LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rain and snow battered large swathes of California Friday, forcing statewide highway closures and a major dam to open its spillway for the first time in nearly four years.
President Joe Biden approved a state of emergency Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request, prompting federal assistance to «state, tribal and local response efforts» caused by ongoing «severe winter storms, flooding, mudslides and landslides,» he said the California Office of Emergency Services.
Residents of the Central Coast between Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties and the southern San Joaquin Valley are under a particularly high threat from flooding, National Weather Service meteorologist David Lawrence said.
Even after flood concerns subside Friday night, more bad weather is expected over the weekend and into the days ahead.
«We will see additional rounds of rain and heavy snow in the mountains across much of northern and central California as the weekend progresses,» Lawrence told reporters at the OES headquarters in the Sacramento suburb of Mather. «And we’re also likely to see this weather pattern continue as we move into at least the first half of next week.»
Weeks of relentless snowfall have kept the state transportation agency busy clearing roads with 45 million cubic yards of snow in the past month, enough to «fill more than 100 Rose Bowls,» said the deputy chief of the California Department of Transportation. , Mike Keever.
Recent storms prompted the state to release water from the main spillway into Lake Oroville at noon Friday, and snowmelt is likely to further increase lake levels in the coming months.
it’s just him water for the second time has been freed from the reconstructed spillway, following the 2017 disaster that changed life in the Gold Country and forced the evacuation of more than 180,000 people.
Some of California’s most famous and busiest highways were closed at times Friday due to flooding.
- US Highway 101 southbound near the Gilroy State Garlic Center could not be used.
- State Route 1the path for tourists to reach Hearst Castle in San San Simeon was also washed out on Friday.
- interstate 580a major highway through the East Bay of San Francisco, finally reopened at noon.
- Strong winds downed trees that struck a car on the outskirts of Redwood City, about 40 miles south of San Francisco, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said Friday morning.
State officials have warned California residents that any amount of moving water can be dangerous.
As little as 6 inches of moving water can easily topple a person, while a foot of water has the force to wash away a car, the San Luis Obispo Office of Emergency Services warned Central Coast residents Friday.
«Remember, do not walk, swim or drive through floodwaters and avoid non-essential travel today.» the agency said.
Transportation department officials urged state residents to check their weather before heading out.
The department warned drivers to be «prepared for delays and bring extra food, water, blankets and other essentials, and to bring mobile phone chargers.»
At least 10 rivers are expected to pass their flood stages, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center since early Friday morning.
Heavy rain and high levels of snow are likely in parts of the state, and warm air associated with the storm is expected to bring rain on top of existing snowpacks up to 8,500 feet, the weather service said.
Challenging weather conditions are also expected to bring heavy snow to parts of the northern Plains on Friday, as well as parts of the upper Mississippi Valley on Saturday.
Showers are also expected to develop in parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley, and snowfall is expected to reach the Great Lakes by Sunday.
On Friday, a storm system dumped snow and rain across the Great Lakes, Northeast and Southeast with totals including 12 inches in Mequon, Wisconsin, 10 inches in Milwaukee, 9 inches in Woodstock, Illinois and 4 inches around Detroit.
Rain and snowfall will continue to move from the eastern Great Lakes through the Mid-Atlantic region.
Western New York and northeastern Pennsylvania could receive 4 to 8 inches of snow.