Rain, high winds buffet northern California and Oregon
SEBASTOPOL, Calif. (AP) – Torrential rain and wind reaching 100 mph buffeted the Northern California and Oregon coast for a third straight day Monday, snarling traffic during the morning commute and knocking out power. Wind-blown heavy snow closed the major highway through the Sierra Nevada between Sacramento and Reno, Nev.
At least six deaths have been blamed on the storm since the end of last week – three in northern California, two people killed in their bed by a falling tree in Oregon and a snowboarder killed by an avalanche at a Nevada ski resort.
The National Weather Service posted flood warnings for some Northern California rivers. Yountville and Los Gatos got 6 inches of rain late Sunday and early Monday.
Almost 337,600 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers from Eureka to Bakersfield had no electricity Monday morning and some schools were closed.
The Pacific storm was the first in a series, and rain is expected to continue for the next couple of weeks, with occasional breaks.
“We’re in a seriously unstable pattern through the first of the year,” said National Weather Service forecaster Bob Benjamin.
High surf warnings for waves up to 25 feet were in effect through Tuesday along California’s North Coast.
High water temporarily closed U.S. 101 at the Marin-Sonoma county line north of San Francisco on Monday.
The same highway was closed in Oregon late Sunday by a landslide south of Yachats; one lane was reopened Monday morning.
Farther south along the coast, the gusty wind led the Air Force to scrub Monday’s planned launch of a military satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Maj. Stacee Bako said.
The launch of the Titan II carrying the satellite was rescheduled for Tuesday.
Wind gusted to 100 mph at the summit of Mount Diablo, east of San Francisco Bay.
Interstate 80, the key link through the Sierra between northern Nevada and Northern California, was shut down by wind-whipped snow and spinouts Monday and chains or snow tires were required on all other roads in the mountains.
The Sierra was under a winter storm warning, with 2 feet of snow likely on top of 2 feet or more than fell during the weekend.
“It’s always nice for ski resorts when they measure snow in feet instead of inches, especially this time of the year,” said Katja Dahl, spokeswoman for Squaw Valley, which got 2.5 feet during the weekend.
Schools were closed in some Nevada districts on the east side of the Sierra.
During the weekend, wind gusting to as high as 82 mph at Reno blew the city’s motto, “The Biggest Little City in the World,” off the landmark Reno Arch.
In Sparks, Nev., wind snapped the city’s 70-foot-tall Christmas tree in half.