Blizzard warnings extend into Southern California as snowflakes brush Hollywood sign

The Hollywood sign is seen through clouds during rare cold winter weather, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 24, 2023. (REUTERS)

A slow-moving winter storm intensified over California on Friday, triggering the first blizzard warning in parts of the Los Angeles area since 1989 and creating the extraordinary sight of snowflakes swirling around the iconic Hollywood sign.

Snow and freezing rain pushed into the Pacific Coast state from the north, where it dumped about 10 inches (25 cm) of powder on Portland, Oregon, earlier in the week.

The storm was expected to strengthen on Friday and linger over California through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

A massive low-pressure system driven from the Arctic was responsible for the unusual conditions, said Bryan Jackson, a forecaster at the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

In Southern California, “this is a rare case of a cold, significant storm event,” Jackson said.

In a sight that must have delighted many Angelenos, snowflakes even fell around the iconic Hollywood sign atop Mount Lee in the hills above the city, known for its sunny days and palm trees.

At an elevation of 1,500 feet (457 meters), the sign – with its giant, white-block lettering visible for miles around the city – was close to the threshold for the formation of snow during the storm, Jackson said.

“There’s flakes flying in the air. You don’t see that too often,” he said, adding that no accumulation was expected there.

A separate storm that clobbered the Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes regions earlier this week blew out to sea on Friday after passing over New England, the weather service said. But more than 750,000 homes and businesses, mostly in Michigan, remained without electricity.

Powerful winter storms, interspersed with extreme heat and dry spells, are symptoms of climate change, experts say, and growing more frequent and intense. The East Coast has enjoyed a mild winter, but heavy snowfalls and extremely low temperatures have hit the Northern Plains.

Even before the latest storm in California, much of the state has experienced an unusually rainy, chilly winter.

In Los Angeles County on Friday, a blizzard warning was issued for the San Gabriel Mountains north of the city, where 2 to 5 feet (60 to 152 cm) of snow could fall above an elevation of 4,500 feet (1,370 meters), the weather service said. Seven feet 7 feet (2.1 meters) of snow could accumulate in some spots with winds gusting up to 60 miles (96 km) per hour.

Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino County already has 28 inches (71 cm) of snow on the ground, Jackson said – and more was coming.

Heavy rain will inundate many parts of California through Saturday, the weather service said. Two to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 cm) are forecast for Los Angeles and San Bernardino, raising the risk of flash flooding. Temperatures could drop into the low 40s Fahrenheit.

More than 120,000 California homes and businesses, mostly in the northern part of the state, were without power on Friday, according to Poweroutage.us.

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