Posted by Massive flooding in farmland about 20 miles south of Sacramento swollen rivers over their banks and flooded dozens of cars along State Route 99. Paramedics rescued the motorist from New Year’s Eve through Sunday morning, but the highway remained closed.
Residents of the lowland communities of Point Pleasant, Granville Tract, and Franklin Pond near Interstate 5 were told to prepare to vacate before rising waters disrupted roads and made evacuation impossible. .
“Flood water from the Cosmnes and Mokelamune rivers is expected to move southwest toward Interstate 5 and likely reach these areas during the night,” the Sacramento County Emergency Services Authority said Sunday. said on Twitter this afternoon. “Livestock in the affected areas should be moved to higher ground.”
North of the state capital, at least 33,000 customers are still without power, according to an online map of the City of Sacramento Utility District, crews cleared roads and sidewalks of fallen trees.
Near Lake Tahoe, dozens of drivers were rescued after their cars spun out in a snowstorm on Interstate 80 on New Year’s Eve, according to the California Department of Transportation. The main route into the mountains from the San Francisco Bay Area reopened to chained passenger cars early today.
The California Highway Patrol tweeted, “The roads are very slippery, let’s all work together and slow down so we can keep Interstate 80 open. Including Interstate 50. Several other highways have also reopened.
More than four feet of snow accumulate in the high Sierra Nevada mountains, and Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort said the heavy, wet snow causes significant delays in starting chairlifts. On Saturday, the resort reported numerous lift closures, citing high winds, poor visibility and ice.
A so-called atmospheric river storm pulled in a long, broad plume of moisture from the Pacific Ocean. Flooding and falling rocks have closed some roads in the state.
According to the National Weather Service, rainfall in downtown San Francisco reached 5.46 inches on New Year’s Eve, making it the second wettest day on record after the November 1994 flood. A video on Twitter showed muddy water running through the streets of San Francisco and the Oakland Steps turned into a veritable waterfall by heavy rain.
In Southern California, several people were rescued after floodwaters flooded their cars in San Bernardino and Orange counties. No major injuries were reported.
As the area dries out on New Year’s Day and no rain is expected during Monday’s Rose Parade in Pasadena, spectators have begun to spotlight the annual floral spectacle.
Rain was welcome in drought-ridden California. The past three years have been the driest years in the state on record, but more rainfall is needed to make a big difference.
It was the first of several storms expected to cross the state within a week. The system was warmer and wetter on Saturday, but this week’s storm will be colder, according to Hannah Chandler Cooley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
According to Chandler Cooley, the Sacramento area can get a total of four to five inches of rain in a week.
Another heavy shower is also expected in Southern California on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles Area Office.
