California Weather: Huge Storms Bring Floods, Power Outages

Heavy rains, hail and gusty winds rocked much of California on Sunday as a strong late winter storm passed through. Thousands of people lost power throughout the day during the blast, hundreds of others had to be evacuated.

In Southern California, the line of thunderstorms continued on into Monday morning.

Severe thunderstorm warnings remained in place Monday for many areas, including Long Beach, Glendale, and Pomona.

Officials said heavy rains on Saturday from an earlier storm saturated the soil, leaving many areas prone to flooding on Sunday.

In Northern California, flooding caused evacuations for residents living along Soquel Creek, in Felton Grove, and at Paradise Park along the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz County.

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• Flash Flood Watch Remains In Sonoma, Napa Counties

Flooding was expected in the cities of Napa and Yountville.

Areas of steep terrain, including the Santa Cruz Mountains and areas along the Big Sur coast, were particularly hard hit, and are now prone to rock slides and debris flows according to officials.

Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties received more than two inches of rain within 24 hours.

At Venado, near Guerneville, 2.60 inches of rainfall were recorded. Ben Lomond Mountain in Santa Cruz County saw 2.41 inches.

In the Southland, a fire station in Malibu Canyon got 2.71 inches of rain overnight, and the Malibu Civic Center got 1.30 inches.

Bel Air saw 1.65 inches, 1.22 inches fell at Century City, and 1.57 inches fell at Sherman Oaks.

Los Angeles firefighters activated swiftwater rescue crews to evacuate a cluster of homeless people from the flood plain upstream of the Sepulveda Basin dam, but police did not close roadways like Balboa Boulevard.

The snow line fell near the I-5 Grapevine area to 4700 feet.

Gusty southerly winds were occurring from Cayucos to Santa Maria. Gusts to between 35 and 50 mph were being reported, according to the National Weather Service.

Winds reaching more than 50 mph were recorded at Mt. Diablo. In the Sierra, snow was reportedly falling at 2-3" per hour.

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• Northern California Storm Drops Several Feet of Snow in Truckee and Tahoe

-image via Dave Colby; Scotts Valley Police Department