Still Fascinated By Extreme California, Snow And Rain And Storms With Video

Bear Mountain Ski Patrol in California took this
recent photo of a ski lift hopelessly
buried in this winter's epic snow. 

 We all know California has been pummeled by extreme snow and rain this year.

It has gone on and on. A couple more atmospheric rivers, one about 10 days ago, the other a week ago, unleashed more often catastrophic flooding.

The atmospheric rivers dumped and are dumping heavy rains on areas covered by deep snow from a previous series of blizzards. 

This has made the images coming out of California even more wild than they've been. Lowlands are under water as the snow melt and the rain have combined to overflow rivers and bash down levees. 

The rain in the heavy snow zones is adding weight to roofs, collapsing them. Water has nowhere to go between walls of snow lining streets and roads. So the water just gets deeper and deeper on these roads. 

The bad weather has spawned supercell thunderstorms on two consecutive days near Fresno that rival some of the most intense springtime tornadic storms you'd see in Oklahoma in May.  One tornado touched down not far from Yosemite National Park. 

Yosemite has just barely partly reopened, but there's no word on when the famed national park will entirely reopen.  

More storminess is scheduled to affect mostly central and southern California during the first half of this week. Another round of flooding, damaging winds and heavy mountain snows will hit again. Then it looks like they might get a short break.  But more storms and mountain snows seem likely later this month in California. 

Some of the scenes in this video from the infamous Donner Pass are just astounding.  Click on this link or watch below:

Tahoe Mountain Life shows us what it's like near Lake Tahoe when there's deep snow a windy atmospheric river brings a bunch of rain to the mix. Not necessarily pretty. And soon enough it changed back to snow. Click on this link or see image:

Tahoe Mountain Life really is a great YouTube channel, worth subscripting to, especially with the extreme weather up there this year. Another installation from this channel features a bear struggling in the deep snow, and rain fall on deep snow. Then more snow. Click on this link or view below if you see image: 

Here's what happened in South Lake Tahoe last week when a warm atmospheric river hit a town buried in deep, deep snow. Click on the link or view if you see the image below: 

Driving down a street during a break in the weather in Mammoth Lakes. Narrator says about 8:25 into the video that the street he's driving down is normally two lanes, with a sidewalk and bike lane;

Click on this link to view, or click on image below to view:

Also in Mammoth Lakes, a contractor walks us through a snowy day dealing with structural issues and roof collapses due to the, um, mammoth amount of snow: Click on this link to view or if you see the image below, check that out: 

There was even a tornado not far from Yosemite National Park: Again, click on this link or view on image below if you see it:

Southern California A Winter Wonderland, A Flooded Mess And A Partial Drought Buster. With Videos

In a still from a video posted online
snow falls on a row of palm trees
in San Bernardino, California
during the day Saturday

 California has certainly had its share of chaotic weather lately, with show at elevations lower than seen in decades, and extensive flooding in and around Los Angeles. 

In the highest elevations, feet of snow came down in just a day or two.  The all-time 24 hour record for snowfall in California is 67 inches, and (I believe) the national record is 76 inches. It's possible that record was bested on some mountain somewhere in California, but not all the reports are in. 

The good news is the rain, and more importantly, the epic amounts of mountain snow, is great news for California. The snow pack - and the water stored in the snow - is well above normal for this point in the season. In some places, it's double the normal, and more than what accumulates in an entire season.

Storms that bring snow to the Sierra usually sputter out and mostly disappears by May. On average, three quarters of the snow that usually falls in these mountains does so by the end of March.  

 While it won't entirely erase the two-decade long mega-drought in parts of the state, it is giving some needed drought relief. At least in the short term, like, this year. 

No guarantees as to whether the drought will come roaring back after the one good rain and snow year that's happening now. 

Over the next week, several more feet of snow are forecast for the Sierra Nevada mountains, and several inches of rain in many low elevations of coastal California. So it ain't over yet! 

Some videos of the fun in California in recent days: 

Here's one good summary from Fox 11 in Los Angeles. Click on this link or view just below:

In Valencia, California, the Santa Clara river swept away three RVs and threatens the rest of the RV park:  Again, click on this link or if  you see image below, click on that:

Kind of a classic L.A. storm video. You see a Porche stuck in floodwaters with a well-dressed man standing atop the flooded car, his outfit ruined in the rain along with his Porche. He was later rescued and not injured. Click on this link or view below: 

As you might imagine, people in higher elevations of California faced even bigger challenges. Here's a report from a snowed-in TV journalist. Again, click on this link or watch below:

Gordon Burnham shared this lovely beautiful video of snow falling on his tropical paradise property in southern California, Again, click on this link or view below: