LA QUINTA, Calif. — From the inland deserts to the hills of Los Angeles County and north to the Sierra Nevada mountains, California on Friday was experiencing bizarre winter weather from a massive storm that’s pushing through the West Coast.
Those in Southern California could see snow creeping down the hills to the valley floor Friday morning during what residents described as the weirdest weather in memory.
“This is probably the strangest winter we’ve had yet,” said Mindy Kelley, who is from Oregon but has been wintering in Palm Springs for 25 years. “The wind gusts we’ve experienced were probably the strongest seen. The chill and the winds together aren’t like anything we’ve felt here that I can remember.”
Lows temperatures were set to reach 40 degrees over the weekend in the area. Meanwhile, 3 million Californians awoke Friday morning to a winter storm warning stemming from the storm that first rolled into the Golden State the day before, leaving more than 150,000 customers without electricity.
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As much as 5 feet of snow may fall in some mountains near Los Angeles, creating whiteout conditions as winds gust to 75 mph. The conditions raise the risk of avalanches, according to forecasters.
The weather service in San Diego issued its first-ever blizzard warning for mountain areas including Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead and Wrightwood through Saturday. The weather service in Los Angeles issued its own blizzard warning for the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Heavy snow wasn’t the only concern in California. Southern coastal areas could face threats from heavy rain and flooding, according to the weather service.
Meanwhile in the Northeast, mixed precipitation was in the forecast as another winter storm moved out of the area.
Here’s what you need to know about Friday’s weather:
Mudslides close Grapevine highway near Santa Clarita; Parts of I-80 closed
Parts of Interstate 5 near Santa Clarita, referred to as the Grapevine, were closed Friday morning due to a mudslide, the state department of transportation said. The highway, which runs northwest of LA, is a major route connecting the northern and southern parts of the state.
Parts of the Grapevine were also closed Thursday night due to heavy snow, the department said on Facebook.
Northeast of LA, parts of State Route 2 along Angeles Crest Highway were closed Friday morning, the department said on Twitter.
In northern California, lack of visibility led to roads closures along Interstate 80, a major east-west corridor connecting San Francisco, Sacramento and Reno, Nevada.
Truckers attempting to travel along parts of I-80 that were open Friday were being checked to make sure their tires were outfitted with the proper chains, according to the state transportation department.
Ventura County prepares for flooding
Evacuation warnings were issued through Saturday morning in Ventura County for areas considered unstable after being hit hard by storms that killed more than a dozen people last month.
Mountain areas in Ventura County had received up to 3 inches of rain by Friday morning, and crews were out monitoring flooding hotspots on the roads.
“We’re just watching hour by hour,” Dave Fleisch, the county’s assistant public works director, told the Ventura Country Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Residents were lining roads with sandbags Friday morning, as the county expects the heaviest rain between 3 and 7 p.m. local time Friday.
5 feet of snow expected in Big Bear
The winter storm could dump as much as 5 feet of snow in Big Bear, about two hours northeast of Los Angeles, said Bob Larson, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.
Sustained winds are expected to reach 25 to 35 mph, with gusts between 50 and 60 mph, making travel “very difficult to impossible,” the weather service said.
“This storm should not be taken lightly!” the city of Big Bear Lake said in a tweet. “Stay home. Stay warm. Stay safe.”
Hollywood could see snow with rain at lower elevations in LA
Snow could fall at elevations as low as 1,000 feet in Los Angeles County, Larson said. The famed Hollywood sign that overlooks Los Angeles in the Santa Monica Mountains sits at just above 1,500 feet.
In higher elevations of the county and Ventura County to the north, winds could gust up to 80 mph, with 2 to 5 feet of snow above 4,000 feet and as much as 8 feet of snow in areas including Mount Baldy, Los Angeles County’s tallest peak and a popular destination for hikers, skiers and mountaineers.
The Mount Baldy resort closed its slopes, saying on Twitter that it’s going “to go bananas Friday night.”
“Stay tuned, it’s probably going to get weird,” the resort said.
The region is also expecting a significant amount of rain at lower elevations, with flood watches in effect from Friday morning through Saturday afternoon.
The greater Los Angeles area could see 2 to 4 inches of rain, Larson said, while a flood watch issued by the National Weather Service warned of rainfall rates up to an inch an hour, especially in the foothills and lower mountain locations.
California winter storm map
National weather radar
Contributing: Cheri Carlson, Ventura County Star; Associated Press