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Heavy snow fell in the Sierra Nevada as a winter storm with strong winds rocked cable car chairs and closed mountain roads , while downpours in lower elevations triggered flood watches Sunday for large swaths of California into Nevada.
More than 798 miles from the Sierras from north of Reno south to Yosemite National Park remained under winter storm warnings through Sunday night or early Monday.
“The snow forecast for the Sierra is straightforward with snow expected to continue throughout the day and periods of localized heavier snow bands resulting in a limited visibility and increasing snow totals,” said forecasters with the Reno office of the National Weather Service.
Until Sunday morning morning, they had fallen 46 inches in Sierra-at-Tahoe, 46 inches at Tahoe Donner, over 46 inches at Palisades Tahoe, 40 inches on Kirkwood and 24 inches in Heavenly during the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, steady rain fell in Southern California, with flooding minor, mud and debris flows that closed some roads.
The Department of Works Los Angeles County Public Administration reported that Lake Hughes Road, between Pine Canyon and Dry Gulch roads in Lake Hughes, was closed due to mud and debris on the road. The agency asked the public to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
In Pomona, the Police Department reported flooding in the underpass at First Street, with several streets in the area closed or affected by flooding, including South Reservoir Street, South Towne Avenue, East End Street, Garey Avenue, and White Avenue.
“We received significant rain over our mountains last night and are beginning to see a response in our major local rivers. Not enough to reach monitoring or flood level, but we are finally seeing some flow,” the Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service tweeted.
Meanwhile, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to thunderstorms in southern Orange County, with minor flooding expected to begin in Irvine, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Niguel.
The mountains of Los Angeles County were predicted to see rainfall rates of 1/2 to 3/4 inch per hour. Those rates prompted the NWS to issue a flash flood watch for the mountains, Antelope Valley and San Gabriel Valley.
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