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California was walloped Monday by a almighty wintertime tempest carrying treacherous thunderstorms, precocious winds and dense snowfall successful upland areas.
Millions of Los Angeles County residents faced flash flood warnings arsenic rainfall pounded the portion and radical successful immoderate areas scarred by past year’s devastating wildfires were nether an evacuation informing done Tuesday due to the fact that of the imaginable for mud and debris flows.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered exigency crews and metropolis departments to beryllium acceptable to respond to immoderate problems.
The tempest wreaked havoc connected roadways spanning from Sonoma County to the Sierra Nevada. Traffic was halted temporarily successful some directions connected I-80 adjacent the Nevada authorities enactment owed to spinouts and crashes, the California Department of Transportation reported. In Santa Barbara County, a ample histrion toppled onto US-101, shutting down southbound lanes.
Forecasters said the occidental slope of the Sierra Nevada, bluish Shasta County — including portions of Interstate 5 — and parts of the state’s Coast Range could spot up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snowfall earlier the tempest moves done precocious Wednesday. The dense snow, upwind and debased visibility could besides marque question conditions unsafe to adjacent impossible, forecasters added.
“It has seemed ‘spring-like’ for a ample portion of 2026, but wintertime is acceptable to amusement it’s not rather done yet,” the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said successful a societal media station urging residents to enactment alert of the storm.
California’s Office of Emergency Services said it was placing occurrence and rescue unit and resources successful areas astir astatine hazard for flooding, mud and debris flows.
Other states connected Monday braced for antithetic threatening upwind events. Residents successful parts of eastbound Colorado received warnings that they could beryllium successful occurrence information owed to a operation of abnormally precocious temperatures, gusty winds and adust conditions. The risks were expected to proceed further into the week arsenic gusts up to 60 mph (96 kph) are apt to deed the Colorado eastbound plains connected Tuesday. Parts of Texas, New Mexico and Kansas were besides nether reddish emblem warnings.
The latest tempest comes amid a snowfall drought crossed overmuch of the American West, with snowfall screen and extent measuring astatine the lowest levels scientists person seen successful decades. Most states saw fractional their mean precipitation oregon little successful January, though California fared amended others owed to dense rains successful December.
Kashawna McInerny, a realtor successful the upland assemblage of Wrightwood, astir 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, connected Monday said she was inactive dealing with respective tons of stone and debris connected her spot from Christmas and New Year's storms that pummeled the community. After the past one, she said she got assistance trenching portion of her broadside gait to nonstop stormwater down the thoroughfare and placed a obstruction of metallic and wood by a doorway successful hopes of keeping retired mud and debris.
“We’re not panicking yet. At slightest I’m not,” she said with a laugh.
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Associated Press writers Amy Taxin from Santa Ana, California, and Dorany Pineda successful Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
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