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California is expected to be battered by yet another storm Sunday evening after historic winter weather brought freezing temperatures, dumped several feet of snow, caused widespread flooding and left tens of thousands of people without power.
Much of the state is still reeling from the effects of a multi-day winter storm, which saw even a dusting of snow on the Hollywood sign and more than three feet in the northern mountains.
Videos posted online also showed RVs being swept up into Los Angeles-area rivers amid widespread flooding and sparks flying from downed powerlines.
Major highways remained closed on Sunday morning, after drivers were left stranded for hours on end.
Those roads may continue to be closed for the coming days as another storm beginning Sunday night and lasting through Wednesday brings even more rain and snow.
LOS ANGELES: A father and son stop to watch the snow during a rare snowstorm on Saturday
ANGWIN: Snow covered a vineyard in California’s famous Napa Valley on Friday
California is now expected to be inundated with even more storms in the coming days
The dangerous storms have already dumped nearly five feet of snow at Donner Summit, according to the University of California Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab.
Mount Baldy, near downtown Los Angeles, also measured more than three feet and Mount Laguna in San Diego County saw more than two feet of snow. Magic Mountain, outside of Los Angeles, also recorded wind gusts of up to 86mph.
And at Mountain High Resort in Wrightwood, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, more than six feet of snow fell in less than a week. The resort said it was forced to close on Saturday to ‘use what available staff we have to dig out and clean up,’ NBC News reports.
The city of Big Bear Lake also warned that all roads to the community surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest were closed due to snow, with no estimate on when it might reopen, and Yosemite National Park in northern California will remain closed through at least Wednesday.
By Sunday, Interstate 5 — the largest highway leading north out of Los Angeles — remained closed at the steep grade known as the Grapevine due to the heavy snow, while more southern points of the freeway in and around the city were closed due to flooding.
The city recorded 4.3inches of rainfall, while Pasadena saw 7.84 inches. A possible tornado was also reported in the Los Angeles County community of Whittier.
Los Angeles County officials were ultimately forced to shut down 24 miles of beach from Nicholas Canyon in Malibu to White Point Beach in San Pedro for nearly two hours Saturday afternoon after lightning was observed on the shoreline.
By Saturday evening, more than 120,000 people throughout the state were without power. But as of Sunday morning, that number dropped to just over 75,000 residents and businesses, primarily in Madera County, according to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks utility data across the country.
At the same time, a flood warning remained in effect for Southern California through 11am local time.
CASTAIC: An RV is pictured beginning to fall into the Santa Clara River as the ground below it is washed away by flooding
LOS ANGELES: A young boy played in the snow during the storm on Saturday
GREEN VALLEY: A woman was forced to clean slush off the windshield of her car in the Sierra Pelona Mountains on Saturday
GREEN VALLEY: Two good Samaritans assisted a driver when his truck became stuck in the snow
CASTIAC: The Santa Clara River flooded due tot he heavy rainfall near an RV park
LOS ANGELES: Evan Shornstein, a tourist from New York, walked along the Los Angeles River during the treacherous storm on Saturday
REDONDO BEACH: A surfer gestures as he prepares to ride the waves in the dangerous storm
Authorities say the extreme weather knocked three RVs parked at the Valencia Travel Village RV resort in Castaic, in the northern end of Los Angeles County, to get swept into the Santa Clara River.
Video obtained by KCAL News showed one of the RVs quickly tipping over and backing into the swollen river.
Ventura County Fire Department search and rescue teams responded to the area, and found the trailer, but fortunately nobody was inside the RV at the time.
A search-and-rescue team also hoisted two homeless men stranded on islands of dry ground in the Hanson Flood Control Basin to safety on Saturday.
The men were uninjured and released at the scene.
And in San Luis Obispo, a large tree fell on an apartment complex, displacing seven people, KSBY reports. Representatives from the Red Cross were assisting them with housing.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA: Snow blanketed a home in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, covering even some palm trees
GREEN VALLEY: A car skidded off the snowy roadway into a pond in the Sierra Pelona Mountains on Saturday
REDONDO BEACH: A driver braved hail and rain during the winter storm on Saturday
LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles River experienced overflow amid the heavy rain
The National Weather Service is now warning residents of the state capital in Sacramento to avoid travel from Sunday through Wednesday as rain and snow started up again.
‘Extreme impacts from heavy snow & winds will cause extremely dangerous to impossible driving conditions & likely widespread road closures & infrastructure impacts!’ the agency said on Twitter.
These new storms are expected to bring wind gusts of up to 50mph in the Sacramento Valley and up to 70mph in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains.
A massive low-pressure system driven from the Arctic is responsible for the unusual conditions, said Bryan Jackson, a forecaster at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
In Southern California, ‘this is a rare case of a cold, significant storm event,’ he said.
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