The windstorm has passed, but ‘extreme’ weather will return to Northern California
The gusty winds that pounded most of Northern California calmed considerably late Wednesday in the Sacramento area. But heavy rain and “extreme” mountain snow continued Thursday as the atmospheric river storm rolled through the Sierra Nevada.
The National Weather Service had a blizzard warning in place, urging against mountain travel due to whiteout conditions, and avalanche warnings in effect for the central and eastern Sierra range. Both advisories last through Friday morning.
More than a foot of snow fell at high elevations and at Tahoe-area ski resorts between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
More than 2 feet of snow could accumulate across the central Sierra mountains before 4 a.m. Friday. Up to 3 feet could fall at elevations over 7,000 feet and gusts could hit 70 mph along ridge tops, according to the NWS.
As for rain, the NWS Weather Prediction Center warned in a forecast bulletin there is a “high risk for excessive rainfall” near 2020 wildfire burn scars in Central California and the south Bay Area, especially south of Monterey Bay.
“Amounts of 7 to 10 inches are expected for this regions and flash flooding and debris flows near recent burn scars are likely,” that warning reads.
Moderate to heavy rainfall expected in the Sacramento area prompted a flash flood watch in parts of Yolo and Solano counties, where the burn scar from last year’s LNU Lightning Complex wildfire could be vulnerable to flooding and debris flows, according to the NWS.
On Thursday morning, NWS forecasts showed Sacramento could get three-quarters of an inch today and possibly another quarter-inch overnight. Sustained daytime winds could blow up to 17 mph, with gusts up to 24 mph.
That’s breezy, but a far cry from Tuesday’s megastorm, when peak gusts recorded near Sacramento exceeded 60 mph. The extreme winds knocked out power for hundreds of thousands, uprooted trees and contributed to numerous traffic collisions and travel delays.
SMUD on Thursday morning said on its outage website there were still about 16,500 customers without power. The largest portion of that total, about 3,000 customers, is in the Arden area.
Power outages and wind damage to crossing gates also downed light rail service in Sacramento. Sacramento Regional Transit tweeted Thursday morning that most service resumed on a normal schedule, though there is still a bus bridge between the Watt/I-80 and Alkali Flat stations on the blue line.
The peak of the storm Tuesday night ravaged homeless encampments in Sacramento and injured some. At least one homeless person died, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office. The city did not open warming centers that night because temperatures did not drop below freezing, but reversed course and did so Wednesday.
What about the weekend?
As of Thursday morning, weather warnings from the NWS associated with this week’s atmospheric system are set to expire Friday morning, most of them at 4 a.m.
Forecasts show light showers could continue early Friday but skies around Sacramento should clear up around midday. It’s expected to be dry during the day Saturday, with slight chances of showers Saturday night through Sunday and Monday.
Mountain snow is expected to take most of weekend off but could return in showers late Sunday or on Monday, according to forecasts for South Lake Tahoe and Truckee areas.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 7:09 AM.
