A third storm, this one a low-pressure system spinning in the cold Pacific, was forecast to propel subtropical precipitation from Hawaii into California, with flooding, mud flows and debris flows possible for fire-scarred communities, earth scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said – photo NBC News
Winter Storms Put 29 Million People under Alert with Freezing Conditions to Come
By Marlene Lenthang and Kathryn Prociv
Two winter storms will bring snow, freezing rain, and arctic cold in a one-two punch to parts of the United States this week.
From coast to coast, more than 96 million people were covered Monday by winter watches, warnings, and advisories. From Missouri to West Virginia, more than 26 million people were under winter weather advisories, which warn of light snow, travel hazards, and slick roadways.
Alerts also focused on the central Plains, the Midwest, the Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic. They include winter storm warnings, winter storm watches, and extreme cold and freeze warnings.
A third storm, this one a low-pressure system spinning in the cold Pacific, was forecast to propel subtropical precipitation from Hawaii into California, with flooding, mud flows and debris flows possible for fire-scarred communities, earth scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said.
The midweek storm in California is likely to arrive Wednesday into Thursday in the San Francisco region and give its most rain Thursday morning as it pushes inland and reaches Southern California on Thursday afternoon into the night, federal forecasters said. It could be accompanied by wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph in mountain areas, they said.
"Let me summarize the week with a personal note," National Weather Service meteorologist Dylan Flynn wrote in the San Francisco region’s forecast discussion Monday. "I coach the local high school track team, and we are planning to run through any rain Wednesday and Friday, but will certainly cancel practice on Thursday."
Even as Los Angeles' mayor announced Monday that a second phase of debris removal was expected to begin this week for the Pacific Palisades community devastated by the largest of last month's deadly fires, the city's emergency management department warned in a statement that burn scar areas are "vulnerable to dangerous flooding and even mudslides."
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps designates the atmospheric river of precipitation as a moderate, AR-2 storm on a weak-to-strongest 1-5 scale, with flash flooding possible. It is likely to reach as far south as San Diego, where, the weather service office said, rain was likely to arrive Thursday and Friday in the wake of a smaller, "inside slider" rainstorm Wednesday.
"This will be definitely our wettest storm period in the past year," the San Diego office said in its Monday forecast discussion.
Because it was drawing relatively warm, subtropical precipitation, the Pacific storm was not expected to be a big snow producer, with an 8,000-foot snow floor for Southern California mountains Thursday, the weather service said. The highest reaches of the Sierra Nevada range to the north could get 2 to 4 feet, however, federal forecasters in Reno, Nevada, said.
The first storm will take shape across the central Plains, with rain and light icing across Oklahoma and Arkansas. Come Tuesday, the storm will produce moderate snow from Kentucky to Maryland.
The mid-Atlantic will get the biggest snow totals, with 3 to 6 inches possible. Locally higher amounts of up to 8 inches can’t be ruled out. Washington, DC, and Baltimore are forecast to pick up 4 to 6 inches of snow with a glaze of ice, and Philadelphia could get 2 to 3 inches.
New York City's Emergency Management Department said in a weather alert Monday that 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected Tuesday and Wednesday, with 4 inches in some parts of the city possible.
"We also urge everyone to check on their neighbors, especially those who may need extra support in the days ahead," Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said in a statement.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in a statement that the city's snow team, which uses 136 snowplows and 10 dump trucks, will charge into action at midnight to pretreat roadways with snow-dissolving salt.
The southern side of the storm system will bring the possibility of heavy rain Tuesday and Wednesday across the South, where 1 to 3 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, is possible… – NBC News
