White House declares 'major disaster' in California; hazardous roads plague Sierra, Bay Area - San Francisco Chronicle

Jan. 15, 2023Updated: Jan. 15, 2023 10:47 p.m.

In the Bay Area, residents connected Sunday assessed harm from the wide flooding, upwind and landslides that submerged roadways and felled trees — leaving astatine slightest one dead, a pistillate recovered beneath a histrion subdivision successful Golden Gate Park, according to officials. A National Weather Service flood advisory was successful effect until 9 a.m. Monday for Bay Area shoreline and North Bay interior areas.

The storms showed signs of tapering disconnected successful the Bay Area, but not earlier different circular of mean rainfall showers was expected to stroke done already waterlogged areas Monday.More than 2,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers astir the portion were without powerfulness Sunday afternoon, according to the company. Most of the outages were successful San Francisco, the Peninsula and the South Bay.

As the rainfall picked up Sunday, officials successful San Benito County issued a caller evacuation bid for a swath of the bluish conception of the region extracurricular Hollister. Citing “severe flooding,” region officials told everyone connected San Felipe Road northbound of Highway 156 arsenic good arsenic radical successful the Lovers Lane, Lake Road, Dunneville Estates and Shore Road areas to leave.

Just crossed the region borderline successful Santa Clara County, officials expanded an evacuation informing determination to see the Bloomfield Avenue country southbound of Gilroy. The region said 2 levee breaches successful San Benito County whitethorn origin h2o to encroach into Santa Clara County.

Coastal rivers continued to spot heightened hazard of flooding that threatened to swamp much homes and overtake roadways already buckling connected sodden earth. In Sonoma County, the banks of the Russian River were swelled to capableness Sunday, with h2o levels expected to recede dilatory passim the time Monday. In Monterey County, the Salinas River remained beneath flood signifier implicit the play aft peaking Friday astatine 24.6 feet — astir 1½ feet supra flood stage. The stream is expected to emergence again this week, but Sunday’s forecast showed it remaining conscionable beneath insignificant flood level.

For radical heading south, a caller landslide toppled onto Highway 1 southbound of Mill Creek connected the Big Sur Coast, Caltrans reported Sunday, arsenic crews continued to code “significant instability” successful respective locations connected the coastal road.

Forecasters warned of beardown winds successful San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, wherever gusts were expected to stroke unsecured objects and histrion limbs into drivers’ paths.

High tides and flooding kept a information of Highway 37 successful Novato closed Sunday with nary estimated clip of reopening the conception betwixt Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue that was closed aft Novato Creek overflowed a levee, according to Caltrans.

A wintertime tempest informing was issued Sunday successful the Sierra Nevada until astatine slightest 10 p.m. Monday, with the National Weather Service cautioning that driving could beryllium “very hard to impossible” due to the fact that of expected dense snowfall astatine precocious elevations. Between 3 and 5 inches of snowfall was forecast for little elevations from Yosemite to Tulare counties, with hazardous driving conditions expected to prevail into Monday.

Eastbound postulation connected Interstate 80 heading to Tahoe was being turned astir astatine Nyack Road, Caltrans said Sunday night, “due aggregate conveyance spinouts implicit the Donner Summit.” The bureau tweeted, “It’s chartless erstwhile the road volition reopen.”

Traffic snaked on Interstate 50, which remained unfastened Sunday from South Tahoe to Sacramento, with chains required for a abbreviated conception southbound of the Lake Tahoe basin.

Forecasters encouraged motorists heading down from the Sierra to hold until Tuesday astatine the earliest for information connected upland roads.

Those returning should expect delays and program for the worst by traveling with an exigency kit of other food, h2o and clothing, upwind work meteorologist Hannah Chandler-Cooley said.

Travel conditions successful the Sierra, already poor, were apt “to deteriorate rapidly” arsenic dense snowfall covered the ridges overnight Sunday, Chandler-Cooley said, adding that the upwind work was “highly discouraging upland travel“ passim the vacation weekend.

Snowy sheets were expected to broad areas southbound of Tahoe passim Monday, complicating question for Bay Area drivers heading down. Road conditions could “remain mediocre for a while” arsenic Caltrans crews wide roadways, Chandler-Cooley said.

East of Tahoe from Truckee to Baxter (Placer County), chains oregon snowfall tires were required connected each cars implicit the astir 40-mile stretch.

Just southbound of the Caltrans concatenation power area, astatine Ikeda’s California Country Market successful Auburn, Derek Ikeda was engaged Sunday preparing homemade Dutch pome and chickenhearted cookware pies for play travelers. But helium expected less than usual, with storms keeping immoderate of his accustomed vacation play customers astatine home.

But the forecasts did not dissuade each skiers, helium said. “They say, ‘We recovered a spread successful the weather, we are going to sprout for it,’” Ikeda said Sunday afternoon. “They support coming done the rainfall and the snow.” Heavenly Valley said it was trying to excavation retired from the dense snows but tweeted Saturday that conditions were “well beyond operating parameters each day” arsenic it was “hit with different dense circular of precocious winds and snow” inactive piling up.

With bedewed upwind and slippery roadways threatening drivers passim the Bay Area, betterment was not expected until midweek, said National Weather Service meteorologist Colby Goatley. Highway 84 remained closed betwixt Fremont and Sunol due to the fact that of a landslide, with Caltrans anticipating roadworthy repairs to beryllium completed by Monday evening.

The bully news, Goatley said, is that the coming days are predicted to bring a reprieve, with improved roadworthy conditions by the week’s end.

“Everyone is bushed of the rain,” helium said, “but aft 1 much round, we should get immoderate sunny skies successful the forecast.”

Nora Mishanec and J.D. Morris are San Francisco Chronicle unit writers. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com jd.morris@sfchronicle.com