Published: January 04, 2008
Powerful Storms Will Slam the West Coast this Weekend
AccuWeather.com reports a series of storms will slam the West Coast this weekend, causing many weather-related problems for the region. One storm started to impact parts of Oregon and California with rain, snow, and gusty winds Thursday.
Damaging winds will continue to pound the coast today as the storm intensifies and impacts the region. The storms will also buffet the coast and mountains with strong winds. Wind gusts over the ridges in the Sierra can top 100 mph, and gusts along the California coast may approach 70 mph. combination of snow and high winds will undoubtedly close some of the passes above 7,000 feet.
Thursday, snow fell in the mountains of California, Washington, and Oregon, with some locations picking up several inches. Below is a list of a few locations with their snowfall totals from Thursday:
4 miles SSW of Weed, Calif. - 9 inches
Mount Shasta, Calif. - 7 inches
Leavenworth, Wash. - 6 inches
According to AccuWeather.com West Coast Expert Meteorologist Ken Clark, "This is the kind of storm that could bring 5 to 8 feet of snow to the ski areas of the Sierra above 7,000 feet. Some places on west- and south-facing slopes of the Southern Cal [sic] mountains around and north of LA could get five to nine inches of rain." Flooding and mud slides may become commonplace from the series of storms this weekend.
Snowfall in the Sierra from the upcoming storms could rank among the top snowstorm totals of the past 50 years. The benchmark is a series of storms in mid-January 1952 that left more than 12 feet of snow in Tahoe City, Calif. Another storm in 1982 hit on this date, dumping 6-8 feet of snow in 26 hours in Squaw Valley, Calif. as well as 5.45 inches of rain in San Francisco.
To learn more or discuss with a forecaster, please contact:
Justin Roberti
814-235-8756
Roberti@AccuWeather.com
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