To the best of my ability I write about my experience of the Universe Past, Present and Future
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Massive weather system buries much of west under snow
This is no joke even here in California. Snow levels very low. In fact, last night a friend couldn't fly out of Medford because Airport was snowed in. This is extremely unusual. Another occurrence last night was Interstate 5 was closed from Fawndale, just north of Redding (10 miles), California all the way to Medford and likely beyond. I'm not sure when it opened up again. But, tonight I looked online at google maps with traffic on and it was clear(Interstate 5) mostly up to almost Eugene then around 6pm PST. This morning a foot and a half of snow in Medford was pretty amazing. There was at least a foot and a half on Interstate 5 next to Mt. Shasta City too which is likely why major sections of it were closed last night as far as Medford or beyond.
The Sierras at above 8000 feet have received over 5 feet of snow or more from this grouping of storms. I think another one hits Friday or Saturday.
Massive Weather System Buries Much of West Under Snow News
Northern California, where mountain areas were already under as much as 4 feet ofsnow from December storms, wasn't being spared, either. Soda ... it's not expected ...
2 hours ago ... Heavy snow and rain continued cascading over much of the West on Wednesday , freezing many cities in place, inundating others with floods ...
2 hours ago ...Massive weather system buries much of West under snow, rain http://nbcnews.to/ 2hSUgoD pic.twitter.com/mMmOttiU2G. Retweets 23; Likes 26 ...
Massive Weather System Buries Much of West Under Snow, Rain
byAlex Johnson
Severe Winter Weather Strands Drivers in California1:23
Heavy snow and rain continued cascading over
much of the West on Wednesday, freezing many cities in place, inundating
others with floods and spurring authorities to warn of avalanches.
"This snow is going to be painful for a lot of folks," said Kait Parker, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.
But look on the bright side, forecasters said: So much rain and snow
has fallen — and will continue to fall — that the storm could put a
significant dent in California's five-year drought.
Winter storm warnings were in effect across an
alarmingly large part of the western third of the country Wednesday,
from California to Colorado and Wyoming, including all of Utah's Salt
Lake Valley.
Oregon was hit especially hard. In Otis, in
coastal Lincoln County, the 8-year-old daughter of a volunteer
firefighter was killed Tuesday night when wind sent a tree crashing into
her family's home, the North Lincoln Fire and Rescue District said.
"There's been a great outpouring — from school
districts, [the] sheriff's office and everyone else — to get together
and see what we can do to handle this," Fire and Rescue Capt. Jim Kusz
told NBC station KGW of Portland.
Avalanche Closes Road in Nevada1:02
Bly, in southern Oregon near Fremont National
Forest, reported 26 inches of snow, while Sunny Valley, in the southwest
part, was blanketed under 2 feet.
The City of Eugene declared an ice-snow
emergency Wednesday morning as snow piled up in the Willamette Valley.
Mayor Kitty Percy postponed her annual State of the City address,
scheduled for Wednesday night, until next week.
The state Transportation Department closed
Interstate 84 in both directions between Pendleton and Ontario on
Wednesday night, warning that snow, wind and ice were creating hazardous
driving conditions.
The Santiam Pass on U.S. Highway 20 between
Salem and Bend was closed for several hours as state crews cleaned up
after two avalanches early Wednesday, the state Transportation
Department said.
Meanwhile, the Northwest Avalanche Center, an
agency of the U.S. Forest Service, issued a "considerable" avalanche
threat alert from the Canadian border through Washington state to just
south of Portland, Oregon.
The
Northwest Avalanche Center issued a 'considerable' avalanche threat
alert from the Canadian border through Washington state to just south of
Portland, Oregon. Northwest Avalanche Center
Northern California, where mountain areas were
already under as much as 4 feet of snow from December storms, wasn't
being spared, either.
Soda Springs, a resort community of 81 people
near Donner Pass, reported 2½ feet of new snow Wednesday. And Mount
Shasta Ski Park, which got 20 inches of new snow, was forced to close
Wednesday as power failed across the park, NBC station KNVN of Chico reported.
Interstate 80 was closed in both directions near
Colfax and Truckee as state crews worked to clear numerous accidents
Wednesday afternoon. The state Transportation Department said the interstate wouldn't reopen until at least midnight.
And it's not expected to stop for a while. A
Pacific weather pattern was creating a series of what meteorologists
call "atmospheric rivers" — basically, narrow streams of concentrated
moisture in the sky — that are expected to wash over the West into early
next week.
The National Weather Service said "significant
flooding" was expected across northern and central parts of the state by
the weekend, and it issued a flash flood watch for the California
Sierra and foothills all the way through next Monday.
Transportation was chaotic across many states.
More than 430 arrivals and departures were canceled or delayed Wednesday
at Denver International Airport — and more than 60 flights scheduled
for Thursday had already been pre-emptively canceled.
In Idaho, snow created such hazardous conditions that schools in Boise, West Ada and Nampa were closed, NBC station KTVB of Boise reported.
The Ada County Sheriff's office reported 105
slide-offs, 91 stalled or stuck vehicles and 65 crashes on county roads —
just by 5 p.m. Nine of the crashes resulted in injuries, which weren't
detailed.
While the weather is creating a sodden mess,
"this is actually really good news for the California drought," said Ari
Sarsalari, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel. "Not only are they
getting some rain from this storm, but also that snowpack is really
piling up on top of the Sierras."
The Sierra Nevada snowpack provides about a
third of California's water drinking and farming water when it melts in
the spring. But five years of sustained drought have reduced the
snowpack to half its usual size, the state Department of Water Resources reported this week.
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