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PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Hundreds of thousands of Californians were without power Sunday amid high winds and heavy rains, the latest in an unrelenting wave of brutal storms that could provide its worst hit yet on Monday when a “firehose of moisture” was forecast to slam the sodden state.
More than half of Sacramento’s 530,000 residents were in the dark at the height of the storm Sunday, victimized by wind gusts of up to 60 mph that toppled trees and tangled power lines, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District said.
“Atmospheric river events” will continue to batter California through early this week with likely the most potent system arriving Monday, the National Weather Service said. Additional rain on saturated soils will lead to considerable flooding, mudslides and burn scar debris flows, the weather service said.
Widespread mountain snow and high winds will add to weather issues across the state, the statement warned.
“This could be a deadly situation and the storm will likely be a billion-dollar disaster,” tweeted AccuWeather meteorologist Ariella Scalese. “Several more inches of rain, mudslides/landslides. In addition, feet of snow above 6,500 feet and wind gusts exceeding 100 mph.”
TODDLER DIES:California storm victims include 2-year-old boy
Latest developments:
- More than 360,000 homes and businesses across California were without power Sunday.
- Evacuation warnings were in place for about 13,000 residents of Sonoma County north of San Francisco, where the Russian River was expected to crash over its banks in the coming days.
- The state Department of Transportation warned motorists to stay off mountain roads after closing a stretch of U.S. 395 in Mono County due to heavy snow, ice and whiteout conditions along the Eastern Sierra.
- The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for a swath of Northern and Central California.
- The storms won’t be enough to officially end California’s ongoing drought but they have helped, Anderson said.
POWER OUTAGES DRAG ON:California struggles to keep lights on after storms leave thousands in dark
Weather services warns of damaging winds, additional power outages
The weather service warned that damaging winds will return Sunday night across Northern California.
High wind warnings were issued by the weather service starting Sunday night and is expected to last until Monday.
“This will cause additional downed trees and widespread power outages, especially with soils so saturated,” the weather service in Sacramento tweeted.
The state capital is still recovering from damaging winds after more than 230,000 customers were left in the dark early Sunday after wind gusts topping 60 mph knocked trees into power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. By Sunday afternoon, nearly 680 customers in Sacramento were still without power, according to the SMUD power outage map.
How much rain and snow will fall?
State climatologist Michael Anderson said officials were closely monitoring Monday’s incoming storm and another behind it and were keeping an eye on three other systems farther out in the Pacific. Parts of Northern and Central California could see 6 to 12 inches of rain through Wednesday, the weather service said.
AccuWeather says an additional 4-8 inches of rain could fall on many of the coastal ranges, as well as the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Isolated areas could get up to 14 inches, AccuWeather said. Monday’s storm is expected to bring heavy Sierra snow, strong winds and a mixture of heavy, wet snow and low-elevation flooding concerns into Tuesday, the weather service said.
San Francisco was forecast to see 2-4 more inches of rain. In the past two weeks, the downtown area has seen more than 11 inches of rainfall – six times more than normal for that time period. During this stretch, the city recorded its wettest 10-day period in more than 150 years.
Heavy rainfall will return to portions of Southern California Monday night and Tuesday, with 1-2 inches of rain in the Los Angeles area and locally higher amounts, AccuWeather said.
‘THE GROUND IS SATURATED’: Flooding risk festers in California as weekend rain hits
Why could this storm be so damaging?
WHAT IS AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER?These rivers of water vapor can extend thousands of miles
The “relentless parade of atmospheric rivers” that have hit the state over the last weeks have bloated rivers and saturated the ground. Mammoth Mountain, an Eastern Sierra ski resort, received nearly 10 feet of snow, the National Weather Service reported.
The fronts have been blamed for at least six deaths, authorities say.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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