An estimated 17 feet (5.2 meters) of snow has fallen at a monitor near the Kern River in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains in less than a week, according to the U.S. Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. Central and southern California have borne the brunt of a Pacific storm that has dropped rain by the foot in some places, as well as heavy snow in the mountains, forcing officials to call for the evacuation of 2,000 people earlier this week.
“This is definitely a rare occasion for southern California,” Noel Isla, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego, said late yesterday. “The totals in the end will probably be some of the highest in history.”
Tanbark in Los Angeles County recorded 21.58 inches (55 centimeters) of rain as of early today, according to the weather service. Twin Peaks in San Bernardino County measured 21.46 inches as of yesterday, weather service records show.
About 2,000 residents of McFarland, 135 miles (217 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, were told to leave their homes earlier this week in the face of flooding. The evacuation order has since been lifted.
There have been reports of sewage and petroleum leaks caused by flood waters in San Diego, Fresno and Los Angeles counties, according to the California Emergency Management Agency website.
In the Sierra Nevada mountains, snow totals are being measured in feet. The estimated 17 feet at the Pascoes near the Kern River is the highest, however 16 feet is believed to have fallen at the West Woodchuck Meadow monitor near the King’s River and 15.9 feet at the Wet Meadow station on the Kern River, according to the hydrometeorological center in Camp Springs, Maryland.
High Winds
A 164 mile-per-hour wind gust was recorded near Mammoth Mountain, according to the center. A Category 5 hurricane, the strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, has winds of at least 155 mph.
“A series of moist Pacific systems will continue to inundate the western U.S. through the middle of this week as a plume of deep subtropical moisture continues to stream into the region,” according to a center storm summary.
Flood watches and warnings have been posted for much of southern California, Nevada and Utah, as well as western Arizona, according to the weather service.
The storm hasn’t caused any flight delays at Los Angeles or San Diego, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website.
East Coast
This storm may cross the U.S. and bring heavy snow to the East Coast on Christmas or the day after, said Brian Edwards, a meteorologist with commercial forecaster AccuWeather Inc.
“There is some potential for some high-impact stuff once you get toward Christmas Day,” Edwards said by telephone from State College, Pennsylvania. “There is potential for a snow storm across a large portion of the I-95 corridor.” Interstate- 95 is the main north-south highway between Maine and Florida, passing through New York and Washington D.C.
Edwards said computer simulations aren’t clear on the exact outcome of the storm, which may also pass harmlessly out into the Atlantic.
He said there is potential for another storm to hit the West Coast this weekend.
