I was thinking the same thing last month when this was the view outside my house in Lake Arrowhead after 2ft. plus of snow overnight...
Posted on 12/30/2004 10:30:30 AM PST by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES - A slow-rolling series of storms that battered the West this week brought snowfall and high wind Thursday to parts of California, where weather-weary residents have already endured lashing rain, heavy snowfall and a destructive tornado.
Since the wild weather began slogging ashore Monday, five deaths in California and two in Colorado have been blamed on storms. Two canoers were missing in Arizona.
By Thursday morning, up to a foot of snow had fallen on Colorado mountains. An avalanche warning was issued for the San Juan mountains in southwestern Colorado, and the north-central section was under a winter storm warning.
Conditions were improving Thursday in Arizona, as water levels quickly fell in a Sedona-area creek fattened from a trickle into a river of mud, forcing a dozen neighborhoods to evacuate. Damage assessments was expected to begin Thursday.
Large recreational vehicles had floated down Granite Creek in Page Springs, and authorities in Prescott resumed their search Thursday for two students missing after their canoe capsized. Part of the canoe was recovered Wednesday.
California had been taking the brunt of the Pacific barrage, and more rain and wind were forecast for the Northern California coast by Thursday night.
Inland, a winter storm warning was posted around Lake Tahoe on the Northern California-Nevada line. A combination of heavy snow and winds gusting to 100 mph over the higher elevations shut down Interstate 80 and U.S. 50 overnight, halting traffic for a time in the area.
Scattered showers were forecast Thursday in Southern California, where two days of downpours have brought up to 12 inches of rain.
A tornado struck the Los Angeles suburbs of Inglewood and Ladera Heights on Wednesday, snapping trees and damaging cars, but causing no injuries. Power outages hit more than 140,000 customers across five counties and portions of several highways were closed because of flooding, mud or snow.
The bad conditions turned Southern California freeways into a virtual demolition derby. The California Highway Patrol logged 220 crashes between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning — more than three times the normal amount.
High wind around San Diego snapped off the top 170 feet of a radio tower, and bits of it struck about 20 cars. Two radio stations and a cable television station were knocked off the air.
In southern Nevada, more than 1 1/2 inches of rain fell in 24 hours at the Las Vegas airport — a third of the city's normal yearly total of 4.43 inches. More than a foot of snow was recorded in the southern mountains. Authorities reported hundreds of crashes, and firefighters rescued stranded motorists, including a North Las Vegas police officer whose patrol car was swamped. There were no reports of serious injuries or damage.
As the storm moved east, three Colorado highways were closed. One was shut down by a flurry of traffic accidents, and two others by avalanches.
Elsewhere, freezing rain put an icy layer on roads in the northern Plains early Thursday, sending vehicles into ditches.
"We have a layer of ice and we have rain falling on top of that, and it's just treacherous," North Dakota Highway Patrol Sgt. Jim Prochniak said. "It's even very dangerous for people to try and walk."
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On the Net:
National Weather Service (news - web sites): http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov
Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com
AccuWeather: http://www.accuweather.com
The 'Pineapple Express' is kicking in.. :-}
It is gonna get messy in the West before it lets up. It already is.. ground and hills are saturated in many spots..
But .. without the rains, we would have been hurting in a few years, for sure.
I don't know what is with this report but the weather here in Northern CA is no worse than it gets everyear. Now and then we have a tornado in this part of CA also, they are never very big and usually don't cause any damage at all or to maybe one house, as is the case with the one in SCA. We are getting wind and rain but we get that every year, every storm that passes over Nev, Utah, Colo, etc. usually goes by here first. I have seen storms like this every year and this year the snow line is higher than normal, usually we get snow down to 1200 feet or lower and this year so far the snow level has been above 3000 ft. What the heck is with reporters that they have to scare the heck people every time they print the news?
Oh, and yes, it is Bushes fault, simply by putting his name on a piece of paper, Kyoto, all weather would have immediately become mild and sunny but cold of course, due to the drop in global warming!
I'll be remote viewing all the bowl games from home.., never went to one before. ;-)
There will be plenty of folks there, I'm sure.
That's a great area to visit,, lots of places to get 'charged up' before the game in that area.
Wild snowstorms in the mountains and tire chains. Goes together like peanut butter and strawberry jam. About the same consistency, too.
Be safe and stay warm.
I was thinking the same thing last month when this was the view outside my house in Lake Arrowhead after 2ft. plus of snow overnight...
I wasn't that far from the action down here...The Storm thread:
***Tornado Warning -- Avalon -- Catalina Island California
Blow by blow as the storm roared thru the LA Basin.....
What's wrong with Texas in the Rose Bowl?
They are part of the United States last time I checked....
I thought you lived down here on the beach.
....damn....that is beautiful...
I do. Arrowhead is my "almost every weekend" home. Hopefully permanent in a few years.
They must not have mobile homes in California. 8^>
That is a nice way to live.
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