“This is the first snow day we have had in the 31 years…”
The winter storm rolling in California, USA, will start to intensify. A massive storm has already caused major blizzards and freezing temperature in many US states.
California Highway Patrol has closed the state’s longest interstate due to unsafe roads. As a result, heavier traffic was forced into Highway 101. Up to 8-feet snowfall is predicted in mountains to the north and east of Los Angeles. And the mountains are predicted to experience powerful winds of 60-75mph.
The freezing weather front stretches along the entire US West Coast, as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia. Snowfall of up to 5ft is also possible on the mountain peaks around the city of Santa Barbara.
“Multiple rounds” of snow are forecast to blanket the southern Sierra Nevada mountains in central and western parts of the state.
According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, there will be “dangerous avalanche conditions” across the Sierra Nevada. The unusual weather forecasts forced schools in the state’s far northwest to be closed.
“This is the first snow day we have had in the 31 years I have been with the district,” Jeff Napier, an official with the Del Norte County Schools District, told the Los Angeles Times.
The snow elevation may drop as low as 1,500ft – about as high as the famed sign in the Hollywood hills. In other US states, the cold snap has forced schools, businesses and some state legislatures to close.
Portland, Oregon, had nearly 11in (28cm) of snowfall by overnight into Thursday morning, the NWS reported, its second snowiest day ever recorded.
