Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Rare blizzard warning issued for Los Angeles area, officials say: California weather updates



Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Blizzards and winter weather are overtaking parts of Southern California, a region most known for its inviting weather.

Snow and freezing temperatures are expected throughout much of the state over the next few days, with advisories in effect in the Bay Area near San Francisco and further north through to the state line, according to the National Weather Service.

Californians join the more than 20 million Americans under winter storm warnings and 35 million people across the country under winter weather advisories this week, according to NWS.

Here’s what you need to know about California’s winter weather.

Winter storm: 20 million Americans under winter storm warnings as blizzards barrel across Midwest, West

Blizzard warnings in the mountains over Los Angeles


Los Angeles and Ventura County residents living in mountains above the city of Los Angeles were advised to travel only for emergencies Wednesday morning as the area expected wind gusts up to 75 mph to whip in heavy snow and virtually eliminate any visibility. The blizzard and winter storm warnings, in effect until Saturday afternoon morning, said 2 to 7 feet of snow was expected to accumulate by Saturday night, with up to 12 inches at higher elevations.

Some areas also expected rains on Thursday and Friday. The Los Angeles NWS said Wednesday it knew of only one other blizzard warning issued for the area, in 1989.

Light snow had begun to fall on the Interstate 5 Grapevine mountain pass connecting the Los Angeles area to central California, the weather service said.



Winter weather and winter storm advisories were also in effect for San Bernardino and Riverside counties further inland from Los Angeles, and for parts of San Diego county further south.

California drought eased?: Before and after photos show recovery at drought-stricken California reservoir

Freeze warning in San Francisco Bay area

Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 20 degrees were expected in some parts of the Bay Area along with wind gusts up to 50 mph, the NWS said.

Freeze warnings were expected to remain in effect until 9 a.m. Thursday.

Residents were advised to move vulnerable plants and pets indoors to protect them from the freezing temperatures, and to prevent any outdoor pipes from bursting by draining them.
Most of Northern California under severe weather advisories

Eureka, Redding, Chico and other communities in northern California were all under winter storm, winter weather watches or advisories Wednesday.

NWS said all of northwestern California expected hail and light to heavy snow from Tuesday night through Thursday.

Power outages across California amid strong winds


Close to 100,000 customers were without power in California Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.Us, as parts of the state contended with strong winds.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company said Tuesday night it would mobilize personnel to prepare from outages resulting from poor weather conditions.

California power outage tracker: Over 110,000 customers without power as strong winds hit
US weather watches and warnings

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Los Angeles County blizzard warning: California winter weather updates

Before and after photos show recovery at drought-stricken California reservoir

Camille Fine, USA TODAY
Wed, February 22, 2023 

Recent downpours in critically drought-stricken California have helped to replenish reservoirs — but scientists caution people to not get the wrong impression from images of areas with seemingly abundant amounts of water.

A series of damaging winter storms from December 2022 into January provided some sorely needed resources for farmers, wildlife, and residents — who have faced among the lowest precipitation and lake levels since the 1970s. But it’s unlikely to reverse the region’s decades-long decline in water reserves that supplement surface sources used for irrigation and other purposes, according to NASA.

A caution sign is posted at the Castaic Lake reservoir in Los Angeles County, with hills scorched by the recent Route Fire in the distance, on October 4, 2022 in Castaic, California. The reservoir, part of the State Water Project, is currently at 35 percent capacity, below the historic average of 43 percent.

“The abundant water is expected to recharge the groundwater in the next few months, as we have seen during similar events in 2011 and 2017,” said Pang-Wei Liu, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “However, if the climate pattern is the same as before — dry and hot in summer followed by low precipitation — and the water demands are still high, then we expect the groundwater drawdown will continue.”

Side by side images of one of the two largest reservoirs in the state, Lake Oroville, show the impact of recent winter storms.

Lake Oroville's capacity rose 36% from November and was at 64% capacity as of January 30, or about 111% of the historical average for the time of year, NASA said.

As of this week, levels stood at 115% of the historical average for the date — a notable jump from just 61% in February 2021 and 77% in 2022.

Water crisis in West: Massive reservoir Lake Powell hits historic low water level

'Dead pool' approaches: Western water crisis looms as California complicates critical water deal

The tan fringes around the lakes known as “bathtub rings” — which appear when calcium and other mineral compounds attach to the sandstone during instances of higher water levels — were mostly underwater again by late January.

“Even the wettest wet seasons are simply never enough to make up for the far greater amount of groundwater that California extracts each year,” said Arizona State University Professor Jay Famiglietti.

Camille Fine is a trending visual producer on USA TODAY's NOW team.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drought-stricken CA reservoir recovers after barrage of winter storms

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