CNN
—
One of California’s most famous routes, U.S. Route 101, was closed in both directions south of San Francisco on Saturday after heavy rains and melting snow flooded the roads, especially in the northern half of the state.
The California Department of Transportation also announced a partial closure of Interstate 80 near the Nevada line at noon Saturday “due to multiple spinouts surrounding the donor summit.” Heavy snow required tire chains for most of this month to drive through the mountain roads of the Sierra Nevada.
A strong storm began bringing widespread heavy rain Friday through Saturday, threatening much of northern and central California with flooding. It continued to bring stormy parades.
Atmospheric rivers are elongated regions of the atmosphere that can carry moisture thousands of miles, like an empty fire hose. The heavy rain will move south toward Southern California on Saturday and Sunday with gusts of 30 to 50 mph.
Several small communities in Northern California received evacuation orders and warnings due to flooding on Saturday. His three communities near the city of Watsonville were ordered to evacuate from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office due to flooding of the creek, and authorities ordered the communities of Paradise Park and Felton to evacuate due to rising water levels in the San Lorenzo River. ordered to
The area near Santa Rita Creek in Monterey County was alerted Saturday afternoon over concerns that the creek would “spill over the levee,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Over 16 million flood monitors are in effect through Saturday night, including the entire Bay Area and Central Valley. A chance of rain Saturday night before the calendar turns to 2023.
Previous weather forecasts call for 2 to 4 inches of widespread rainfall in northern and central California, with localized amounts of 5 to 7 inches possible in the hills.
Northern California and the central California coast already had 2-4 inches of rain last week. The cumulative effects of multiple Pacific storm systems, including moisture from powerful atmospheric rivers, make impacts such as flash floods and landslides more likely.
video and photo Images shared by San Francisco’s National Weather Service show fallen trees and multiple landslides blocking the road.
“Currently, the downtown SF rain gauge is reporting 5.33 inches today.” National Weather Service office in San Francisco Said. “Aiming for the wettest calendar day ever… (records he dates back to 1849).”