California storm leaves thousands without power, another ‘atmospheric river’ looms

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Jan 6 (Reuters) – Utility crews in northern California labored to revive energy to tens of thousands of properties on Friday following two days of fierce winds and torrential rain, even because the area braced for another onslaught of stormy climate heading into the weekend.

The subsequent bout of heavy showers and gusty winds was anticipated to brush the northwestern nook of California late on Friday and unfold southward into the San Francisco Bay Area and central coast by way of Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service (NWS) stated. Southern Oregon was additionally forecast to take successful.

The coming storm – another “atmospheric river” of dense moisture flowing in from the Pacific – is prone to dump a number of extra inches (cm) of rain on a area already saturated from repeated downpours since late December, renewing dangers of flash flooding and mudslides, the NWS stated.

Hillsides and canyons stripped naked of vegetation by previous wildfires are particularly weak to rock and mudslides in accordance with forecasters.

In addition to heavy rains, as much as 2 toes (60 cm) of snow was anticipated to fall over the weekend in larger elevations of the Sierras, the place accumulations of a foot to 18 inches (46 cm) or extra had been measured earlier this week.

On Friday a lot of the northern two-thirds of California, probably the most populous state within the United States, was beneath flood watches, gale-force wind advisories and winter-storm warnings as forecasters urged residents to arrange for the deluge and keep off roads in flood-prone areas.

The ominous forecast comes on the heels of an enormous Pacific storm that unleashed hurricane-force wind gusts, pounding surf, soaking rains and heavy snow throughout California for 2 days. The northern portion of the state was hardest hit.

As of Friday morning, some 60,000 properties and companies remained without electrical energy in a number of northern California counties due to the climate, in accordance with information from Poweroutages.us.

Howling winds uprooted timber already weakened by extended drought and poorly anchored in rain-soaked soil, taking down energy strains with them and blocking roadways throughout the area. Road journey was additionally disrupted by flash floods and rock slides.

HIGH SURF

High surf and runoff from heavy rains mixed to flood a number of blocks within the seaside metropolis of Santa Cruz, and heavy waves tore up picket piers within the adjoining city of Capitola and close by Seacliff State Beach.

Farther north, pounding waves broke by way of the rear doorways of the historic Point Cabrillo lighthouse in Mendocino County, flooding its ground-floor museum, the Mendocino Voice newspaper reported.

The two-day storm, which ended Thursday night time, was powered by an immense atmospheric stream of moisture from the tropical Pacific and a sprawling, hurricane-scale, low-pressure system often known as a bomb cyclone.

It marked the third and strongest atmospheric river to strike California since early final week. Research predicts that local weather change is growing the frequency and depth of such rain storms, punctuating intensive intervals of utmost drought.

At least six folks have died within the extreme climate since New Year’s weekend, together with a toddler killed by a fallen redwood tree crushing a cell dwelling in northern California.

The fast succession of storms left downtown San Francisco drenched in 10.3 inches (26 cm) of rain from Dec. 26 by way of Jan. 4, the wettest 10-day stretch recorded there in additional than 150 years, since 1871, in accordance with the NWS.

The highest all-time rainfall complete ever documented over 10 days within the metropolis’s downtown was 14.37 inches (36.5 cm), an 1862 document the NWS stated would doubtless stand by way of the downpours to come back.

The storms have introduced welcome replenishments to Sierra Nevada snowpack, a important supply of California’s water provide, however consultants say rather more snow might want to fall by way of the winter to markedly enhance the state’s grave drought scenario.

For higher or worse, the climate service predicted that but another, “likely stronger,” atmospheric river storm was “on the horizon for Monday,” half of a bigger sample that forecasters consider is prone to persist at the very least by way of the center of January.

Reporting by Jorge Garcia in Santa Cruz, Calif; Writing and extra reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Kate Fishman in Mendocino, Calif.; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Grant McCool and Sandra Maler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.