Winter storm on the move: Whiteout conditions, outages, floods

It’s been quite a messy weekend out West! From feet of snow that could cover a tall person to power outages that have left over a quarter of a million people in the dark… and cold!

The strong and massive winter storm we warned you about last week packed a punch for much of the West of the nation this weekend. Winter conditions are still going over the Sierra on Sunday evening, but the weather will gradually improve to start the week and allow residents to dig themselves out of the snow.

Many highways over interior California were closed, some in large chunks due to zero visibility produced by the heavy snow falling over the region. Parts of the Sierra recorded over 6 feet of snow. We are waiting for snowfall to taper off to get the final totals for this storm.

Heavy rains produced flash flooding from Monterey to Big Sur. The heavy rains fell over burn scar areas, which caused headaches for residents and visitors. Areas northeast of Sacramento recorded up to 5 inches of rain.

The strong winds also left their mark. In the Sacramento area, over 200,000 customers were left in the dark after winds of at least 50 mph knocked out trees and power lines. In the Bay Area, strong winds also left thousands without power as power lines were also downed. Trees fell which left cars and homes damaged, too.

This same storm will continue to move eastward. Winter storm warnings have been issued for parts of the Rocky Mountains. It will be a skier’s dream! Ski resorts will get fresh powder on Monday. Up to a foot of snow is possible across higher elevations of the Colorado mountains. Denver will also receive snow, but residents will have to wait until Monday night to get the white stuff.

On Monday evening, instability from this system will arrive in the Central Plains, where a few severe storms are possible. On Tuesday, there is a higher risk for severe storms across areas south of the Ozarks.