Staggering snowfall closes roads as totals approach records

The latest winter storm to blast California waned early Wednesday, while forecasters warned a new, powerful weather system will affect most of the lower 48 states this week.

“The system is going to be moving generally east-northeast and fairly fast, so it’s going to cross the country in a few days,” said meteorologist David Roth. Six to 12 inches of snow could eventually fall in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, Roth said.

Elsewhere, record high temperatures are possible in the Gulf Coast into the Ohio Valley and a threat of tornadoes from the southern Plains to the mid-south, according to the National Weather Service.

Even as the winter storm tapered off in California, major highways were subject to closures and chain restrictions, and authorities warned of high avalanche danger at all elevations of the backcountry.

In Southern California, snow and ice forced closure of I-5 in Tejon Pass through mountains north of Los Angeles.

In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, ski resorts reported at least 2 feet of new snow early Wednesday, while the Snow Valley resort reported a seven-day total of 10 feet.

All roads to the resorts and mountain communities have been closed to the general public since last week, and a local emergency was declared Monday.

Two highways were opened for traffic heading down the mountains, and on Tuesday the California Highway Patrol began escorts for residents heading back up to their homes.

Northwest of Lake Tahoe, on the California-nevada border in the Sierra Nevada, an avalanche struck a three-story apartment building Tuesday evening, according to the local sheriff ’s office, but no injuries were reported.

Yosemite National Park, closed since Saturday because of heavy, blinding snow, postponed its planned Thursday reopening indefinitely.

The heavy snow was expected to end Wednesday afternoon after an additional 1 to 2 feet falls in the region, according to the weather service.

The University of California, Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory near Donner Pass reported that nearly 41.7 feet has fallen since October, more than in any snow year since 1970 and second only to the record of 66.7 feet in 1952.

JAE C. HONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS Angie Gourirand walks down the snow-covered steps of her home Tuesday with groceries on a sled in Running Springs, California. Beleaguered Californians got hit again as a new winter storm moved into the already drenched and snow-plastered state.