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The latest round of rain and snow showers struck California on Sunday, prolonging risks of flooding, landslides and whiteout conditions in the storm-battered state.
Bands of thunderstorms with gusty winds started Saturday in Northern California and spread south as another atmospheric river moved into the state Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Traveling conditions remained dangerous from California to Colorado due to heavy mountain snow and blowing snow, the weather service said.
Waves of heavy precipitation is expected to bring threats of flooding and landslides.
“We’re not done,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom during his visit to Merced County in the agricultural Central Valley on Saturday.
Newsom urged Californians to be on alert for a few more days as the last of the nine atmospheric rivers were expected to move through. The stormy weather has already caused at least 19 deaths and a 5-year-old boy was still missing Sunday after being swept out of his mother’s car by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County.
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A change in the weather pattern will start Tuesday as some dry weather is forecast to return to the drenched state.
“By Tuesday, dry conditions are expected to return as an area of high pressure noses into California,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
With the frequency of storms slowing down, areas like Sacramento and Fresno will have at least 24 to 36 hours of dry conditions before being hit with another round of wet weather, according to AccuWeather.
Southern portions of California will also see a drying trend but for a longer period, AccuWeather added. After rain showers on Monday night, cities like Los Angeles and San Diego could see dry weather through the end of January.
Another storm is forecast for the middle of the week for the rest of the state and the Pacific Northwest but will not be as strong compared to the recent wave of storms, Buckingham said.
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Storm brings hazardous conditions over the weekend
Much of California remained under stormy weather-related advisories, watches, and warnings which were set to expire by Monday or Tuesday.
“Heads up – the next round of steady rainfall is slowly spreading inland. Fortunately, it will not be as intense as yesterday,” the weather service in the San Francisco Bay Area said Sunday.
An evacuation order had been lifted Sunday for about 5,000 residents of semi-rural Wilton in the saturated Sacramento Valley but a warning remained in place with more rain coming into the area and river levels still at a high, the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services said.
The strongest winds are expected across the northern San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada, the weather service in Sacramento said Sunday. Another three inches of snow was also forecast in the Sierra Nevada.
Interstate 80, a key highway from the San Francisco Bay Area to Lake Tahoe ski resorts, reopened after being closed Saturday due to slick roads, snow, and whiteout conditions.
On Friday, the California Highway Patrol rescued three people whose car slid off a rain-slicked road onto the edge of a cliff in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
“We cannot stress this enough. Please ONLY drive if it’s necessary,” the highway patrol said in a statement.
Along the Big Sur Coast, Caltrans crews continued to respond at numerous locations on Highway 1 that showed “significant instability as a result of ongoing rain event,” Caltrans District 5, which serves Central Coast counties, said Sunday.
In Southern California, many roads remained impassable because of mud and rock slides. Two northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in northern Los Angeles County were closed indefinitely after a hillside collapsed.
California damage assessments expected to surpass $1 billion
Officials have already begun damage assessments, which are expected to surpass $1 billion.
As heavy rain, mudslides and hurricane-force winds have walloped the state, California has seen homes flooded, roofs torn off houses, levees breached, cars submerged and trees uprooted.
About 14 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Ventura River in Southern California as a result of the storms, according to Ventura County health officials. Two sewer lines also leaked into San Antonio Creek this week due to storm damage.
President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration to support the storm response in more than a dozen counties. But Newsom has said he is still waiting on Biden to declare a major disaster declaration that would provide more resources.
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Contributing: Christine Fernando and Claire Thornton, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
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