Major storms target California and the West

[Richard]

Wayne Verno Thu Jan 3, 2:01 PM ET

A very active and possibly record producing weather pattern will unfold across the western states over the next few days, as a series of Pacific storms plus plenty of moisture slam ashore. This will bring heavy rain and possible flooding, damaging winds, and deep snow with blizzard conditions to parts of the West through the weekend. Heavy rain is increasing over western Washington, western Oregon and the northern two-thirds of California. By later Friday into Saturday, heavy rain will also impact southern California and possibly parts of the Desert Southwest. For California, in particular, a widespread 2 to 5 inches of rain will be possible through the weekend, with some southwest facing mountains picking up more than 6 inches of rain. Flash flooding will be possible, over far western Washington, western Oregon, and a good part of California, especially in burn areas. Blizzard warnings have been posted by the National Weather Service through early Saturday for the Siskiyou and Sierra Nevada in California. This includes the Shasta Lake and South Lake Tahoe areas. Snow levels in western Washington will drop from 3000 feet to less than 500 feet by Sunday which could mean snow into Bellingham and Seattle by late in the weekend. Snow levels in the Oregon Cascades will rise to 5000 feet ahead of the Friday storm and then drop steadily through the weekend. Snow levels over northern and central areas of California will rise to between 5000 feet in the Siskiyou and 7000 feet in the central Sierra, falling rapidly to valley floors later Friday and to 1500 feet by late in the weekend. Levels will start around 7000 feet in southern areas, including Yosemite Park, then fall to between 4500 and 5000 feet Saturday and continue to lower Sunday. Snow is on the increase tonight through Friday night. Snowfall rates of 3 to 6 inches per hour will be possible during the height of the storm. Snow totals through the weekend are expected to be potentially historic, especially in California with as much as 2 to 6 feet expected, possibly more on the highest peaks. Up to a foot will fall down to valley floors. Several feet of snow will fall in the Cascades and inland across the mountains of Utah, Colorado, northern Arizona and northern New Mexico. Wind gusts of 75 to 85 mph will be common across the southern Cascades, Sierra and western Nevada into the weekend. Ridge top gusts in the Sierra could peak between 100 and 145 mph. Winds over 65 mph will also be possible for much of California, including lower elevations and coastal areas, as well as coastal sections of Washington and Oregon and interior parts of the West from Wyoming through Nevada.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wcom/major_storm...I.0ysDW7oF

[BlueMoon]

So GORE......Where is the Global Warming ???

[Richard]

Gore’s global warming has turn into global cooling. It sounds like a disaster in California right now. 

400K without power amid Calif. storm

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

A levee break flooded hundreds of homes Saturday as the storm that has pummeled the West Coast with high wind and heavy rain dropped a thick blanket of snow on the Sierra Nevada on Saturday.

Thousands of people had no power in three states and thousands more had been told to leave their homes in mudslide-prone areas of Southern California.

A major highway crossing the Sierra Nevada between Nevada and Northern California had been closed since Friday evening because of the snow.

East of the Sierra in Nevada's Lyon County, a levee broke early Saturday along an agricultural canal and about 3,500 people were stranded, authorities said.

Water was 3 to 4 feet deep in parts of Fernley, Nev., east of Reno, resident Mariana Hicks told CNN.

The area had gotten heavy rain on Friday. Rescuers were using everything from school buses to helicopters.

Up to 44 inches of snow had fallen in some parts of the Sierra Nevada, the National Weather Service said Saturday morning. Forecasters expected the storm to dump as much as 10 feet at higher elevations of the mountain range by Sunday.

Flights were grounded Friday and trucks overturned in Northern California as wind gusted to 80 mph during the second wave of the arctic storm that has sent trees crashing onto houses, cars and roads. Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power from central California into Oregon and Washington.

In the south, residents of Orange County canyons that were stripped by wildfires last fall — making them susceptible to mudslides — nervously watched weather reports to learn when they might be hit by the fierce wind and heavy downpours forecast for the area.

"There's a little bit of a letup right now in the rain, but there's still a huge band of rain that's going to come in today," Ted MacKechnie, a National Weather Service forecaster, said Saturday morning.

About 3,000 people in four canyons had been told to leave their homes by 7 p.m. Friday, Orange County fire Capt. Mike Blawn said.

"We don't take these evacuation orders lightly. We do everything we can to make sure they're necessary," Blawn said. "The thing with debris flows, mudslides and flash floods is that you can't see them coming."

However, there was no indication how many obeyed. "We have been hearing that very small percentage of them actually evacuated," Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion said.

Flash flood warnings were in effect Saturday for broad swaths of Southern California, including most of Los Angeles County and southeastern Santa Barbara County.

Homeowners in Southern California and the Central Valley stacked sandbags and hay bales around their homes to keep out floods. A voluntary evacuation was in effect at an apartment complex northwest of downtown Los Angeles because of flooding and a small mudslide.

In the Sierra Nevada, where a winter storm warning was in effect, the California Department of Transportation said Interstate 80, the main east-west link between Northern California and Nevada, remained closed Saturday. The Red Cross set up a 200-bed shelter in Truckee for stranded motorists, as well as a shelter in Butte County.

"It's going to be a mess for travelers," said Chris Smallcomb, a weather service meteorologist. "We expect the road conditions will be hazardous if not impossible."

Winter storm warnings also were issued for mountain areas in Colorado, where forecasters said several feet of snow is possible this weekend.

In the Sierra National Forest, three missing members of a Clovis family were found in good condition just after nightfall Friday, ending a daylong search, when rescuers found them with three other hikers who had apparently gotten trapped by the snowfall.

The state opened its emergency operations center Friday to coordinate storm response, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he had spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff by phone.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dispatched inmate crews in Northern California to clear debris from roads, spokesman Daniel Berlant said. Swift-water rescue teams were on standby in several counties in case of flash floods.

Travelers' flight plans were put on hold Friday when airlines delayed or canceled flights in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. The wind also overturned trucks on interstate highways in Northern California.

About 440,000 homes and businesses from the Bay Area to the Central Valley were in the dark early Saturday, down from about 1.5 million the day before. It could be days before all the lights are back on, Pacific Gas & Electric officials said.

The huge storm also toppled trees and cut power to thousands of customers in Washington and Oregon.

"A huge tree, over 100 years old, just fell across the house. It just wrecked the whole thing," Faye Reed said of her daughter Teenia's damaged home north of Sacramento. "They won't be able to live in it. The whole ceiling fell in, and now it's raining inside."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080105/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm&printer=1;_ylt=AgacN7tv4cg5BpeJJ.ZaGQRH2ocA