More winter storms and rain expected in California

The latest in a series of major winter storms that have battered California for the past three weeks was intense Monday, increasing the danger of driving in mountainous areas and creating a high risk of flooding near swollen rivers, despite the sun rising in some areas.

Heavy snow fell in the Sierra Nevada, as the National Weather Service recommended avoiding travel.

Interstate 80, a key highway from the San Francisco Bay Area to Lake Tahoe ski resorts, reopened with tire chain requirements after periodic closures over the weekend due to blizzard conditions .

“If you must travel, be prepared for hazardous travel conditions, significant travel delays, and road closures,” the weather service in Sacramento tweeted.

The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley tweeted Monday morning that it had recorded 50 inches of new snow since Friday.

A backcountry avalanche warning has also been issued for the central Sierra, including the greater Tahoe area.

A series of nine atmospheric river storms have dumped rain and snow on California since late December, knocking out power to thousands of residents, flooding roads, toppling trees, triggering debris flows and mudslides.

Monday’s system was relatively weak compared to previous ones, but risks of flooding and landslides remained because the state is soggy, forecasters said.

The sun came out in San Francisco, where 20 inches of rain has fallen on the city’s airport since Oct. 1, when California usually starts recording rainfall for the year.

The yearly average for the “year of water” is 19.8 inches, “so we are well over the yearly total with 8 more months to go,” the San Francisco weather service office tweeted.

Up to two more inches of rain fell Sunday in the Sacramento Valley, where residents of Wilton and surrounding communities were warned to prepare to evacuate if the Cosumnes River rose any higher.

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