At a Glance
– California will be hit by an unusually cold storm into this weekend.
– Snow will fall at relatively low elevations, possibly down to a few hundred feet.
– A blizzard warning has been issued for parts of the Southern California mountains.
– Winter storm warnings have been issued for the hills and mountains around the Bay Area.
– Heavy rain could lead to flooding and debris flows, particularly in Southern California.
– Record cold temperatures for late February will last into the weekend.
– A powerful California storm ahead prompted the first blizzard warning in the Southern California mountains in 34 years and could also bring flooding rain, low-elevation snow and record late February cold into the weekend.
This storm has been named Winter Storm Piper by The Weather Channel.
California was battered by high winds Tuesday, which knocked down trees and left over 100,000 without power, as a cold front ushered colder air into the state.
“This series of low pressure waves that will make up this coast-to-coast winter storm will bring heavy snow and locally significant ice from the Great Lakes into the Northeast,” according to a National Weather Service alert. Communities across that region are expected to see an extra 6 to 12 inches of snow. Some might even see 18 inches of snowfall, the alert said.
The NWS predicts significant infrastructural damage in the hardest-hit areas, along with travel delays. More than 900,000 customers nationwide are without power as of this writing. Michigan has been especially affected: More than 729,000 customers are without power according to Poweroutage.us. More than 86,000 customers in Illinois are currently without power, alongside 59,000 in Wisconsin, and more than 26,000 in New York.
(With inputs from agencies)
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