Storm Dumps Heavy Rain and Snow Across California December 31, 2022
Introduction:
(NBC) SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A powerful storm brought drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of California on Saturday, snarling traffic and closing highways as the state prepared to usher in a new year.
In the high Sierra Nevada, as much as 2 feet of snow could accumulate into early Sunday. The National Weather Service in Sacramento warned about hazardous driving conditions and posted photos on Twitter showing traffic on snow-covered mountain passes, where vehicles were required to have chains or four-wheel drive.
The so-called atmospheric river storm was pulling in a long and wide plume of moisture from the Pacific Ocean. Flooding and rock slides closed portions of roads across Northern California.
“Too many road closures to count at this point,” the weather agency in Sacramento said in an afternoon tweet. Sacramento County urged residents in the unincorporated community of Wilton to evacuate, warning that flooded roadways could “cut off access to leave the area.”
Rainfall in downtown San Francisco on Saturday topped 5 inches at midafternoon, making it the second-wettest day on record, behind a November 1994 deluge. With rain continuing to fall, it could threaten the nearly three-decade old record.
caltrek’s comment: We have had heavy rain here where I live in California. It hasn’t seemed like it is nearing record levels. At any rate, we need the water.
California braces for rain, winds, flooding amid emergency
Source: AP
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ 31 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Powerful winds roared into California on Wednesday, already toppling trees as crews rushed to clear storm drains and people fortified their homes in preparation for flooding and power outages.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to allow for a quick response and to aid in cleanup from another powerful storm just days earlier. Dozens of flights were cancelled at the San Francisco International Airport, and South San Francisco schools preemptively cancelled Thursday classes. As the storm intensified, state officials warned residents in Northern California to stay off the roads.
Officials asked drivers to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary — and to stay informed by signing up for updates from emergency officials about downed trees and power lines, and flooding. In Northern California, a 25-mile (40-kilometer) stretch of Highway 101 was closed between the towns of Trinidad and Orick due to several downed trees.
“We anticipate that this may be one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years,” said Nancy Ward, the new director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
California hit by more storms, braces for potential floods
Source: AP
today
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California was hit with more turbulent weather Sunday as thunderstorms, snow and damaging winds swept into the northern part the state, preceding another series of incoming storms and raising the potential for road flooding, rising rivers and mudslides on soils already saturated after days of rain.
The National Weather Service warned of a “relentless parade of atmospheric rivers” — storms that are long plumes of moisture stretching out into the Pacific capable of dropping staggering amounts of rain and snow.
In the state capital, more than 60,000 customers were still without electricity Sunday evening — down from more than 350,000 — after gusts of 60 mph (97 kph) knocked trees into power lines, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
Joey Kleemann was listening to the winds howling shortly after midnight, wondering whether she should move her car, when she heard a “gigantic, thumping, crashing sound” as a massive tree fell onto the Sacramento home where she’s lived for 25 years.
Landslides, sinkholes, floodwaters plague soggy California
Source: AP
By BRIAN MELLEY and CHRISTOPHER WEBER 2 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sinkholes swallowed cars and floodwaters swamped towns and swept away a small boy as California was wracked by more wild winter while the next in a powerful string of storms loomed on the horizon Tuesday.
Millions of residents faced flood warnings, nearly 50,000 people were under evacuation orders, and more than 110,000 homes and businesses were without power because of heavy rains, lightning, hail and landslides.
At least 17 people have died from storms that began late last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a visit to the scenic town of Capitola on the Santa Cruz coast that was hard hit by high surf and flooding creek waters last week. The deaths included a pickup truck driver and motorcyclist killed Tuesday morning when a eucalyptus tree fell on them on Highway 99 in the San Joaquin Valley near Visalia, the California Highway Patrol said.
“We’ve had less people die in the last two years of major wildfires in California than have died since New Year’s Day related to this weather,” Newsom said. “These conditions are serious and they’re deadly.”
'Dangerous' Alabama tornado slams buildings, uproots trees
Source: AP
By KIM CHANDLER and JEFF MARTIN 10 minutes ago
SELMA, Ala. (AP) — A giant, swirling storm system billowing across the South spurred a tornado on Thursday that shredded the walls of homes, toppled roofs and uprooted trees in Selma, Alabama, a city etched in the history of the civil rights movement.
Brick buildings collapsed, cars were on their side and traffic poles were strewn about in the downtown area. Plumes of thick, black smoke rose over the city from a fire burning. It was not immediately known whether the storm caused the blaze.
A few blocks past the city’s famed Edmund Pettus Bridge, an enduring symbol of the voting rights movement, buildings were crumpled by the storm and trees blocked roadways.
Selma Mayor James Perkins said that no fatalities have been reported at this time, but first responders are continuing to assess the damage.
Storm-battered California gets more wind, rain and snow
Source: AP
By JOHN ANTCZAK2 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Storm-battered California got more wind, rain and snow on Saturday, raising flooding concerns, causing power outages and making travel dangerous.
Bands of rain with gusty winds started in the north and spread south, with more storms expected to follow into early next week, the National Weather Service said.
More than 68,000 utility customers were without electricity by late morning, according to poweroutage.us.
Flood warnings were issued for the region north of San Francisco Bay, including Marin, Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
White House declares 'major disaster' in California; hazardous roads plague Sierra, Bay Area
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
President Biden approved California’s request for a major disaster declaration to increase federal emergency support as storms and flooding continued to flog communities across the state over the weekend. Hazardous roadways plagued several areas Sunday, with home-bound Sierra travelers warned of near-impossible conditions on some roadways and Bay Area motorists dealing with closures forced by floods and landslides.
“California is grateful for President Biden’s swift approval of this critical support to communities reeling from these ongoing storms,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said after meeting with evacuated residents in Merced County on Saturday. The declaration will unlock more federal funding to help local and state storm response efforts and will make funding available to affected individuals in hard-hit Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties.
In the Bay Area, residents on Sunday assessed damage from the widespread flooding, wind and landslides that submerged roadways and felled trees — leaving at least one dead, a woman found beneath a tree branch in Golden Gate Park, according to officials. A National Weather Service flood advisory was in effect until 9 a.m. Monday for Bay Area shoreline and North Bay interior areas.
The storms showed signs of tapering off in the Bay Area, but not before another round of moderate rain showers was expected to blow through already waterlogged areas Monday. More than 2,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers around the region were without power Sunday afternoon, according to the company. Most of the outages were in San Francisco, the Peninsula and the South Bay.
Siberia Was Blasted by Temperatures Of -62°C This Weekend by Tom Hale
January 16, 2023
Introduction:
(IFL Science) Siberia is currently going through some dangerously cold weather. On Sunday, January 15, temperatures of -62.4°C (-80.32°F) were picked up in Tongulakh, a rural part of Sakha Republic, Russia. The temperatures were reported by Ventusky, a meteorological company based in Czechia. They explain that this is a “new all-time low” for the station at Tongulakh and the coldest temperature in Siberia since 2002.
It wasn’t just Tongulakh that felt the chill this weekend (although “chill” is a massive understatement). Numerous patches of the Sakha Republic just east of this station were also clocking temperatures well below -50°C (-58°F) on Sunday.
For context, this is comparable to the temperature on Mars. Although surface temperatures on the red planet can range from up to 20 °C (68 °F) to -153 °C (−243 °F), its average annual temperature is approximately -62 °C (-80°F).
The temperatures currently battering Siberia aren’t far off all-time record-breakers. The coldest temperate ever recorded in the northern hemisphere was documented in Oymyakon of the Sakha Republic on 6 February 1933 when temperatures dropped as low as -67.7°C (-90°F).
Conclusion:
Just as climate scientists have warned, it's clear that extreme temperatures at both ends of the spectrum are becoming more common and more intense.
Death toll in Buffalo's historic December blizzard rises to 47
Source: axios
The death toll in the Buffalo blizzard has risen to 47 after Erie County officials confirmed on Thursday that three more people had lost their lives during the destructive winter storm.
...................
What we're watching: The storm death toll could still rise as the medical examiner was awaiting toxicology results in order to confirm the causes of three deaths, per Poloncarz.
The big picture: Buffalo bore the brunt of what New York Gov. Kathy Hochul described as "the most devastating storm" in the city's history, as it froze several substations and created hazardous conditions during the busy holiday travel period.
..........................
Between the lines: What made this extreme weather event so dangerous for Buffalo, a city that's used to heavy snow, were the days of extremely strong winds, frigid temperatures and heavy snow, per Axios' Andrew Freedman................................
Storms to bring one-two punch of wintry weather to the Northeast
Source: United Press International
AccuWeather meteorologists say a storm at the end of the weekend will not be the last wintry hit for parts of the Northeast in the short-term as yet another storm is on tap for the middle of the week. Even with the back-to-back blows, experts say the snow drought may hold strong for at least part of the Interstate 95 corridor.
Tornado causes 'catastrophic' damage near Houston
Source: United Press International
The Houston area is assessing "catastrophic damage" after severe weather and a large tornado slammed the region Tuesday, injuring one person and destroying dozens of homes and businesses. Flash flooding closed roads, as crews work to restore power to 100,000 customers in the wake of the storm.
340K without power amid frigid temperatures in Texas; 2,300 flights canceled, at least 6 dead
Source: USATODAY
Texans in more than 340,000 homes and businesses braced for near-freezing temperatures without power Wednesday and more than 2,300 flights were canceled amid an unrelenting blast of treacherous, icy conditions and brutal cold that has left at least six dead.
'Historic Arctic outbreak' crushes records in New England
Source: Washington Post
Mount Washington in New Hampshire logged the U.S.'s coldest wind chill ever recorded: minus-109
Parts of the Northeast woke up to the coldest morning in decades on Saturday, with temperatures 30 degrees or more below average and wind chills in the extremely dangerous category. Virtually the entirety of New England was included in wind chill warnings, while Mount Washington’s minus-109 degree wind chill set a record for the entire United States.
The National Weather Service office serving the Boston region described the cold as “a historic Arctic outbreak for the modern era,” and warned that “this is about as cold as it will ever get.”
In Boston, the morning low fell to minus-10 degrees at 5:15 a.m., the coldest reading observed in the city since Jan. 15, 1957, when Boston hit minus-12. The episode resembled the brutal Arctic blast on Valentine’s Day 2016, when Logan Airport dropped to minus-9 degrees.
Coupled with winds gusting near 40 mph, Boston witnessed its lowest wind chill ever recorded at minus-39 degrees. Records date back to 1944. Wind chill is an index that attempts to quantity the combined impact of cold and wind on the human body, since strong winds blow away one’s body heat.
Downpour kills at least 36 in Brazil, cities cancel Carnival
Source: AP
By MAURICIO SAVARESE2 hours ago
SAO PAULO (AP) — Heavy rain caused flooding and landslides that have killed 36 people on the northern coast of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, officials said Monday, while fatalities could rise.
Sao Paulo’s state government said in a statement that 35 died in the city of Sao Sebastiao and a 7-year-old girl was killed in neighboring Ubatuba. On Monday morning, more than 500 people were continuing search and rescue efforts.
Some of the hardest-hit cities that are under a state of emergency, including Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga, canceled their Carnival festivities as rescue teams contined a search for the injured and missing under the rubble.
“Our rescue teams are not managing to get to several locations; it is a chaotic situation,” said Felipe Augusto, the mayor of Sao Sebastiao. Later, he added there are dozens of people missing and that 50 houses collapsed in the city due to the landslides.
Parts of northern U.S. shut down ahead of winter storm
Source: AP
By TRISHA AHMED and JIM SALTER today
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — States in the northern plains are largely shutting down ahead of a massive winter storm that could dump up to 2 feet of snow in some areas, accompanied by strong winds and dangerously cold temperatures.
Many schools throughout the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin were called off for Wednesday, ahead of the storm. Offices closed, and so did the Minnesota Legislature, which won’t reconvene until Monday. Emergency management leaders warned people to stay off the roads or face potential “whiteout” conditions due to the snow and fierce winds.
The storm will make its way toward the East Coast later in the week. Places that don’t get snow may get dangerous amounts of ice. Forecasters expect up to a half-inch of ice in some areas of southern Michigan, northern Illinois and some eastern states.
The snowfall could be historic, even in a region accustomed to heavy snow. As much as 25 inches may pile up, with the heaviest amounts falling across east-central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph and wind chills are expected to hit minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 degrees Celsius) in some parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota.
