Winter smashes parts of California as snow dumped on towns, restrictions issued - NY Post

Winter smashes parts of California as snow dumped on towns, restrictions issued – NY Post

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Winter Storm System Slams California Over Holiday Weekend With Snow and Highway Closures

Winter weather swept across California over the Halloween weekend, delivering accumulating mountain snow, highway closures, and drenching rain along coastal areas, the NY Post reported. Chain controls remained in place along Highway 88 as of Sunday afternoon, stretching from east of Ham’s Station to five miles west of Picketts Junction due to accumulating snow and icy corridors, according to KCRA reporting cited by the outlet.

The storm system first began dropping snow across higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada on Saturday morning. The National Weather Service in Sacramento instituted a Winter Weather Advisory starting at 8 a.m. Saturday through 7 a.m. Sunday for elevations above 7,000 feet.

Pass Closures and Travel Restrictions

Several high-altitude Sierra passes faced storm closures by Sunday afternoon. Both Monitor Pass on State Route 89 and Sonora Pass on State Route 108 were fully closed due to snow accumulation, as tracked by the Caltrans QuickMap. Meteorologists initially estimated that snow heights would remain between 7,000 and 8,000 feet before descending to 6,000 to 7,000 feet as night fell.

While a high-country advisory officially expired at 8 a.m. Sunday and precipitation began tapering off, travel remained hazardous. Slush, ice, and reduced visibility made mountain passes treacherous, prompting officials to caution motorists to carry winter gear and check road conditions before attempting to cross high elevations.

“Chance for additional showers and mountain snow through the morning, with conditions slowly drying out this afternoon. Additional snowfall will be minor through the morning (south of Highway 50), with the potential for a few flurries down to 5500 feet,” NWS Sacramento stated in its Sunday morning update.

Atmospheric River Brings Rain to Southern California

Further south, an atmospheric river system referred to as a Pineapple Express funneled subtropical moisture across Southern California and the Desert Southwest over the holiday weekend. The system drove coastal rain and high surf into coastal counties. According to NWS San Diego, most urban centers across Los Angeles and San Diego saw lighter rainfall totals, whereas exposed mountain slopes facing south and west accumulated up to three inches of precipitation.

Winter smashes parts of California as snow dumped on towns, restrictions issued - NY Post

The conditions prompted a Flood Advisory from NWS San Diego for coastal Orange County, stretching from Huntington Beach south to San Clemente, which remained in effect until 11 p.m. Saturday due to minor urban flooding concerns.

Across coastal and inland basins, cumulative storm totals spanning multiple days generally measured between 0.25 and 0.75 inches, boosted by these brief episodes of intense rainfall. At higher elevations, the moisture plume intersected with sub-freezing air, dropping snowfall across the upper peaks of the Sierra and the Rockies.

“What’s fueling this soaking is a southward plunge of the jet stream near the West Coast,” Weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman explained.

“It was a damp end to October,” NWS Sacramento noted Sunday morning, adding that more light rain could arrive across interior Northern California on Tuesday and Wednesday. Approaching ahead of Tuesday, a separate Pacific system is moving toward Northern and Central California, which will bring back overcast skies, drop snow levels, and introduce another wave of valley showers and scattered mountain snow.

More on this story: Heavy rains expected to bring flooding risk to already saturated parts of the US Southwest

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