This Friday, December 30, 2022 photo released by the California Highway Patrol Dublin Area Office shows that Niles Canyon Road between Pleasanton Sunol Rd and Fremont near Palomares Rd. in Alameda County, California is closed. A landslide has closed a freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area while crews clear rock and mud debris from Niles Canyon Road, also known as State Route 84, between Fremont and Sunol, according to the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans District 4. (CHP Dublin Area Office via AP)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Landslides of rocks and mud blocked roads across California on Friday as torrential rain sparked a series of storms that will usher in the new year with downpours and possible flooding across much of the state and several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada.
The atmospheric river storm, a long and wide plume of moisture drawn in from the Pacific, began sweeping across the northern portion of the state on Friday and should bring more rain through Saturday in Sacramento, according to the National Weather Service.
A winter storm warning was in effect through Sunday for the upper Sierra elevations from south of Yosemite National Park to north of Lake Tahoe, where up to 5 feet of snow is possible on mountains, the National Weather Service said in Reno, Nevada.
A flood watch was in effect across much of Northern California through New Year’s Eve. Officials warned that rivers and streams could overflow and urged residents to have sandbags ready.
Landslides had already closed routes in the San Francisco Bay Area between Fremont and Sunol, as well as in Mendocino County near the unincorporated community of Piercy and in the Mendocino National Forest, where crews cleared debris through Friday night.
Humboldt County, which was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Dec. 20, also began flooding its streets, according to the National Weather Service’s Eureka office. A bridge that was temporarily closed last week due to earthquake damage could be closed again if the Eel River it crosses gets too high, officials said.
It was the first of several storms expected to roll over California over the next week. The current system is expected to be warmer and wetter, while next week’s storms will be colder and lower snow levels in the mountains, said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, a weather forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
The Sacramento region could receive a total of 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 centimeters) of rain over the course of the week, Chandler-Cooley said.
The California Highway Patrol reported that some local roads in east Sacramento were flooded and intermittently impassable on Friday. By nightfall, nearly 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain had fallen in the Sierra foothills at Blue Canyon about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento in the past 24 hours, the weather service said.
The Sacramento Fire Department planned to broadcast evacuation announcements from a helicopter and boat along the American River — a place where many people live in camps without shelter — to warn of flooding.
A winter storm warning was in effect through 4 a.m. Sunday for much of the Sierra, including the highest elevations around Lake Tahoe, where more than a foot of snow was expected near shore at elevations of about 6,200 feet (1,889 meters) and higher than 5 feet ( 1.5 meters) over 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) with wind gusts of up to 100 mph (160 km/h) over ridges.
“High winds could damage trees and cause power outages, and high waves on Lake Tahoe can capsize small vessels,” the Reno Weather Service said.
Avalanche warnings have been issued in the backcountry around Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes south of Yosemite.
On the eastern front of the Sierra, flood warnings and warnings continue through the weekend north and south of Reno, Nevada, where minor to moderate flooding along some rivers and streams was predicted through the weekend.
In Susanville, California, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Reno, the Susan River was forecast to rise to a foot (30 centimeters) above the 12-foot (March 3) flood level from about 5 feet (1.5 meters) on Friday .6 meters) would rise Saturday morning, causing moderate flooding that could affect some homes, roads and bridges, the National Weather Service said.
Moderate to heavy rain was forecast for Saturday in Southern California. The region will dry up on New Year’s Day, and the Jan. 2 Rose Parade in Pasadena should avoid rain.
Heavy showers are forecast for Tuesday or Wednesday, the National Weather Service in Oxnard said.
The rain was welcomed in drought-stricken California, but much more rainfall is needed to make a significant difference. The past three years have been California’s driest on record.
