Sacramento gets record rainfall, flood-prone creeks filling up ... and it’s not over yet

The capital region hunkered down Tuesday as the latest “atmospheric river” hit Northern California with torrential rain, leaving some creeks at or near flood stage and creating whiteout conditions in the Sierra, which forced at least one major highway to shut down.

And the worst may be yet to come, forecasters warned, as a flood watch is in place through Thursday morning for most of the Sacramento Valley.

Some portions of the Sacramento region received more than 2 inches of rain since the storm barreled in Monday night, with some spots such as Loomis and Cripple Creek in Roseville topping 2.80 inches since the storm began.

In the city of Sacramento, the National Weather Service said rainfall Tuesday set a record of 1.13 inches from midnight through 4 p.m., topping the previous record of 0.77 inches set in 2007. In the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m., the city gauge recorded 1.91 inches of rain.

At Executive Airport, rainfall topped 1.66 inches in that 24-hour period while Orangevale tallied 2.60 inches, Rancho Cordova had 2.09 inches and Arden Arcade received 1.65 inches.

All that rain made its presence felt in the area’s flood-prone creeks.

Arcade Creek at American River College briefly topped flood stage, according to the Sacramento County Alert System’s sensor system. Roadway flooding was observed on nearby Winding Way before the stream lowered back to monitor stage, about a half-inch below flood stage (76.34 inches).

Dry Creek Bypass at Elkhorn Road reached flood stage around 1 p.m.; it was measuring more than a half-inch above flood stage at three points near Rio Linda on Tuesday afternoon, according to county gauges.

The flood watch is in place through Thursday morning for most of the Sacramento Valley.

Near Chico, Paradise received 7.11 inches of rain in the 24-hour period ending 4 p.m., but the weather service said the rainfall in the burn areas in Butte, Lake and Shasta counties wouldn’t be enough to cause devastating mudslides.

CHP issued a SigAlert for roadway flooding on Roseville Road in northern Sacramento County, which has been closed due to flooding. Alternate routes, such as Antelope Road to I-80 or Cirby Road to I-80 for drivers heading west, should be used, the CHP said.

Flooding was also observed along Kiefer Boulevard, east of Mather Field. Kiefer is now closed according to Sacramento County’s Office of Emergency Services; on the Truxel Road offramp to westbound Interstate 80 and along eastbound I-80 under the Longview Drive overcrossing.

NWS said in a tweet that localized flooding across Northern California will remain a threat through Thursday.

Motorists are already feeling the effects of the storm in the Valley, as Interstates 80 and 5 as well as the Capital City Freeway and Highways 50 and 99 have seen multiple minor traffic collisions. In the Sierra, the storm is making driving treacherous and officials are urging motorists to put off driving to the higher elevations.

The most significant traffic headache Tuesday morning was a tractor-trailer that hydroplaned and jackknifed along westbound Highway 50 near the Watt Avenue offramp, according to CHP logs. The accident that happened around 5 a.m. closed all but the left-hand lane for more than an hour. Lanes were cleared just before 6:45 a.m., Caltrans said.

About 1:30 p.m., Caltrans closed the fast lane of northbound Highway 99 near 12th Avenue to clear out drainage. The lane was cleared about 45 minutes later.

Hydroplaning and spinouts have been seen along northbound Highway 99 at the 50 connector, where a vehicle ended up the wrong way after crashing into the center divider, and in areas that had pooled water during the last storm, such as Woodland, the CHP reported.

Caltrans and CHP additionally reported collisions downing power lines. Shortly after 2 p.m., CHP logs show that a collision struck a light pole on the offramp of westbound Highway 50 onto Bradshaw Road, blocking one of the lanes.

The high wind advisory is in place in the Sacramento Valley until noon Wednesday and warns that gusts could reach 45 mph in Sacramento and 60 mph in Grass Valley. NWS says the strongest winds are expected Tuesday night.

A winter storm warning is in effect through Thursday morning for elevations above 5,000 feet. The storm is expected to bring 5 to 10 feet of snow to high elevations of the already-buried Sierra Nevada, like Donner Pass and Echo Summit. Lower elevations will receive about a foot of snow. The mountains could get up to 6 feet of snow at higher elevations and winds gusting to 140 mph over ridgetops.

Mountain travel is highly discouraged this week, the NWS said, as driving may become impossible.

Tuesday afternoon, authorities shut down Interstate 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line for the second time Tuesday as snow continued to pound the Sierra, according to Caltrans. Highway 50 was briefly closed for avalanche control, too.

Caltrans tweeted that a stretch of Highway 20 was closed as of 8:30 a.m. due to low-hanging power lines, seen in a photo covered in snow and dipping. PG&E is inspecting, and there is no estimated time of opening.

NWS Reno issued an avalanche warning, in effect from 6 p.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Thursday, for the Central Sierra Nevada between Yuba Pass to the north and Ebbets Pass to the south. The warning includes the greater Lake Tahoe area.

Highway 49 was closed at multiple locations due to slides and traction issues. Chain controls were put in place Monday on Highways 20, 28, 50, 89, 267, 88, according to tweets from the CHP office in Truckee.

This story was originally published February 26, 2019 at 2:40 AM.