Rain-soaked Californians are bracing for another round of storms over the weekend that threaten more flooding, landslides and heavy mountain snow.
The stormy weather comes as recovery efforts continue in the state, which has been battered by atmospheric river storms since late December, leaving at least 19 people dead.
Forecasts show precipitation hitting rural areas in Northern California particularly hard this weekend. Previous storms have soaked and damaged the heavily populated San Francisco Bay area and surrounding coastal communities.
There were already reports of significant flooding in parts of Napa County, the heart of Northern California’s wine region, according to the county’s sheriff’s office.
Atmospheric rivers, sometimes called “rivers in the sky,” form when a line of warm, moist air, usually coming from near islands across the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast, falls as heavy rain when it reaches cooler air over land.
Another atmospheric river is expected to hit the state Monday.
“I know how fatigued you all are,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, urging caution ahead of incoming storms. “Just maintain a little more vigilance over the course of the next weekend.”
California’s weekend atmospheric storm forecast
The storm is expected to peak Saturday as it moves inland throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service.
- More flood risk: With the ground already saturated from previous rainfall, more flooding and possible landslides are expected across the state through Monday, the weather service forecast.
- Heavy snow: Heavy mountain snows of 3 to 6 feet and strong winds are also forecast to create whiteout conditions in the mountains of northern and central California, making travel nearly impossible. Snow may fall at 3 inches per hour at times Saturday in the Sierra Nevada, the weather service said.
- Strong winds: Wind advisories are also in place Saturday for coastal California and the Central Valley with sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts of 50 mph.
- Power outages: Stormy weather may cause more trees to fall and more power outages Saturday, said David Lawrence, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Over 10,000 households in the state were still without power Saturday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
“People will become complacent, but the ground is saturated. It is extremely, extremely dangerous,” Nancy Ward, the director of the governor’s emergency services office said at a Friday news conference. “And that water can continue to rise well after the storms have passed.”
California damage assessments expected to surpass $1 billion
Officials have already begun damage assessments, which are already expected to surpass $1 billion.
As heavy rain, mudslides and hurricane-force winds have walloped the state, California has seen homes flooded, roofs torn off houses, levees breached, cars submerged and trees uprooted.
About 14 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Ventura River in southern California as a result of the storms, according to Ventura County health officials. Two sewer lines also leaked into San Antonio Creek this week due to storm damage.
California, long plagued by drought, has averaged more than nine inches of rainfall each day for the last 18 days. Some parts of the state have already met their average annual rainfalls, Lawrence said.
President Joe Biden on Monday issued an emergency declaration to support storm response in more than a dozen counties. But Newsom has said he is still waiting on Biden to declare a major disaster declaration that would provide more resources.
Recovery efforts continue after tornadoes tear through Alabama, Georgia
Recovery efforts continued into the weekend after numerous tornadoes tore through the South, killing at least nine people in Alabama and Georgia.
Residents salvaged belongings Friday, and rescue teams searched for survivors among the rubble, sometimes digging into collapsed homes to free trapped residents.
The massive storm system Thursday flipped mobile homes, uprooted trees, collapsed buildings, snapped utility poles and derailed a freight train.
Tornado damage was reported in at least 14 counties in Alabama and 14 in Georgia, according to the National Weather Service. At least 35 possible tornado touchdowns were reported across the Southeast, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said.
Meteorologists say it may take days to fully understand the strength of the storm.
Among those killed in the storm was a Georgia Department of Transportation worker and a 5-year-old child who was riding in a vehicle hit by a falling tree in Georgia, officials said.
Dig deeper: More coverage of flooding
Contributing: Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser; The Associated Press
Contact Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.