California weather — Flood and avalanches warning amid ‘life and death’ warning for homeless people
California’s first blizzard warning since 1989
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California weathered a punishing weekend of heavy snow, torrential rain and bitterly cold temperatures.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the conditions were posed “a matter of life or death for many of our unhoused neighbors,” and asked resident to help those without permanent shelter find emergency lodgings during the storm.
The storms triggered the state’s first blizzard warning since 1989 with record snowfall forecast in some high-elevation areas. Up to 8ft of snow was forecasted to fall in the mountains outside of Los Angeles on the storm’s second day. The National Weather Service warned that travel would be very difficult to impossible.
The storm also brought the threat of ocean water spouts and land-based tornadoes in the Los Angeles area of southeast Santa Barbara and southern Ventura counties.
A coast-to-coast winter storm pummeled much of the western and northern United States, styming travel plans and leaving nearly 1million people without power.
But the country was a landscape of climate extremes: While deep Arctic air caused temperatures to plummet as much as 30 to 40 degrees below average in parts of the West and Plains, the US also experienced its first 100-degree day of 2023. Falcon Lake in Texas hit 100F on Wednesday as temperature records were broken across the Southwest.
Hollywood sparkles
The iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles has had a light sprinkling of snow, ABC7 reported on Friday.
The local news station flew their helicopter over the hills above the city and reported that dense fog was hovering around the famous lettering and small chunks of snow along the trail below the sign.
Watch: SUV goes off road and into neighbor’s yard as California struck by heavy snow
John Malkovich reflects on ‘closest friend’ Julian Sands who went missing on California hiking trip
John Malkovich has reflected on his close friendship with Julian Sands, the British actor who went missing during adverse weather conditions on a hiking trip in California more than five weeks ago.
Sands – best known for his breakout movie, A Room With a View (1985) – was reported missing in the Mounty Baldy area of the San Gabriel mountains.
Malkovich stars alongside his “closest friend” Sands in Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes, which premiered at Berlin Film Festival this week.
Tom Murray reports.
John Malkovich reflects on ‘closest friend’ Julian Sands
British actor went missing on hiking trip more than five weeks ago
Winter Storm Olive: Why do we name extreme weather events?
Winter Storm Olive has battered the US this week with heavy snow, blizzard conditions and significant ice, prompting the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
The custom of naming large weather events weather goes back to the early 20th century and the dawn of radio which enabled ship-to-shore communications for the first time.
The idea of personifying weather events was to distinguish between them, and make it easier to remember than a numerical sequence.
Meteorologists, coast guards and ships’ captains could then relay information without fear of misunderstanding.
Joe Sommerlad has more below.
How do storms and hurricanes get their names?
Odd custom of personifying storms and hurricanes dates back a century
The US weather outlook into next week
Here’s how the three to seven day hazards outlook is shaping up from the National Weather Service (NWS).
More heavy rain is forecast across parts of California, the Central Appalachians, the Northeast, the Pacific Northwest, and the Mid-Atlantic on Monday and Tuesday.
Heavy snow is expected in the Central Great Basin, the Northern Rockies, the Central Rockies along with in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest by the end of the weekend through Tuesday.
High winds are forecast across the Rockies, the Plains and the Southwest on Sunday, moving east through Monday and Tuesday.
Much below normal temperatures across portions of California, the Central Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest, the Northern Great Basin, and the Southwest, are expected well into next week, NWS said.
In Alaska, heavy rain is expected through all of next week in the mainland and panhandle, and heavy snow is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday along with much below normal temperatures.
Watch: California blanketed by thick snow
Watch: California forecast reveals floods, blizzards from huge US storm
Firefighter dies after coming in contact with downed power line
A Michigan firefighter died on Wednesday after coming in contact with a downed power line in Paw Paw, authorities told The Associated Press.
He was named as Ethan Quillen, a father and volunteer firefighter since 2019, by local station News Channel 3.
Watch: Snow meets the beach in Crescent City
Footage shows Jeep half-buried in snow near Los Angeles
Images from approximately 30 miles outside Los Angeles, California show a Jeep half-buried in the snow.
Rare blizzard warnings were issued for Southern California as a winter weather system pushed through the area on Friday.
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