Santa Monica emerged from the recent winter storm a touch bedraggled but otherwise unscathed.
The Santa Monica Police Department reported no significant storm-related incidents over the weekend and while countless small tree limbs could be seen on the ground over the weekend, few large branches or whole trees caused significant damage.
The City of Santa Monica responded to about 25 uprooted trees and 30 downed limbs. They also pumped water from the Gandara Park parking lot, repaired potholes and a downed light pole. A lightning storm caused beach evacuations and closures for several hours on Saturday but there were no reports of injury.
The area got a brief break from severe weather on Sunday but the previous rain swelled Los Angeles-area rivers to dangerous levels, flooded roads and dumped snow at elevations as low as about 1,000 feet. 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, received its first significant snowfall since 1989.
The weather service said Mountain High, one of the closest ski resorts to Los Angeles, received an eye-popping 7.75 feet of snow during the last storm, with more possible this week.
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. An avalanche warning was issued for the backcountry around Lake Tahoe, where up to 6 feet of snow was expected over the next two days in the upper elevations and gale-force winds could create waves up to 5 feet high on the lake, the National Weather Service in Reno said.
"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.
Blizzard warnings went into effect Monday in the Sierra Nevada range as more rounds of rain and snow moved into California and Nevada.
State offices across northern Nevada and the Nevada Legislature in Carson City both shut down on Monday due to the winter storms.
The new series of storms arrived even as parts of California were still digging out from last week’s powerful storm, which added to a massive snowpack left by a siege of "atmospheric rivers" in December and January.
In the Sierra, Yosemite National Park announced it would be closed until midweek, and numerous roads were closed in Sequoia National Park. Trans-Sierra highways were subject to closures and chain requirements.
Days of downpours dumped almost 11 inches of rain in the Woodland Hills area of the San Fernando Valley, while nearly 7 inches were reported in Beverly Hills.
In Valencia, north of LA, county officials said the heavy rain 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.
East of Los Angeles, all roads to San Bernardino Mountain resort communities around Big Bear Lake remained closed because of last week’s huge snowfall. One route to the Mojave Desert was open only to downhill traffic. In the San Gabriel Mountains, roads remained closed to the Mountain High resort, where the storm dumped 7 3/4 feet (2 1/2 meters) of snow.
The northbound side of Interstate 5, the West Coast’s major north-south highway, was shut down by wintry conditions and disabled vehicles about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Oregon line. Interstate 80, the major route between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe and Reno was closed due to whiteout conditions.
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 east of LA of snow and ice.
