Heavy snow and rain on the way to California

AccuWeather

Another round of storms is expected to hit the West Coast this week, causing flooding problems in Northern California but bringing badly needed rain to the Los Angeles area.

Transcript

00:00We are getting some healthy rain and mountain snow, but it does come with some hazards and

00:04some disruptions and some life safety concerns with flooding. So, to help us break down some

00:08of the details, we're now joined by AccuWeather meteorologist and California expert Ken Clark.

00:13Ken, thanks for being with us once again. I'm glad we're not talking about fires,

00:16at least today. We have a lot to discuss, though, in the Golden State.

00:20Yes, we do, and it's mostly beneficial. Now, there are the negatives, as you talked about it,

00:26and Northern California is going to see enough rain now from the rest of this week that we're

00:32going to have some flooding concerns, especially small streams and creeks, low-lying areas, etc.

00:37The weekend rains, which were substantial for the North Bay on northward, did really kind of prime

00:42the pump for this potential for small stream flooding, etc., because now the ground is

00:47saturated. And as we take a look at some of our recent storm reports, we're seeing a new report

00:51where the 101 Highway way up in Northern California closed in Humboldt County because,

00:56at least an off-ramp is closed because of some ongoing flooding. Highway Patrol busy with the

01:00barricades, as we would expect. We're also seeing some pretty decent snow in some areas as well.

01:05There's a modest, again, 2- and then 9-inch report there at the summit and near the base of Donner

01:11Peak. But we're going to be dealing with more in the way of snow as this storm behaves, moving a

01:17little farther south here over the next day or two. So how are we doing with the reservoirs,

01:22Ken? That's been kind of what we have our eye on, more so than the short-term drought status.

01:26Really, statewide, there's no problem with the reservoirs. They're at or above 100% of

01:31historical average for this time of year. We really don't have a problem. And the main reason

01:35for that is two exceptionally wet winters back-to-back. We thought that, even as early

01:41as this time last year, we wouldn't have a problem this year with the reservoirs. That's coming true.

01:47We don't have a problem with that. Snowpack, we need the snowpack now as we look ahead to this

01:52coming summer. And the snowpack is starting to come up. We've gained about 10% of historical

01:56average in the northern Sierra, not too much central and south yet, but more snow is coming.

02:01In fact, some substantial amounts of snow are coming all across the Sierra as we go through

02:06this week. And we could be looking at 3 to 5 feet of snow, potential for maybe 7 feet in some

02:11localities. So everywhere in the Sierra, we're going to start making inroads in those negative

02:17numbers across the central and southern portion of those mountains. That's certainly good news.

02:21Every foot of snow in the Sierra is another deposit in the hydrological bank there. We like

02:25to see that. Now, we're going to watch this atmospheric river, this ribbon of moisture,

02:30get a little disrupted, and it's going to shift south. In fact, Ken, as you begin to discuss this,

02:34I'm going to step off and just kind of replay this so we can see how this behaves. What do

02:40you expect we can predict, I guess, for, say, southern California here as this gets more

02:45disrupted but shifts south? The shifting south, we're going to still be on the southern edge of

02:51this moisture plume for both the storm that's coming up in tonight and tomorrow, northern

02:56California, and what is left over from that coming down into southern California probably later

03:02Tuesday night into part of Wednesday. Very, very reduced in the amount of rainfall there. The

03:08second storm later in the week. Also, again, tailing off in precipitation totals as it goes

03:13southward in the state. L.A., I don't think we're going to, I think we're going to be all right in

03:18most of the L.A. area with this. I think maybe a half inch to an inch, maybe a little bit more

03:23in some of those upslope areas, but I don't think we're going to see any major problems in the burn

03:28areas. Can there be some minor problems? Of course there can. Even light amounts of rain with all

03:33that ash and all that barren land can have problems fairly quickly, but I don't think we're

03:40going to see widespread major problems because the heaviest rain will stay north. All right,

03:45always appreciate your insight there. He is the man when it comes to California weather,

03:49AccuWeather meteorologist and California expert Ken Clark. Thanks again, Ken.

03:53You're welcome, Jeff. All right, good stuff.

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