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A powerful storm Saturday ushered in the new year in California, with much of the state witnessing drenching rain or heavy snowfall that was snarling traffic and closing highways.
In the high Sierra Nevada, as much as 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow could accumulate Saturday into early Sunday. The National Weather Service in Sacramento warned about hazardous driving conditions and posted photos on Twitter showing traffic on snow-covered mountain passes, where vehicles were required to have chains or four-wheel drive.
The so-called atmospheric river storm was pulling in a long and wide plume of moisture from the Pacific Ocean, and flooding and rock slides triggered by the storm closed portions of roads across northern California.
Weather service meteorologist Courtney Carpenter said the storm could drop over an inch of rain Saturday in the Sacramento area before moving south. One ski resort south of Lake Tahoe closed chair lifts because of flooding and operational problems, and posted a photo on Twitter showing one lift tower and its empty chairs surrounded by water.
“We’re seeing a lot of flooding,” Carpenter said.
The Stockton Police Department posted photos of a flooded railroad underpass and a car that appeared stalled in more than a foot (30 centimeters) of water.
