The San Diego CA National Weather Service issued their FIRST EVER Blizzard Warning. The Warning was in effect until 4 pm PST (7 pm EST) Friday for the higher elevations north and northeast of San Diego.
The Blizzard Warning was for areas in red on the map above. Winter Storm Warnings were in pink and Winter Weather Advisories in darker purple (at the top of the map). There was also a Wind Advisory for pretty much the entire area for south winds of 20-30 mph with gusts to 40-45 mph expected. Isolated gusts to 75 mph near the desert slopes of the mountains.
The Mammoth Mt. Ski Area reported 8″ of new snow Thursday with the possibility of 2-4 FEET of additional snow by Sunday. The temperature at 9 pm local time Thursday was +7 at the base and -1 at the summit. They have already had 414″ of snow this winter.
UPDATE – SATURDAY AM: Storm reports: Tornado 4 SSE Whittier with building damage. Peak gusts: 87 mph 8 miles south of Agua Dulco, 82 mph Mountain Springs, 79 mph Reyes Peak, 78 mph Topatopa Peak, 74 mph Santa Rosa Island, 73 mph at the Ford Observatory, 64 mph San Luis Obispo, 63 mph Las Vegas NV (23,000 customers without power in Clark County NV).
Numerous trees and wires were downed by high winds in CA, NV and western AZ. More high wind reports here and here. Departure flights from Los Angeles International Airport were grounded due to thunderstorms and turbulent winds. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley.
At least 10 people were injured in Mojave Co. AZ in separate weather-related accidents. Semis were overturned by winds on I-15. Four lanes were blocked by floodwaters on I-5 near Burbank.
Two feet of snow fell in the mountains east and northeast of Los Angeles. The pic. is Highway 138 near Wrightwood CA. “State Road 18 was closed going upbound at 48th St in San Bernardino due to stuck vehicles.”
Mammoth Mountain received 24″ of new snow in the past 24 hours and 39″ since the beginning of the storm. (Photo courtesy:
Rainfall: 2.84″ Woodland Hills, 2.79″ at Pasadena, 2.58″ Burbank, 1.40″ Los Angeles (a daily record) 1.31″ Redding, 1.29″ Yosemite, 1.20 San Francisco, 1.05″ Monterrey, 1.00″ Fresno.
San Diego Radar
Gale Warnings were up and waves increased to 10-16 feet. Southerly cross winds create dangerous rip currents.
Los Angeles set a record low temperature Thursday – and it was an unusual record low. It occurred around 11 am when a heavy squall moved in. The temperature fell by 10 degrees in less than an hour. Small hail was reported with the squall in a few locations.
The Thursday night run of the NAM computer model gave Los Angeles a 99% chance of rain today (Fri.), 98% Friday night with a 27 mph wind, a 99% chance of rain on Saturday and 83% Saturday night.
The water level of Lake Shasta, the largest reservoir in California, has risen over 64 1/2 feet since January 1st. The level rose 4″ in the last 24 hours. It’s 14 feet higher than at any time in the last two years and will continue to rise with more precipitation and the eventual mountain snowmelt this spring.
Also: Heavy snowfall in Portland, Oregon. A record 10.8 inches of snowfall and hours of compact wet snow has made for treacherous driving conditions throughout the Portland metro early Thursday morning.
