Massive Pacific Storm Continues to Unleash on Central and Southern California

Posted: March 22, 2023 10:48 am

Wednesday will bring another day of inclement weather to normally sunny California. Forecasters are warning that residents need to be prepared for widespread road closures and power outages as the powerful storm currently anchored over the state is slow to move out of the region.

Storm Claims Two Lives on Tuesday

There have already been two deaths blamed on the storm on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), an individual was killed in Stanford when a tree fell on a vehicle. A second individual was killed the same way in Temelec, north of San Francisco.

While Northern California has taken a beating in recent weeks thanks to multiple atmospheric rivers setting up over this region, this current storm is impacting the central and southern portions of the state the most. The heaviest rain is falling across the coastal ranges of Central California and in the lower and intermediate slopes in the southern part of the state. You can expect a general 2 – 4 inches in these higher terrains with isolated areas picking up 4 – 8 inches with this one storm.

This amount of rain will create flooding concerns throughout the San Joaquin River Valley and into its tributaries. Water reservoirs that have been filled to their brims due to the stormy winter are already in danger of flooding beyond capacity as snow melts and flows down from the mountains.

Los Angeles and San Diego were hit hard on Tuesday with the rain expected to linger on Wednesday. The area is under a significant threat of road washouts and debris flows, especially in the hilly areas surrounding the cities.

Although the extreme northern portions of the Golden State were spared the wrath of this week’s weather maker, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose fell within the top fringe of the storm. San Francisco has seen 26.30 inches of rain since the beginning of December, good enough for nearly twice the historical average by this point in the season.

Winds to Pick Up Strength

Strong winds will also be a factor in this storm system. A gust of 118 mph was recorded in Hopper Canyon, outside of San Bernardino, on Tuesday Afternoon. More hurricane force winds are expected through Wednesday in Southern California, making it important that residents secure outdoor furniture and other items that could become projectiles with this wind.

The southern desert areas of Antelope and Lucerne valleys are predicted to see the worst of the winds. Another high risk area is a zone stretching from south of San Francisco down into San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. This includes coastal cities such as Monterey and Carmel. A secondary risk area will be in Southern California from Long Beach to San Diego.

However the rest of Wednesday unfolds, meteorologists are predicting that this storm could end up being one of the most powerful March weather events on record for the Bay Area. Rapidly falling central atmospheric pressure levels have provided the warning signs that this storm will continue to wreak havoc.

One of the biggest complicating factors of this storm is that the winds are coming from the south and southwest. This contrasts to the typical winds in this region that come from the west or the east. Because of this shift in direction, the roots of the trees are not able to resist the strong winds. This translates to a greater chance of the winds being powerful enough to bring down trees.

In addition, the high amount of water that these trees have taken on this winter will also make it more likely that winds may prove to be severely disruptive. Falling trees can knock out power and also bring hazards to motorists.

Heavy Snow Associated with This Monster Storm System

Similar to the other storms that have roared through California this winter, the higher elevations will see heavy snowfall. This week’s system is bringing the heaviest snowfall accumulations to the central and southern Sierra Nevada. Traffic was moving slowly across Donner Pass on Interstate 80 on Tuesday with local officials warning that Wednesday could bring the potential of road closures.

A mass of colder air moving into Southern California will bring the snow levels down by Wednesday morning. This will bring the chance of significant snow to the higher terrains of interstates 5 and 15 across Cajon Pass and Tejon Pass.

The communities of Big Bear Lake and Wrightwood can expect snowfall measured in feet by the time that this storm moves out. These communities are the same areas that were buried in snow at the end of February and beginning of March.

As if all of these weather hazards were not enough, Southern California will be under the gun for severe thunderstorms on Wednesday as enough sun may come out to heat up the atmosphere and trigger this development.

Storm Moving into the Southwest by Middle of the Week

The interior Southwest is next in line to see the effects of this storm system. A number of weather conditions are in the cards for this corner of the country, including mountain snow, steady rain, and thunderstorms. Flash flooding is a possibility in Phoenix and Las Vegas as a result of torrential rain.

The mountain resort town of Flagstaff, Arizona is forecast to pick up 6 – 12 inches of snow through Wednesday as the leading edge of the system pushes through. The good news is that snow in the interior Southwest typically feeds into the Colorado River and into Lake Mead. This reservoir could certainly use the water heading into the dry summer season.

Looking Ahead to Next Week

As the pattern has been over the last few months, California will enjoy a brief drying out period before another storm forms in the Pacific Ocean and moves on shore. Forecasters are currently keeping an eye on two potential storms that may merge together by early next week and impact the state.

The first storm is predicted to move down from Alaska and through British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest before merging with a storm that will churn up over the central Pacific. You will want to stay abreast of these developments if you live anywhere along the West Coast.

Did you find this content useful? Feel free to bookmark or to post to your timeline for reference later.

Recent Posts