California storm brings power outages, shuts down highway

SAN FRANCISCO — Utility crews restored power to thousands of people Monday and mopped up the damage from a winter storm that swept through Northern California, as they brace for more stormy weather later this week.

A new wet system is expected in the region tonight that won’t be as intense but two more powerful storms are expected over the coming weekend, National Weather Service forecaster Emily Heller said.

Strong winds and downed trees knocked out electricity for nearly 90,000 customers across the Sacramento region Sunday night. Toppled utility poles and trees prompted the temporary closure of a major highway.

By Monday afternoon, about 3,000 customers were still without power, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District said.

Spokeswoman Lindsay Van Laningham said the utility was getting ready for more potential work later this week.

“We’ll have all hands on deck for crews to repair damages. We are ready for it, and we’re sort of mopping up from the storm and damage,” she said.

In Oregon and Washington, tens of thousands of people remained without power after windstorms struck parts the northwest over the weekend.

Interstate 80 from Placer County in California to the state line with Nevada reopened Monday but it remained closed in Nevada’s Washoe County, the California Transportation Department said.

Officials shut down the highway Sunday after the snowstorm reached the Lake Tahoe area as weekend visitors were leaving.

The National Weather Service on Monday issued a winter storm warning for areas in the Sierra Nevada above 1,200 metres, saying snowy and gusty conditions will limit visibility.

Over three days 1.37 metres of snow accumulated at the summit of Mammoth Mountain, 240 kilometres south of Tahoe, the resort said Monday. More than 30 centimetres fell in the upper elevations around Tahoe, including 48 centimetres at Squaw Valley.

Up to 13 centimetres of rain fell in some Northern California coastal and valley areas, while mountain communities got heavy snow.

In Southern California, light to moderate rain fell early Monday as a second system followed heavy Saturday night downpours that unleashed massive mud flows from the fire-scarred Santa Monica Mountains onto Pacific Coast Highway.

Cleanup work kept about 21 kilometres of the scenic highway closed from western Malibu to Ventura County. Caltrans said the closure might last into today.

While the latest rain was modest, powerful winds swept the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles early Monday because of a so-called mountain wave — southwesterly winds rising up and over the San Gabriel Mountains and then plunging down into the high desert. The National Weather Service said a 125 km/h gust was recorded at Lake Palmdale.