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    California Faces Heavy Rain and Flooding From Coastal Storm

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    Los Angeles had received one to two inches of rain as of Saturday morning. Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming were also expected to get significant precipitation this weekend.An unseasonably cold and vigorous storm system was cutting through the southwestern Pacific Coast this weekend, bringing rain, flash flooding and snow to parts of California and other states, forecasters said.The National Weather Service in San Diego had issued a flash flood warning on Saturday morning, cautioning the public about potential flooding in the southwestern part of the state.The storm was expected to continue moving along the coast and, eventually, inland.“This storm is going to have an impact all the way across the country, but right now the storm center is off the California coast,” said Bob Smerbeck, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. “There’s going to be some flooding issues, mudslides and debris. People should keep their guard up.”The storm was coming off the coast of California and was expected to shift south and eastward on Saturday or Sunday, creating the risk of flash flooding in Southern California, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md.Los Angeles had received one to two inches of rain as of Saturday morning, and in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, the rainfall amounts were two to four inches, Ms. Santorelli said.The Transverse Ranges and Sierra Nevada could get heavy snowfall, Ms. Santorelli said. Since this was a fairly cold system, significant snowfall was expected above 6,000 feet, with one to three feet of accumulation, and higher amounts possible above 7,500 feet.Windy conditions were expected to continue, including gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour above 5,000 feet through Saturday morning, the Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service wrote on Saturday.Strong winds, combined with the heavy snow, could produce short-term blizzard conditions in the mountain areas, forecasters said. Winter storm warnings were in effect for most of the mountains through Sunday evening.California is expected to dry out by Monday, Mr. Smerbeck said, but the storm will continue to move into Arizona over the weekend. Western Arizona was expected to experience heavy rain overnight on Saturday and into Sunday.Arizona was under a wind advisory from noon until 10 p.m. Saturday. The south-central and southwestern portions of Arizona could get a quarter of an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix.The storm was also expected to bring significant precipitation to parts of Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. As of Saturday, AccuWeather was forecasting a foot of snow in Flagstaff, Ariz. More

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      Storm Brings Heavy Snow to New England and Northern New York

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      In Central Park, 3.63 inches of rain fell on Saturday. Philadelphia had 3.06 inches, making it the wettest calendar day ever recorded in March, forecasters said.A storm system on Saturday brought heavy rain to the Northeast and heavy snow to parts of New England and Northern New York in a sign that winter was not quite ready to exit.In Central Park, 3.63 inches of rain had fallen as of 5 p.m. Saturday, said David Stark, a meteorologist with the Weather Service Office in New York.Philadelphia had 3.06 inches of rain, the wettest calendar day ever recorded in March in the official observing station since 1872, according to the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, Pa.The previous daily record for March 23 was 1.36 inches in 2005. For the month of March, the record was 2.79 inches, set on March 15, 1912, the Weather Service said.In New York City, the heavy rain was expected to taper by Saturday evening, forecasters said. A flood watch for New York City was in effect into early Saturday night, with scattered flash flooding possible.Minor flooding was likely along small rivers and streams across New Jersey, the Lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut into Saturday night, the Weather Service said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Snow Storm Leaves Thousands in California and Nevada Without Power

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      Up to two feet of snow fell in some areas and combined with gusty winds as the risk of avalanches remained high. Thousands of residents were left without power, and life came to a standstill for many in the Sierra Nevada region on Saturday after a winter storm dumped as much as two feet of snow overnight and created treacherous conditions.About 49,000 customers in Nevada and California were without electricity on Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us. With whiteout conditions in the mountains, ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area paused operations. And highway officials shut down Interstate 80, the main artery that traverses the Sierra Nevada over Donner Summit, a key trucking route from the San Francisco Bay Area. Traffic cameras revealed semi trucks parked alongside the highway, waiting out the overnight closure.​​California Highway Patrol said there was no estimated time of reopening the freeway. The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, a research station located atop Donner Summit, reported that 20.7 inches of snow had fallen by Saturday morning, and that 39.8 inches had fallen over the 48 hours leading up to it. Palisades Tahoe, a resort that closed ski area operations on Saturday across all terrain, reported 24 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours.Yosemite National Park remained closed at least through noon Sunday, park officials said.A maintenance worker clearing snow in South Lake Tahoe.David Calvert for The New York TimesEd Miller, a resident of Tahoma on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore, said he lost power around 10 p.m. on Friday night, before his generator kicked in a few minutes later. Mr. Miller, who has lived in the Lake Tahoe area for almost 50 years, is accustomed to power outages. He said having a generator is essential for living in the mountains, where wind gusts knock branches off trees and take down power lines on a regular basis.In the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the huge mountain range that runs along the spine of California, forecasters rated the avalanche danger as high, and they expected avalanche hazards to worsen throughout the day because of the new snow and continued winds. Overnight on Friday, winds reached as high as 171 miles per hour. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Blizzard Is Forecast to Bring ‘Life-Threatening’ Conditions to California

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      For the second year in a row, the Greater Lake Tahoe area is expected to begin March buried in deep, powdery, windswept snow.A rare warning for “life-threatening blizzard conditions” is in effect for the mountains of the Sierra, including Lake Tahoe, for a storm that could bring a three feet of snow or more from Thursday through Sunday, according to forecasters.Blizzard warnings are reserved for the worst snow storms with whiteout conditions that could last hours or, in this case, days, with the weather likely making travel in the region treacherous. The National Weather Service in Reno, Nev., has only issued eight blizzard warnings since 2002. The last warning in the Tahoe area was almost exactly a year ago: Feb. 27, 2023.During last year’s storm, two feet of snow fell in less than 24 hours, which, combined with earlier snows, made it challenging to distinguish houses from snow banks. Winds up to 50 miles per hour combined with the light snow made it difficult to see things only feet away.

      Forecast for severe winter weather for Thursday More

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      How California’s Rainy Season Is Shaping Up So Far

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      The state has received 105 percent of its average rainfall for this time of year.An “atmospheric river” storm hit Sherman Oaks earlier this month.Mark Abramson for The New York TimesWith its Mediterranean climate, California receives most of its annual precipitation in just a few months, with the bulk of it falling from December to February.That means that by the time March 1 comes around, we usually have a good sense of how much water we’re going to have for the rest of the year.The state keeps track based on a “water year” that runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, so the whole winter rainy season will fall in the same year’s statistics. As of Sunday, California had received slightly more rain than usual this winter — 105 percent of the average, according to state data.In some parts of the state, though, it’s been much rainier than normal.Los Angeles, which just endured one of its wettest storm systems on record, had received 159 percent of its annual average rainfall as of Sunday. San Diego was at 133 percent, and Paso Robles at 160.Though the winter storms have often been damaging, they’re mostly good news for the water supply. The state’s reservoirs are at a healthy 119 percent of their normal levels, in part because they are still benefiting from the back-to-back “atmospheric rivers” that slammed California last winter.But the state’s snowpack, which accumulates in the Sierra Nevada and typically provides 30 percent of the state’s water supply for the year, isn’t faring quite as well.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Can-Am Crown Sled Dog Race: Lack of Snow Forces Cancellation

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      The decision to call off the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race for the first time since its inception three decades ago was a matter of safety, organizers said.Jonathan Hayes woke up at 5 a.m. in rural Maine to feed his 20-some dogs Monday morning, and his heart sank when he learned that the sled race they had been training for since the fall was canceled.The Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race, the longest sled-dog race in the Eastern United States, will be canceled because of a lack of snow for the first time since the race’s inception more than three decades ago, event organizers said.The news came as a blow to the mushers who spent long hours training to prepare for the event, which was to be held from March 1 to March 5 in Fort Kent, Maine, which borders Canada.Mr. Hayes, a high school biology teacher, had spent hours training with his dogs after his family went to bed. “I’ve been pushing myself training and conditioning for the last six months for something that just got canceled,” Mr. Hayes said. “It’s hard.”The decision to cancel was a matter of safety, said Dennis Cyr, president of Can-Am. Since there isn’t as much snow this year, there will be an abundance of vegetation, brush, rocks and gravel exposed on the trails.“It wouldn’t be safe to run the dogs, or the volunteers to be out at the remote checkpoints,” Mr. Cyr said. “We don’t want to expose our mushers to that or ruin our reputation by having a sloppy race this year.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Storm Expected to Bring Snow to Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, Again

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      Two to four inches of snow were possible in New York City overnight Friday through early Saturday, forecasters said.A fast-moving storm system was expected to bring several inches of snow to parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions for the second time this week, with two to four inches predicted for New York City overnight Friday into Saturday morning and up to 10 inches in portions of West Virginia and Maryland.Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York, described the system that was expected to move through as a “quick hitter.”“It’ll be in and out before folks may even wake up tomorrow morning,” Mr. Ramunni said.The greatest snowfall totals were expected across parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, where a winter storm warning was issued for late Friday through Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.In parts of Maryland and West Virginia, up to 10 inches of snow were possible, with snowfall rates of up to two inches per hour at times, the Weather Service said.Austin Mansfield, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sterling, Va., said the snow could make travel difficult at times and reduce visibility.“Anytime you have a significant accumulation like that, you certainly start to see road impacts across those areas,” he said.Philadelphia could record four to six inches of snow, and Washington could see snowfall totals ranging from two to five inches, forecasters said.In New York City, where snow from a storm on Tuesday was still melting on Friday afternoon in parts of the area, there could be snowfall totals from two to four inches, Mr. Ramunni said.The storm system is expected to bring snow to some Northeast cities for the second time this week.A storm that moved through the region on Tuesday dropped 3.2 inches in Central Park and more than eight inches of snow in parts of Maryland, according to the Weather Service.Ahead of the expected weekend snowfall, the New York City Emergency Management Department issued a citywide travel advisory, warning that slippery roadways and reduced visibility were possible late Friday through early Saturday.Temperatures overnight Friday into Saturday were expected to be lower than during Tuesday’s storm, indicating that New York City could get a more powdery snow.“We’re not expecting that really heavy wet snow that we saw with this last event,” Mr. Ramunni said. “You’re not shoveling bricks of cement, so to speak, tomorrow morning.”Snow has been something of a rarity in New York City over the past couple of years. After 701 days without meaningful accumulation, a total of 1.7 inches fell in Central Park on Jan. 15 and Jan. 16.If more than 3.2 inches are recorded in Central Park on Saturday, it would be the city’s highest snowfall in two years, Mr. Ramunni said.“As a snow lover,” he said, “my tail’s wagging.” More

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      Was Boston’s Snow Forecast a Bust? Depends on Whom You Ask.

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      The quick-moving winter storm sweeping across the Northeast was once poised to blanket the Boston area with up to a foot of snow but will now push farther south than expected, cutting snowfall totals in the region by more than half than expected earlier, according to the latest estimates.“Snow lovers may be very upset that snow totals have decreased because the system has moved farther south,” Torry Dooley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston said by phone early Tuesday. “But other folks that are maybe not as into the snow may be rejoicing this morning that the snow totals have come down.”No matter where weather watchers land on snow debate, Mr. Dooley emphasized that the weather is fickle and predictions are just that — predictions.“Our weather is a very fluid thing,” Mr. Dooley said. “So the atmosphere is very fluid. Forecasts do evolve with better data.”Officials in Boston kept a close eye on the storm and ultimately closed schools on Tuesday. Nearby school systems, like in Plymouth and Salem, made the same decision.Mr. Dooley said Weather Service meteorologists do not discuss school closing decisions with officials and that superintendents make those judgment calls.On Monday afternoon, meteorologists began receiving newer data showing the storm’s track shifting farther and farther south.While snowfall expectations for the Boston region have significantly diminished since the original forecast, southern Massachusetts can still expect several inches through Tuesday afternoon.Still, the Boston area will not be completely unaffected. Light rain showers were expected to transition to snow before 9 a.m.“Once that happens, we’ll have some moderate snowfall,” Mr. Dooley said. “Areas around Boston can expect, generally four to six inches of snow, throughout today.” More

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      Winter Storm Forecast: Parts of the Northeast Could Get a Foot of Snow

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      The heaviest snow is expected in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and southern New England starting on Monday into Tuesday, forecasters said.A winter storm is expected to move through the Northeast starting on Monday and lasting into Tuesday, bringing up to a foot of snow in some areas stretching from central Pennsylvania to the Catskills and Hudson Valley in New York, forecasters said.As of Saturday, the storm was over the Southern Plains in the southwestern United States, but over the next couple of days it will work its way east and then northeast.The heaviest snow is expected from northern Pennsylvania, far northwestern New Jersey and southern New York into interior southern New England, where locally a foot or more of snow could fall, said Bill Deger, a senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.In these areas, snowfall rates could exceed an inch an hour for a time, he said.The heaviest snowfalls will most likely be north of New York City, said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.Forecasts on Saturday called for up to a foot of snow from central Pennsylvania through the Catskills and Hudson Valley in New York and then across portions of southern New England, Connecticut and Massachusetts and through the metropolitan Boston area.The precipitation is expected to start as rain on Monday night in New York City and then turn to snow late on Tuesday morning, said David Stark, a meteorologist for the Weather Service office in New York. He said he did not expect high snow totals but added that it was too early to tell.The rain-to-snow mix can be dangerous for drivers, Mr. Deger said.“Rain falling before snow makes it very difficult for municipalities to prepare roads for the wintry weather,” he noted, “as any pretreatment can be washed away before temperatures fall below freezing and snow starts to accumulate.”Drivers should anticipate a difficult commute on Tuesday in eastern Pennsylvania through the New York City area and into the Hudson Valley and southern New England, where visibility could be reduced by locally heavy snow, Mr. Deger said.During the high tide on Tuesday in the early afternoon, “there might be pockets of minor, maybe even moderate, coastal flooding along the East Coast,” said Rob Megnia, a meteorologist for the Weather Service office in Boston. “People should be aware of that even if they’re not expecting a lot of snow.”Mr. Pereira of the Weather Prediction Center said the storm would be “fairly fast-moving.”“As we get into Tuesday evening into the overnight, the system is going to be out into the open Atlantic waters,” he said, adding that the storm should be over by Wednesday morning. More