Deluge snarls traffic with heavy snow, washes away cars
Record rain turned rivers into rapids while snow trapped trucks in the California high country. In Los Angeles, officials feared the worst after a car was swept away and smashed into the bottom of a bridge.
By
Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Dec 15, 2021 12:13 PM EST
|
Updated Dec 15, 2021 12:13 PM EST
On Dec. 14, firefighters in Los Angeles, California, were on a rescue mission to survey cars that were swept away by raging waters.
Feet of snow, inches of rain and persistent threats of mudslides have made much of Southern California a weather warzone this week and turned travel into a treacherous pursuit.
In downtown Los Angeles, a daily record of 2.16 inches of rain was recorded on Tuesday, more than doubling the previous daily record originally set in 1888. The deluge marked the city's wettest day in nearly four years, dating back to Jan. 22, 2017.
Downpours were even more extensive in other portions of the state, as more than 4.5 inches were recorded in both Oakland and San Francisco.
Power outages from the storminess left thousands of Los Angeles residents in the dark on Tuesday, affecting as many as 6,000 customers, ABC7 reported.
The rain wreaked havoc on vehicles surrounding the Los Angeles River, as three cars were washed away by the rapidly rising water levels. Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department struggled to reach the vehicles due to the strong river currents on Tuesday morning.
The first incident occurred as a result of a rollover crash. According to KTLA, no vehicle was found at the scene of the accident when firefighters arrived, as witnesses say the car had been washed away into the river.
A couple of hours later, the white sedan was seen in the water pinned against a support column underneath a bridge. While it was unclear if the vehicle was occupied at that time, no rescue efforts were made due to the dangerous water conditions.
“There’s no way that an individual can survive that,” LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott said. “It would be what we call a recovery effort at this point.”
While first responders were analyzing the wreckage of the first vehicle, a second car floated down the river and became "stacked" atop the first car, LAFD said.
Soon after, a third vehicle also washed past the same bridge and was carried farther down the river.
A vehicle is seen in the Los Angeles River at the Washington Bridge near downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
In the Los Angeles County neighborhood of Sylmar, a man required rescuing after falling into the river and finding himself trapped in an underground channel. Officials from the LAFD said they were alerted by a phone call from the man, who knew he was underground but didn't know precisely where.
“We knew he was underground, but we weren’t sure exactly where. He just knew he was somewhere underground," LAFD Capt. Travis Warford told KTLA. "We went to the manhole cover, and we could actually hear him yelling."
Rescuers managed to save the man by removing the manhole cover and guiding the resident out.
But even despite all that, some of the state's most perilous roads were actually far away from the city. In the high country, avalanche warnings were in effect for areas of the eastern Sierra Nevada range, including near Lake Tahoe.
There, the popular Kirkwood Mountain Ski Resort was forced to close on Monday due to unsafe snow conditions, according to The Guardian, which reported 17 inches of snow with heavy winds.
“It’s just so bad and so thick,” California Highway Patrol Officer Carlos Perez told the news outlet. “We’re telling people that if they don’t need to be around this area, they probably shouldn’t travel.”
After a dismal start to the snowpack season, with just 19% of the normal snowpack as of Dec. 10, Mother Nature made up for lost time this week. But for as good as that news is for skiers, it has been terrible for drivers.
At Donner Pass, semi-truck drivers were forced to pull over and wait out the near-zero visibility conditions from snow squalls. Even when drivers could manage to maneuver their vehicles, other weather-induced headaches ensued.
For eight hours from Monday night to Tuesday morning, a downed live power line forced the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to shut down access to a 70-mile stretch of the highway between Colfax and the Nevada state line. While it was closed, feet upon feet upon feet of snow piled on the roadways.
According to SFGate, 6 feet of snow has fallen on Mount Rose, while Sugar Bowl and Palisades Tahoe have both reported more than 4 feet of snow from this storm.
Atop Donner Pass resides the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, which also recorded multiple feet of snow. Researchers there said 3 feet fell in a 24-hour span on Tuesday morning, bringing the total to more than 5 feet of snow since Saturday.
A flipped-over vehicle requires rescuing from a tow truck in Gold Run, California, amid the week of heavy snow. (Twitter/CHP Gold Run)
(Twitter/CHP Gold Run)
"On the summit today, it's pretty close to being that champagne powder," Andrew Schwartz, lead researcher at the snow lab, told SFGate. "I was on my snowshoes, and I have very big snowshoes to keep afloat, and they were sinking 2, 2.5 feet into the snow."
Elsewhere, places like the Lake Tahoe area, which battled impacts from wildfires over the summer, was transformed into a winter wonderland after snow blanketed the landscape.
That heavy snow has continually proven disastrous for drivers in mountainous regions. The California Highway Patrol of Gold Run, located in the mountains of Placer County, urged travelers to slow down with a photo of what happens when speed limits are ignored.
"Slow down when you are driving in the snow or this could happen to you! Thankfully the driver is okay. Remember the speed limit is 30 on snowy roads," CHP Gold Run said on Twitter.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Deluge snarls traffic with heavy snow, washes away cars
Record rain turned rivers into rapids while snow trapped trucks in the California high country. In Los Angeles, officials feared the worst after a car was swept away and smashed into the bottom of a bridge.
By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Dec 15, 2021 12:13 PM EST | Updated Dec 15, 2021 12:13 PM EST
On Dec. 14, firefighters in Los Angeles, California, were on a rescue mission to survey cars that were swept away by raging waters.
Feet of snow, inches of rain and persistent threats of mudslides have made much of Southern California a weather warzone this week and turned travel into a treacherous pursuit.
In downtown Los Angeles, a daily record of 2.16 inches of rain was recorded on Tuesday, more than doubling the previous daily record originally set in 1888. The deluge marked the city's wettest day in nearly four years, dating back to Jan. 22, 2017.
Downpours were even more extensive in other portions of the state, as more than 4.5 inches were recorded in both Oakland and San Francisco.
Power outages from the storminess left thousands of Los Angeles residents in the dark on Tuesday, affecting as many as 6,000 customers, ABC7 reported.
The rain wreaked havoc on vehicles surrounding the Los Angeles River, as three cars were washed away by the rapidly rising water levels. Members of the Los Angeles Fire Department struggled to reach the vehicles due to the strong river currents on Tuesday morning.
The first incident occurred as a result of a rollover crash. According to KTLA, no vehicle was found at the scene of the accident when firefighters arrived, as witnesses say the car had been washed away into the river.
A couple of hours later, the white sedan was seen in the water pinned against a support column underneath a bridge. While it was unclear if the vehicle was occupied at that time, no rescue efforts were made due to the dangerous water conditions.
“There’s no way that an individual can survive that,” LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott said. “It would be what we call a recovery effort at this point.”
While first responders were analyzing the wreckage of the first vehicle, a second car floated down the river and became "stacked" atop the first car, LAFD said.
Soon after, a third vehicle also washed past the same bridge and was carried farther down the river.
A vehicle is seen in the Los Angeles River at the Washington Bridge near downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
In the Los Angeles County neighborhood of Sylmar, a man required rescuing after falling into the river and finding himself trapped in an underground channel. Officials from the LAFD said they were alerted by a phone call from the man, who knew he was underground but didn't know precisely where.
“We knew he was underground, but we weren’t sure exactly where. He just knew he was somewhere underground," LAFD Capt. Travis Warford told KTLA. "We went to the manhole cover, and we could actually hear him yelling."
Rescuers managed to save the man by removing the manhole cover and guiding the resident out.
But even despite all that, some of the state's most perilous roads were actually far away from the city. In the high country, avalanche warnings were in effect for areas of the eastern Sierra Nevada range, including near Lake Tahoe.
There, the popular Kirkwood Mountain Ski Resort was forced to close on Monday due to unsafe snow conditions, according to The Guardian, which reported 17 inches of snow with heavy winds.
“It’s just so bad and so thick,” California Highway Patrol Officer Carlos Perez told the news outlet. “We’re telling people that if they don’t need to be around this area, they probably shouldn’t travel.”
After a dismal start to the snowpack season, with just 19% of the normal snowpack as of Dec. 10, Mother Nature made up for lost time this week. But for as good as that news is for skiers, it has been terrible for drivers.
At Donner Pass, semi-truck drivers were forced to pull over and wait out the near-zero visibility conditions from snow squalls. Even when drivers could manage to maneuver their vehicles, other weather-induced headaches ensued.
For eight hours from Monday night to Tuesday morning, a downed live power line forced the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to shut down access to a 70-mile stretch of the highway between Colfax and the Nevada state line. While it was closed, feet upon feet upon feet of snow piled on the roadways.
According to SFGate, 6 feet of snow has fallen on Mount Rose, while Sugar Bowl and Palisades Tahoe have both reported more than 4 feet of snow from this storm.
Atop Donner Pass resides the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, which also recorded multiple feet of snow. Researchers there said 3 feet fell in a 24-hour span on Tuesday morning, bringing the total to more than 5 feet of snow since Saturday.
A flipped-over vehicle requires rescuing from a tow truck in Gold Run, California, amid the week of heavy snow. (Twitter/CHP Gold Run)
"On the summit today, it's pretty close to being that champagne powder," Andrew Schwartz, lead researcher at the snow lab, told SFGate. "I was on my snowshoes, and I have very big snowshoes to keep afloat, and they were sinking 2, 2.5 feet into the snow."
Elsewhere, places like the Lake Tahoe area, which battled impacts from wildfires over the summer, was transformed into a winter wonderland after snow blanketed the landscape.
That heavy snow has continually proven disastrous for drivers in mountainous regions. The California Highway Patrol of Gold Run, located in the mountains of Placer County, urged travelers to slow down with a photo of what happens when speed limits are ignored.
"Slow down when you are driving in the snow or this could happen to you! Thankfully the driver is okay. Remember the speed limit is 30 on snowy roads," CHP Gold Run said on Twitter.
More to see:
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
Report a Typo