California Winter Storm: Hard Freeze Warning in effect as storm slams state

Hello meteorologist Rob Cromark and I worked for ABC 10 based here in northern California So if you're watching this on YouTube from places all over the world Just that's where I'm coming from and a lot of the perspective in this weather forecast for California comes mostly From our local viewing area with that said this is a California moment and this is really a big deal I mean take a look at this all these snow covered mountains and hills This must be in the Sierra right or the Cascades or somewhere the Rockies. No folks. This was taken from an airplane Overlooking Santa Barbara. Yes Santa Barbara along the Pacific Ocean. There's Sterns Wharf I used to live in Santa Barbara the mountains are jaw jaw jaw droppingly beautiful about three four thousand feet up right from sea level So they are fairly high But folks this is not seen barely ever to this degree And then when you take a look at places that aren't even accounted for with snowpack, you know Like along the Pacific Coast when you get to the Sierra That's really the moneymaker for water storage once we get into spring in the long hot summer We're basically double compared to average for most of it and we are now compared to an April snowpack That's really the big number worth looking at we're at that snowpack level and another season essentially almost half a season So we're doing way above average numbers everywhere you look But there's a downside to some of this a lot of communities, especially with this recent cycle because it's been so cold a Snow levels with heavy snow at a much lower elevation So it's been shutting down all the roads as you would expect for number one the amount of snow And then also combined with really strong Consistent winds when it's snowing hard and it's very windy the plows have a very difficult time keeping up And even if they could the visibility is almost zero So a lot of folks have been typing in their destination figuring that there might be a way around road closures or Some of these issues and that's just not the case the whole Impact is in the mountains. So even the small roads They're heavily covered with snow and they're closed as well and a lot of people have been getting stuck So local law enforcement is trying to get ahead of this saying don't use your GPS as a reliable way to get around the storm There is no getting around the snow in the mountains. So where are we going with this? Well? We've got our stormy weather today in Northern, California a bit of a break It's coming back for the weekend and then beyond so if you want a longer range forecast the experts that do this kind of thing The climate prediction center they're thinking we're gonna be cold and we're gonna be wet for a while With that said this is early in the morning on Tuesday another round of wet weather down low and then more sustained Snowy weather underneath this is day two of a rare blizzard warning with heavy snow It clearly you can see that along with strong consistent winds in the 30 to 40 mile per hour range with some stronger gusts as well So again visibility almost near zero the coastal range by the way is no slouch as far as snow They're continuing to add more snow for them with that said this system is cold It's gonna rotate through and then once it's out of here It's gonna leave behind a lot of cold air So that's the next phase in the weather one more reminder in heavy snow without a whole lot of wind it falls straight down Sure, there's lots of impacts driving with it is slippery and slick and there's just issues But in a blizzard visibility is low if not zero So if you get stuck you stay stuck and you can't really get out and try and find help because it's very dangerous Outside of your vehicle in the big mountain backyard, which is our local forecast area here We've got temperatures in the 40s with rain and with wind So it's pretty consistent much like yesterday and the way that this comes together is a little bit different We're gonna have the round that moves through early in the morning heavy rain Ponding on the roads a lot of traffic issues then behind that We're gonna get some partial clearing and then another round of wet weather But this one's more spotty scattered showers and thunderstorms with lightning with wind and with hail as well Might even be some rotation with funnel clouds up high usually we call those cold core funnels That's all possible today with the consistent snow through the rest of today And then we're gonna see some rapid clearing overnight So dry weather moving in is mostly a good thing.

However, the problem with this is that we're gonna get really cold And that means we're gonna have some agriculture impacts with that said the biggest thing happening right now in Northern California Is the world-famous almond blossom? We're gonna be looking at all of these trees that are in the flower stage before they get pollinated and then turn into actual almonds Well, they're very delicate right now and cold weather can damage those blossoms And then you start to lose the yield the amount of almonds you're gonna get down the road So we're watching that very closely. This is bad timing for this But you know what it is end of February and early in March and this can't happen this time of year That's just the way it goes and then once we get beyond this the temperatures are gonna come up in the morning But we're looking at sustained wet weather going into the weekend and then going into next week This is a grand total. What are we looking at here? We're looking at several more inches of rain several more feet of snow going out ten days and To be honest with you the drought in California is pretty much on the ropes at this point Sure, there's various levels of lower level drought happening right now We get new numbers on Thursday, but I'm expecting that to look a lot better And then if you add in next week, it's gonna look even better to wrap this all up in Northern California highs in the 40s Another day of blizzard warning. We've got rain in the valley clearing for a few days But very cold early in the morning rain comes back this weekend and most of next week.

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