Powerful storm could make travel ‘impossible’
Rains slam Calif.; snow set to roll into Midwest
A powerful winter storm crashing across the West on Sunday slammed parts of Southern California with more than 7 inches of rain and promised to snarl travel with feet of snow in some areas from the mountains of the Golden State through the Midwest.
The storm will continue across the West while “developing into a possible blizzard” in coming days, the National Weather Service warned. The system was forecast to sweep across a wide swath of the nation from Colorado to Minnesota on Monday through Wednesday, with driving snow, high winds and freezing rain.
“Heavy snow will bring major impacts to many areas across the country,” the weather service warned. “Travel could become impossible.”
A stretch of California Highway 89 was closed because of heavy snow in the Lake Tahoe area, the highway patrol said. Parts of the Sierra Nevada could see 5 feet of snow and whiteout conditions into Monday, the weather service said. Parts of I-80 and other roads also saw periods of closure.
As the storm rolls east, AccuWeather said parts of I-90 and I-94, the major highways of the Upper Midwest, could be forced to close as snow piles higher.
In Southern California, parts of Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties were under siege from more than 7 inches of rain, the weather service reported. More than 4 inches swamped some areas of Los Angeles County, and localized rainfall rates of up to an inch an hour were drenching parts of southwestern California, with total rainfall reaching 3 inches in some areas. Flash flooding and debris flow were a concern, particularly in and near recent areas burned by wildfires in the drought-stricken region.
The National Weather Service was warning of possible severe weather Tuesday and Wednesday in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Severe thunderstorms will be capable of producing tornadoes, damaging winds and hail, the weather service said.
“A major snowstorm is in the cards from Colorado to Minnesota into midweek,” AccuWeather meteorologist Thomas Geiger said. The worst of the storm could hit late Tuesday into Wednesday, with snowfall rates as high as several inches per hour in some locations. Wind gusts could reach 60 mph, Geiger said.