California Storm: State Braces for Flooding Amid Heavy Rains - The New York Times

U.S.|California Storm Brings More Rain and Fears of Flooding

A almighty wintertime tempest strategy was moving crossed California connected Thursday, disrupting the powerfulness grid, threatening to origin flash flooding and continuing to bring much rain, upwind and snow.

Weather conditions deteriorated overnight crossed overmuch of the authorities arsenic the storm, 1 of respective that is expected to lb the West Coast this month, moved connected enactment from the Pacific Ocean. As dense rainfall and precocious winds whipped crossed San Francisco, snowfall plow drivers raced to clear caller powder successful the Sierra Nevada.

Shortly earlier dawn connected Thursday, flash flood watches and wintertime tempest warnings were blanketing ample swaths of the state, and astir 1 cardinal residents were under precocious upwind warnings. Forecasters cautioned that a operation of precocious winds and saturated crushed conditions could topple trees, starring to powerfulness outages.

The authorities blamed astatine slightest 2 deaths connected Wednesday connected the storm. In Fairfield, Calif., northeast of San Francisco, a 19-year-old pistillate died aft the car she was driving hydroplaned and crashed into a inferior pole, the constabulary said. And a 2-year-old was killed erstwhile a redwood histrion fell connected a mobile location successful Occidental, a agrarian assemblage successful Sonoma County, said Josh Cerda, a firefighter technologist with the section unpaid occurrence department.

Up to 3 inches of rainfall fell overnight astir Northern California and astir an inch and a fractional successful Sacramento, Johnnie Powell, a meteorologist with the Weather Service successful Sacramento, said Thursday morning. Winds peaked astatine astir 60 miles per hr successful Redding and astatine astir 50 m.p.h. successful the Sacramento region, helium said.

Parts of Southern California’s seashore could spot dense rains aboriginal connected Thursday.That moisture raised the imaginable of accelerated runoff on the state’s seashore and interior valleys, arsenic good arsenic successful the Sierra Nevada foothills and successful areas astir pain scars near by wildfires, a Weather Service advisory said.

As a result, respective schoolhouse districts astir the Bay Area canceled classes connected Thursday. Some parks crossed Northern California were besides either partially oregon afloat closed for the day.

The tempest is portion of a series of atmospheric rivers — channels of moisture from the tropical Pacific Ocean. Further rounds of dense precipitation are expected to deed California connected Saturday and again connected Monday.

Scientists are not definite however clime alteration affects the likelihood that atmospheric rivers volition clang into California’s seashore successful rapid-fire succession again. Scientists are studying whether planetary warming mightiness beryllium shifting the mode winds transportation moisture astir the atmosphere.

When specified storms are peculiarly terrible oregon expanse done successful accelerated succession, they tin present excessively overmuch h2o excessively rapidly to a authorities that has lately been parched by drought and scorched by wildfires.

“This is an utmost upwind event, and we’re moving from utmost drought to utmost flood,” Karla Nemeth, the manager of California’s Department of Water Resources, told reporters connected Wednesday. “What that means is simply a batch of our trees are stressed. After 3 years of intensive drought, the crushed is saturated and determination is important accidental of downed trees that volition make important problems.”

With much atrocious upwind connected the way, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a authorities of emergency connected Wednesday, saying that helium expected much road closures, infrastructure failures and mandatory evacuations successful the coming days.

Several communities crossed California issued evacuation orders, including successful an area of San Benito County, southbound of San Jose, wherever a nonaccomplishment astatine a hydropower dam was expected to nutrient flooding. Officials successful San Francisco worked to secure capable sandbags for residents, and galore students successful flood-prone San Mateo County were asked to caput location aboriginal and enactment location connected Thursday.

Victoria Kim and Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting.