3com Weather Report: Two More Storms Head Toward California
Wednesday February 11 9:16 PM EST
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two more storms steamed toward northern
California Wednesday, but forecasters said the rain-weary state
could get a break next week due to a projected shift in the
weather pattern.
The death toll attributed to the storms rose as a cross-country
skier was killed by an avalanche in the snow-heavy Sierra Nevada
mountains and a man reported missing Friday after his vehicle was
stuck in flood waters in the San Joaquin Valley was found dead.
Some eight deaths across the state have been blamed on the El
Nino-driven storms, which have dumped close to record amounts of
rain and snow and caused floods, mudslides, evacuations and power
outages since they began Feb. 2.
State officials estimated storm losses so far at close to $300
million.
The next system was expected to hit northern California Thursday
with up to two inches of rain and moderate winds. A second,
potentially more powerful front was due Saturday, Diana Henderson
of the National Weather Service said.
"Saturday's storm definitely will be stronger; it will definitely
be wetter," Henderson said, predicting between 2 and 5 inches of
rain across the San Francisco Bay area and winds of more than
40 miles per hour.
Meteorologists said next week might bring some relief amid signs the
jet stream, which has brought this month's rain, may be splitting,
pushing storms north toward Alaska and south toward Mexico.
"It is a bit early to say. One of the models is starting to indicate
drier weather next week," Henderson said. "The split could divide
the storm energy."
Those hopes remained on hold, however, as Californians prepared to
get through the next two storms.
Gov. Pete Wilson Wednesday announced a state of emergency in four
more counties, putting a total of 31 of California's 58 counties
under disaster declarations.
Wilson also asked President Clinton to add the new counties to the
already-declared federal disaster area, making federal funds
available to individuals and local governments for emergency housing,
grants, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other
measures.
National Guard troops helped evacuate some 26 more homes in the small
Russian River resort town of Rio Nido north of San Francisco
Wednesday. Geologists said a water-logged hillside looming over
dozens of houses looked ready to collapse.
Landslides in the area have already destroyed several houses, and
officials say as much as 250,000 cubic yards of mud could come
crashing down if the hill gives way.
A week of heavy snowfall in California's Sierra Nevada mountains
claimed its first victim Wednesday when a cross-country skier was
swept to his death by an avalanche near Donner Peak.
"He apparently started his own avalanche and ended up getting
engulfed in the snow as he fell off the ridge," Lt. Rick Armstrong
of the Placer County Sheriff's Department said.
The Sierra experiences frequent avalanches and has been blanketed
with as much as ten feet of new snow over the past eight days.
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