Monday, December 15, 2014

Rain Soaks California Threatening More Flooding and Mudslides

By Jordan Root, Meteorologist
December 15,2014; 8:53PM,EST
 
 
After a wild week of weather across the Pacific states, more rain and wind will affect the West coast as two additional storms move inland.
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.
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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 heavy rain will target the Bay area, as well as much of central and northern California through Monday night.

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 first storm this week could bring another couple of inches to San Francisco and areas northward into northern California.
Episodes of rain will also push south into Los Angeles and San Diego Monday night into early Wednesday.
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 moisture that will move through.
"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.

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