WeatherFanatics: California Flood and Mudslide Threat to be Renewed This Week

Sunday, December 14, 2014

California Flood and Mudslide Threat to be Renewed This Week

By Jordan Root, Meteorologist

December 14,2014; 11:05PM,EST

After a wild week of weather across the Pacific states, more rain and wind will arrive this week as two additional storms are set to blast through.
The main storm track will send the bulk of the energy into California, the site of last week's worst weather.
This means another round of drenching rainfall, gusty winds and snow in the higher terrain, although the intensity is not expected to reach that of last week's storm.
"This next Pacific storm looks less severe than the previous storm," said AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Alex Avalos.

Despite this storm being slightly weaker, the threat for flooding and mudslides will be renewed.
"Heavy rain will pose the threat for mudslides in the higher elevations where loose soil from the previous event and burn scars are prevalent," added Avalos.
Travel delays will also be quite common through this week. Mudslides will not only bring the threat for debris-filled roadways, but flooding could washout some roadways also. Folks will want to be on alert for road closures and should have alternative routes planned.
RELATED:
REPORTS: California Storm Yields Incessant Rain, Winds Over 100 MPH
Western Weather Expert Blog by Ken Clark
Interactive California Radar
For those taking to the air, some of the major hubs on the West Coast will be under delays due to the rain and wind.
The first round of intense rain will arrive Monday and will target the Bay area through northern California.

San Francisco was hit hard with rain this past Thursday, measuring 3.43 inches. Thursday's rainfall surpassed the amount of rain that the city received all of last year (3.38 inches).
The storm early this week could bring another couple of inches to San Francisco and areas northward into northern California.
Rain will push south into Los Angeles and San Diego Monday night into Tuesday.
This storm system will likely last longer than last week's storm keeping the rain around through the middle of the week. Part of the reason will be because of a second pulse of energy that will move through on Wednesday.
"Most regions will get 1 to 3 inches of rainfall, with any accumulating snow generally above 5,000 feet," said Avalos.
Know when the snow will affect your location by using AccuWeather's MinuteCast®. It has the minute-by-minute forecast for your exact location. Type your city name, select MinuteCast, and input your street address. On mobile, you can also use your GPS location.
That snow could cause disruptions across some of the higher passes, including Donner Pass. Parts of the Sierra may get over a foot of snow.
Gusty winds will accompany the rain and may put some communities in the dark, although widespread power outages are not expected.
Another storm system will arrive towards the end of the week, entering the region farther north across Washington and Oregon and eventually diving down into California late Friday and into Saturday.
The storm track will continue to push farther north through the weekend and into next week, which will keep the bulk of the storms north of California and mainly into Oregon, Washington and British Columbia for Christmas week.

Despite flooding and mudslides, this stretch of unsettled weather will have helped the region in some ways as well.
"Before the rainy pattern takes a break, cumulative rainfall will have taken a huge slice out of the long-term drought," said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

On Social Media

Tweets for this article AccuWeather Updates