California Storm Updates

Vanity

[BunnySlippers]

Hollywood Hills: Heavy cloud cover ... dry now but raining intermittantly. Over and out. :)

[SweetCaroline]

Very windy here

....here to is San Benito County!

Just took a lounge chair out of my pool.

[Bobibutu]

Windy in Oakland/Piedmont.

The ground is beyond saturated.

[RightField]

Any predictions on the Rose Bowl Parade? I'm from San Diego - currently living in Florida for a while - but have friends from Boston vacationing in SoCal with grandstand tickets for the parade. They worked last night helping with one of the floats and are hoping the parade won't be in the rain.

[Dimples]

Los Gatos checking in (SF South Bay Area) ...

VERY gusty; light rain. We're surrounded by oak and bay trees here on the hill; watched a medium oak outside our bedroom succumb to a rather heafty gust of wind and topple over ... more firewood (as if I don't already have enough!)

Happy New Year to all!

[NormsRevenge]

Calif. Residents Brace for Second Storm

By DAN GOODIN, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jan 1,11:46 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060101/ap_on_re_us/western_storms



GUERNEVILLE, Calif. - Northern California residents braced for a second storm to hit the region Sunday, a day after the first sent rivers rising into cities and mud sliding into homes and across highways.

One man died Saturday when a storm-weakened eucalyptus tree fell on him, a woman suffered a broken leg when a mudslide destroyed her Santa Rosa home, and more than half a dozen people were rescued from rushing water.

The Russian River crested early Sunday near the Sonoma County town of Guerneville at 42 feet — 10 feet above flood stage — flooding low-lying areas of the city and an unknown number of homes but sparing the downtown area, said Linda Eubanks of Sonoma County's Office of Emergency Services.

The extent of the damage was unclear because crews could not get into the affected area, she said.

Officials had urged residents of lower areas to evacuate and about 50 people were camped out in three local shelters, Eubanks said.

Many people chose to remain and ring in the New Year.

Maureen Weinstein hosted 10 friends and family members outside her Guerneville home, where they shot off fireworks, drank wine and listened to Motown.

"We live through (floods) a lot," Weinstein said, as the muddy river water hovered 10 feet away. "We're not that concerned this time because this year we have power and the Internet. I can monitor the water. It's wonderful."

The storm dumped an average of 4 to 5 inches in Northern California, with parts of Marin County recording more than 7 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Sunday's storm was expected to drop another 2 inches in Northern California, up to 4 inches in Southern California's coastal valley and 8 inches in the mountains, forecasters said. Rain was expected to resume Sunday afternoon.

"It's looking pretty powerful," said NWS weather specialist Bonnie Bartling.

It also threatened to rain on Monday's Rose Parade in Pasedena for the first time since 1955.

On Saturday, at least six helicopter rescues were performed Saturday in Sonoma County. Firefighters rescued two people from a mobile home park, where 4 feet of rushing water washed at least one house off its foundation, fire officials said.

In the city of Napa, near the heart of wine country, the Napa River rose 5 feet above flood stage, sending a surge of water to several blocks of downtown.

"We had so much water in such a short amount of time that manhole covers were popping all over the city," city councilman James Krider said.

Upstream in St. Helena, the Napa River reached a record 7 feet above flood stage before beginning to recede late Saturday. About 1,000 homes flooded, officials estimated.

In San Anselmo, the creek poured into as many as 70 downtown businesses, and two people rescued from the rising water were hospitalized with hypothermia, town administrator Debbie Stutsman said.

"The entire downtown area was under 4 1/2 feet of water," Stutsman said.

More than 600,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers from Bakersfield to the Oregon border experienced power outages, spokeswoman Claudia Mendoza said. About 110,000 customers remained without service early Sunday.

Mudslides closed several major roads, including Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada about 25 miles west of Reno. Six tractor-trailer rigs were caught in one slide on I-80 early Saturday, but no injuries were reported.

The interstate, the major corridor linking Northern California and points east, was expected to remain closed for at least two days, state officials said.

___

Associated Press writers Paul Elias in Napa; Martin Griffith in Reno, Nev.; Julia Silverman in Portland, Ore.; and Don Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.

[NormsRevenge]

Two men walk past a tree that fell on top of a car in San Francisco, California, January 1, 2006. A wet winter storm pounded Northern California swelling rivers, setting off mudslides and prompting calls to evacuate. (Kimberly White/Reuters)

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Daniel Dallara, left, and two unidentified California Highway Patrol officers look over the damage caused by the storm on Highway 12, which caused a closure near the junction with Highway 121, in Sonoma County, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006. Northern California residents braced for a second storm to hit the region Sunday, a day after the first sent rivers rising into cities and mud sliding into homes and across highways. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

[FOG724]

A little more drematic than my friends storm drain street flooding.

[NormsRevenge]

A surfer leaps from his board off a wave in Newport Beach Calif., Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. A large pacific storm near Hawaii is expected to produce large waves at beaches in southern California. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Surfers ride waves along the California coastline as ocean swells from a storm in the Pacific brought large waves to Swami's beach in Encinitas, California December 22, 2005. Forecasts are for some minor costal flooding and continued large waves for one more day. REUTERS/Mike Blake

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Spectators line the bluff at La Jolla Cove to get a good look at the large surf in San Diego, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005. A large Pacific storm near Hawaii is expected produce waves up to 18 feet at beaches in Southern California. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

[sissyjane]

The temp. has dropped about 10 degress here in the last hour, so maybe we'll get snow tonight. My neighbor is out with his tractor scraping the pine needles off the road.

[null and void]

Wide spread patchy failures in San Jose.

KLIV and KRTY off the air due to power failure. Their emergency generator is down...

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Back in 19 and 86 (I believe that's 105) we had the same. Praise the weirs and hundreds of square miles of low lying uninhabited flat land, if you got 'em.

The Sacramento valley does have them.

I'll defer to the experts but I believe that other than a civilization-ending flood the Sacramento valley is mostly safe. Of course the crops may suffer -- and those three-legged poka-dot slimy creatures, too. Gee, I hope the envio-wackos fail again this time to get the government to let us go to safe the creatures.

[tongue-tied]

Currently steady light rain now, no wind yet.

Over...updates to follow. :)

[dalereed]

"and those three-legged poka-dot slimy creatures, too"

With luck they will all get washed into SF bay, the fish will eat them and they will no longer be endangered, they will be extinct!

[Hildy]

I believe the Rose Bowl Parade hasn't been rained out in decades. I'm crossing my fingers!

[rasblue]

Where is the snowline now in the Sierra's? I heard it was up at 7,000ft but with the cold it could go down to 2,000ft?

[mugs99]

The swaying pine trees are a bit unnerving for us "newbies" to the mountains. LOL!!

The swaying trees are ok. Keep your eye on those that don't sway. They're the beetle kills. I had the top thirty feet blow off of one on my property and it came through the kitchen ceiling like a spear. That was a real wake up call!
.

[sissyjane]

I really can't find where it's snowing . All of the maps I've looked at look like all of the precipitation is rain, even in Tahoe. I'm at 3800 feet, and the temp has fallen from about 50 this morning to about 37 right now.

[Diver Dave]

Wind gusts to 31 MPH, temp = 55 Real Feel = 47.
Just started raining in Modesto.

[MetalHeadConservative35]

we get alot worse in michigan....thats nothing