California prepares for wind, rain after rare snowfall: ‘Significant impact’

After a rare snowfall dusted Los Angeles on Saturday, Southern California is bracing for a series of weak storms that will bring wind and rain this week to coastal areas while Northern and Central California mountain communities could see more heavy snow.

Over the past three days, the storm brought the rare sight of snowflakes in Los Angeles, more known for palm trees and sun. But it also brought heavy rain and some flooding. A motorhome fell into the Santa Clara River after an embankment collapsed, according to a video.

About 70,000 customers in California remained without power on Sunday, according to PowerOutage, which tracks disruptions.

Starting Sunday night and through Wednesday, a series of “weak storms” will move through Los Angeles with highs reaching 55 Fahrenheit (13 Celsius), according to The National Weather Service (NWS).

Meanwhile, more severe storms threatening West Coast mountain ranges will bring “significant impacts” on travel, the NWS said in a tweet. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power tweeted Sunday morning it had restored power to roughly 40,000 people since Saturday morning. However, it cautioned that 53,000 people remained without power, and people facing an outage should plan for 24-48 hours before crews could respond.

The next set of storms, expected to hit on Sunday, will bring wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kph) in the Sacramento Valley, and up to 70 miles per hour in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains.

Yosemite National Park was closed through Wednesday due to severe winter conditions.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Chris Reese)

by Reuters