Angeles.
The National Weather Service said it was one of the most powerful storms to hit southwestern California and even as the wind and rain had subsided, snowfall continued at elevations as low as 1,000 feet (305 meters).
The mountains around suburban Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, were shrouded in white and snow surprised suburbs inland to the east.
Unusual blizzard warnings for the mountains and widespread flood advisories were ending Saturday night as the storm lost strength in the region. Forecasters said a pause would precede the arrival of the next storm on Monday.
After days of high winds that downed trees and power lines, more than 120,000 customers in California were still without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
And Interstate 5, the longest north-south highway on the West Coast, remained closed due to heavy snowfall and icing at Tejon Pass in the mountains north of Los Angeles.
Snow fell Saturday morning as high as 81 inches (205 centimeters) at the Mountain High resort in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles and as high as 64 inches (160 centimeters) toward the east. east of Snow Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains.
“A very notable recent storm with record amounts of precipitation and snow at elevations where it rarely falls,” the Los Angeles area weather bureau wrote.
The Los Angeles River and other waterways that normally have little water or are dry most of the year were experiencing strong currents Saturday.
The Los Angeles Fire Department used a helicopter to rescue four homeless people who were trapped in the river’s main flood control basin. Two were taken to a hospital because they suffered from hypothermia, spokesman Brian Humphrey said.
In the Valencia area of northern Los Angeles County, a current from the Santa Clara River washed away three RVs early Saturday after eroding the foundation on a RV lot. There were no injuries, KCAL-TV said, but a resident described the scene as devastating.
The storm, fanned by a low-pressure system circling off the coast, did not go away without causing problems. Due to the lightning, the beaches of Los Angeles County were closed and gusts of snow, rain and thunder persisted.
Derek Maiden, 57, who lives in a tent in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, collected cans in the rain to take to a recycler. He said that this winter has been wetter than usual. “It’s terrible when you’re out in the elements,” he noted.
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Ken Kusmer reported from Indianapolis. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Julie Walker in New York; Claire Rush, in Oregon; and Scott Sonner, in Nevada, as well as others from the AP across the country.
