ORLANDO, Fla. – After a very short break in the West, another powerful system is expected to bring additional flooding rain and crushing snow to California. An additional 1-3″ of rain is expected in the lower elevations of California through Tuesday.
Isolated 3-6″ of rain will be possible. Additional flash flooding and mudslides will also be possible with the return of heavy rain.
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In the Sierra Nevada mountains, 3-6 feet of new snow is expected on top of the feet of snow that’s already fallen over the past two weeks.
While a severe drought still remains in California, significant improvements have occurred over the last several weeks. The extreme drought category has all but eroded, now covering less than 1% of the state. Just three months ago, more than 40% of California was covered in extreme drought conditions. Further improvements to the aquifers should come with the extreme snowmelt from the feet of snow that has already fallen during the extremely active weather pattern in the west.
The pattern is expected to ease up for California by the upcoming weekend with the stormy weather focusing on the Pacific Northwest.
The system that previously battered California and brought tornadoes to parts of the South and Ohio River Valley is now blasting the South with cold. Temperatures are expected to dip below freezing from Georgia and down the Florida Peninsula.