More rain, snow forecast as US storm brings floods to California
FORECASTERS expect another half foot of rain to soak central and northern California and the Sierra Nevada mountains through early Tuesday, coming on the heels of powerful storms that walloped the state and other parts of the US west on Sunday.
The drenching rains and blowing snow flooded rivers and shut down roads from mudslides in a state that has struggled with drought for years.
From 7.6 to 20 cm of rain is forecast in the region while 1- 2 metres of snow are likely for higher elevations, said meteorologist Andrew Orrison at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
“We’re going to see heavy rain going into ( Monday) evening and early morning,” he said.
Heavy snow is expected in Nevada and the northern Rocky Mountains could get several feet of snow over the next day or two.
The weather service said almost 40 rivers or creeks in Northern California and western Nevada were flooded or threatened to top their banks.
But an emergency agency spokesman said there had been no reports of fatalities or serious damage.
Authorities said a section of Interstate 80 near Truckee, southwest of Reno, Nevada, was closed by a mudslide.
The upper Napa River north of San Francisco was expected to cause “extreme damage to all towns along the reach,” the California emergency agency said in a statement. Anticipated f looding brought voluntary evacuations in neighbouring Sonoma County. — Reuters