USA TODAY International Edition
Historic snow, rain, air rescues
As Southern Calif. reels, new storm is on the way
A historic weather front that slammed a wide swath of Southern California with stunning snow, record rains and flooding that prompted air rescues eased its grip Sunday – but more harsh weather was on the way.
Tens of millions of Americans were also bracing for dangerous conditions, from ice storms in Michigan to tornadoes in Texas.
In California, a new storm was forecast to bring rain and snow as soon as Sunday night, the National Weather Service said. The snow won't sweep down to the edge of coastal cities as it did in recent days, but this week's forecast for Los Angeles does call for high temperatures in the low 50s – about 15 degrees below normal.
About 75,000 homes and businesses in the state remained without power Sunday after days of fierce winds, rains and snow that toppled trees and downed power lines.
Meteorologist Mark Moede said the winter storm will "exit Southern California this morning and there will be a brief break in the weather" but that rain and mountain snow are expected to return Monday through Wednesday. Developments:
● More than 7 inches of rain fell in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, causing flash flooding that left cars stranded on roadways Saturday.
● Los Angeles Fire Department ground and air responders rescued four people and five animals from flooding in Encino, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
● At the peak of the storm, up to 10 inches of rain fell in lower elevations and some mountain areas were blasted with more than 5 feet of snow.
● More than 300,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark across Michigan on Sunday, days after storms knocked out power to close to 1 million customers. And another round of severe weather could be headed to the region Monday.
● High wind watches and warnings extended to more than 60 million Americans from Ohio to New Mexico.