SAN FRANCISCO – The latest in a series wet winter storms It intensified in California early Monday morning, forecasters warned possible flooding, hail, strong wind and even short-lived tornadoes as the system moves south over the next few days.
Winds reached 30 mph in Oakland and San Jose as a mild cold front gave way to a stronger storm late Saturday, said meteorologist Brayden Murdock of the National Weather Service office in San Francisco.
“The winds are here and picking up, and the rains are going to continue fast,” he said Sunday afternoon.
California’s central coast is at risk of “significant flooding,” with up to 5 inches of rain expected in many areas, according to the weather service. Isolated rainfall of up to 10 inches is possible in the Santa Lucia and Santa Ynez mountain ranges as the storm moves toward Los Angeles.
Thunderstorms could bring “brief tornadoes, large amounts of small hail, heavy rain, lightning and strong winds” to the valleys around the state capital on Monday, the weather service office in Sacramento warned on X, formerly Twitter.
The final hurricane is expected to pass quickly, rather than destructively atmospheric river Earlier this month, it parked itself over Southern California, causing roads to turn into rivers hundreds of slides and killed at least nine people.
“It’s not an ideal setup for an atmospheric river, but it does have some characteristics,” Murdock said, including a band of subtropical moisture that boosts the back of the storm. “Otherwise it’s just a cold front.”
It’s a cold front strong enough to cause problems including flooding and power outages, forecasters said. Flood alerts and warnings have been issued for the upper and lower coasts of the state and in the highlands.
Rain will be widespread even in the mountains, but elevations above about 6,800 feet across the Sierra Nevada could get a few feet of snow, the weather service said. Drivers are asked to avoid mountain roads.
“Consider completing your Sierra trip on Sunday or planning for the end of next week,” said the air service office in Reno, Nevada. The office monitored avalanches for the greater Lake Tahoe area and the eastern Sierra in Inyo and Mono counties.
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated an operations center Saturday and deployed personnel and equipment to the areas most at risk.