More rain, snow in California; Biden plans visit

Gulf Today Report

The ninth atmospheric river in a three-week series of major winter storms was churning through California on Monday, leaving mountain driving dangerous and the flooding risk high near swollen rivers even as the sun came out in some areas.

The parade of atmospheric rivers that pounded California for three weeks finally faded on Monday, enabling the state to begin lengthy repairs to roads and levees as the White House announced President Joe Biden planned to survey the damage.

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The nine consecutive rainstorms that inundated California in succession since Dec. 26 killed at least 20 people while tens of thousands remained under evacuation orders as of Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom said in an executive order that reinforced the state's response to storm damage.

"The last of the heavier rain in California is slowly fading. After midnight it shouldn't be heavy anymore," said meteorologist David Roth of the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.

A man carries his wife from their flooded home on Bixler Road in Brentwood, California, on Monday. AP

Biden will travel to areas of the central coast on Thursday to meet first responders, visit affected towns, and "assess what additional federal support is needed," the White House said.

The president had already issued an emergency declaration on Jan. 8 to free up federal aid and then on Saturday authorized disaster assistance for Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties.

The White House has yet to reveal the areas Biden will visit.

The University of California Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab tweeted Monday morning that it had recorded 49.6 inches (126 cm) of new snow since Friday.

A backcountry avalanche warning was issued for the central Sierra, including the greater Tahoe area.

This photo shows an aerial view of Carmel River in Carmel Valley in Carmel Valley, California, US, Monday. Reuters

A barrage of atmospheric river storms has dumped rain and snow on California since late December, cutting power to thousands, swamping roads, toppling trees, unleashing debris flows and triggering landslides. Monday's system was relatively weak compared with earlier storms, but flooding and mudslide risks remained because the state was so saturated, forecasters said.

President Joe Biden will travel to California’s central coast Thursday to visit areas that have been impacted by the extreme weather. The White House said in a statement Monday that the president would visit with first responders and state and local officials, survey recovery efforts and assess what additional federal support is needed.

Mostly dry days were in the week’s forecast, though some parts of Northern California could see more rain at midweek.

The sun came out Monday in San Francisco, where 20.3 inches (51.5 cm) of rain has fallen at the city's airport since Oct. 1, when California typically begins recording rainfall for the year. The average for the "water year” is 19.6 inches (49.8 cm), "so we’ve surpassed the yearly total with 8 more months to go,” the San Francisco weather service office tweeted.