California gets break from strong winter storms

California got a brief break from severe weather after a powerful storm a day earlier swelled Los Angeles-area rivers to dangerous levels, flooded roads and dumped snow at elevations as low as about 1,000 feet (300 meters). The sun came out briefly Sunday in greater LA, where residents emerged to marvel at mountains to the north and east blanketed in white.

Suburban Santa Clarita, in hills north of Los Angeles, received its first significant snowfall since 1989.

These are our Snow Blowers on SR-330 at Upper Passing Lane and SR-18 by Big Bear Dam. We are using machines like this to help clear roadways. Crews have been working through the night, so please be patient while we get those roadways reopened. #Caltrans8 pic.twitter.com/1X9rkViBjN

— Caltrans District 8 (@Caltrans8) February 25, 2023

“We went outside and we let our sons play in the snow,” resident Cesar Torres told the Santa Clarita Signal. “We figured, while the snow’s there, might as well make a snowman out of it.”

The weather service said Mountain High, one of the closest ski resorts to Los Angeles, received an eye-popping 7.75 feet (2.3 meters) of snow during the last storm, with more possible this week.

Enjoying this historic Southern California snow storm! @NWSLosAngeles @NWSSanDiego #bigbearlake #CAwx #snow pic.twitter.com/QJi5ivsrIv

— Jonathan Petramala (@jpetramala) February 25, 2023

Rain and snow were falling again Sunday in Northern California as the first of two new storms began moving in. Blizzard warnings go into effect at 4 a.m. Monday and will last until Wednesday for much of the Sierra Nevada.

“Extremely dangerous and near to impossible mountain travel is expected due to heavy snow and strong wind,” the weather service’s Sacramento office warned on Twitter.

#ABC7LA has been all over the winter storm that has been hitting #California #Snow #SnowStorm #Flooding #SoCal #SoCalStorm pic.twitter.com/NSeFnPEYX9

— Sn00pster (@sn00pdad) February 25, 2023

After fierce winds toppled trees and downed wires, about 65,000 utility customers remained without electricity statewide as of Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. The majority of the outages were in Los Angeles.

Days of downpours dumped almost 11 inches (28 cm) of rain in the Woodland Hills area of LA’s San Fernando Valley, while nearly 7 inches (18 cm) were reported in Beverly Hills.

In Valencia, north of LA, county officials said the heavy rains eroded an embankment at an RV park and swept multiple motorhomes into the Santa Clara River, with emergency video showing one of the vehicles toppled on its side. No one was reported injured.

Rare blizzard warnings for Southern California mountains and widespread flood watches ended late Saturday. But Interstate 5, the West Coast’s major north-south highway, was closed off and on due to heavy snow and ice in the Tejon Pass through the mountains north of Los Angeles. Emergency crews, meanwhile, worked to clear mountain roads east of LA of snow and ice.