Atmospheric river storm ‘an all-hands-on-deck situation’
Help on the way: PG&E sends dozens of crews into Santa Cruz Mountains
A fierce atmospheric river storm rolled into Northern California on Tuesday, carrying strong winds and a firehose of water that could deliver more rain than any storm to strike the region in possibly three years, as thousands of residents in the Santa Cruz Mountains evacuated to avoid potentially deadly mudslides on hillsides that burned last fall during historic wildfires.
A blizzard warning was in effect in the Lake Tahoe area, where forecasters expected up to 8 feet of new snow, winds that could hit 100 mph on ridgetops, and whiteouts that could cause life-threatening conditions.
PG&E sent dozens of crews Tuesday over Highway 17 to get into position early in anticipation of widespread falling trees and power outages. Officials said Tuesday they were expecting about 50,000 customers or more to lose power by today in the wider Bay Area, along with Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
“It’s an all-hands-ondeck situation,” said Mayra Tostado, a PG&E spokeswoman.
The storm, which is descending from the North Pacific, is the third system to move through the region since Friday and is set to do the most damage, according to forecasters. San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose could see 3 inches or more of rain today, the Santa Cruz Mountains 6 to 8 inches, and Big Sur up to 14 inches, with the possibility of 20 inches or more in some areas if the storm stalls.
“It’s gonna be powerful,” National Weather Service meteorologist Brayden Murdock said. “Some areas will be doubling their rainfall totals as for what they’ve seen since this fall since October.”
Caltrans planned to close Highway 1 in Big Sur from Tuesday evening through Friday, facing the possibility of major mudslides from the site of last fall’s Dolan Fire. Historically, major winter storms at times have caused massive slides on the scenic highway, cutting off access for weeks or months. The weather service said Tuesday in its forecast that “residents of Big Sur should be prepared for extended periods of isolation.”
Meanwhile, San Mateo County officials issued evacuation orders for rural parts of the southern San Mateo coast, including people living in and around Costanoa and Año Nuevo State Park; Whitehouse Canyon Road and areas south of Gazos Creek Road, Butano State Park; and the communities of Barranca Knolls, Loma Mar, Dearborn Park and Butano Canyon, all of which were affected by the CZU Complex Fires.
Monterey County officials ordered evacuations for residents who live near the Dolan Fire scar between Partington Ridge, near Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and Plaskett Creek, near the San Luis Obispo County line.
“Big areas covered by this warning are burn-scar areas, and they’ll all be susceptible to flooding,” Murdock said. “When these areas are burned, they seal themselves off and act as a cover to any moisture, and so it just skids along the top.”
The first major storm of this winter started Tuesday evening, when the system hit the North Bay and began to spread south, Murdock said.
Leading up to the rain were increasingly powerful winds, expected to blow with gusts of 20-30 mph consistently in the East and South Bay areas. In the higher elevations, those gusts may get higher than 50 mph, Murdock said.
A high-wind advisory was to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday night and remain in place at least through this morning in the interior valleys of the Santa Clara valley, as well as the interior valleys of the East Bay and North Bay, forecasters said.
On Monday, about 5,000 residents in Santa Cruz County — in the areas of Redwood Grove, Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Felton and Davenport — were ordered to evacuate because of the risk of debris and flooding from the burn-scar areas.
The storm also was expected to bring massive amounts of snow to the Sierra Nevada — up to 100 inches — in some areas between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe today and Thursday. The weather service issued a winter storm warning for the Sacramento Valley, saying that low-lying areas up to the Oregon border also are expected to receive snowfall. Redding was forecast to receive 18 inches of snow.
The agency also issued a blizzard warning for the Sierra Nevada through Friday morning, warning of high avalanche danger and whiteouts on the roads.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” the weather service said in a bulletin. “Do not attempt to travel! Road crews and first responders may not be able to rescue you. Stay indoors until the snow and wind subside. Even a short walk could be deadly if you become disoriented.”