(CNN) A slow-moving winter storm battered the West Coast, flooding highways in Los Angeles and prompting rare blizzard warnings in Southern California.
within it First blizzard warningThe National Weather Service in San Diego said the mountains of San Bernardino County could see 3 to 5 feet of snow by Saturday morning.
A blizzard warning was also issued for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until Saturday afternoon. Some isolated areas could get 7 to 8 feet of snow up to 5 feet. The National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office issued its last blizzard warning on February 4, 1989.
Heavy rain fell on Los Angeles Friday afternoon and flooding closed several roads in the area. The NWS issued a flash flood warning for the city — the second-highest flood warning from the NWS, topped only by a flood emergency.
The lower elevations of the greater Los Angeles area could see 5 inches of rain, while the mountains could see 6 inches. In the San Diego area, low elevations could receive 3 inches of rain, while the mountains could receive 7 inches.
More than 6 million people are under flood warnings, including downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Burbank and Santa Barbara.
“This storm system will be unusually cold, and the amount of snow will be very low. In fact, areas very close to the Pacific coast and in interior valleys that aren’t used to seeing snow, may see some snow accumulation.” The National Weather Service said Start Friday.
“The worst impacts of flooding and blizzard conditions occur Friday afternoon through Saturday morning, and non-essential or non-urgent travel should be postponed!” The San Diego Weather Service said.
Wind gusts up to 75 mph are possible
The storm has put more than 20 million people under a flood watch and more than 30 million people under a high wind warning across Southern California — nearly two months after Rounds of deadly floods. Maximum gusts could reach 75 mph in the warning areas.
As the storm slips south, up to 6 inches of snow is possible at low elevations and up to 3 feet on the region’s highest peaks before conditions begin to improve by Friday evening.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains could see up to 6 feet of snow Friday through Saturday and in Nevada, a Blizzard warning In effect Friday morning through early Saturday for northwestern Nye County.
“Heavy snow, 60 mph winds, blowing and blowing snow will cause zero visibility,” the weather service warned.
Snow has already hit Mount Santa Cruz, resident Ngugi Kihara told CNN on Friday.
“We’ve never seen so much snow here,” Kihara said. “We woke it up. It started yesterday but took a lot overnight. A lot of trees are down and all the roads around us are closed. The power is out and has been mostly out since Tuesday.”
Power was out in California late Friday, leaving nearly 99,000 customers in the dark, mostly in the northern region, according to power cut. us.
Power outages continue in Midwest
As the storm hit in the west, A Severe, multi-day winter storm After wreaking havoc in several states across the western, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and New England, it began to decline.
More than 640,000 utility customers in Michigan are without power in the state power cut. us And DTE, one of Michigan’s largest electric providers, said most of its customers could not get back online before Sunday.
Twenty percent of DTE’s customers were without power as of Friday afternoon, DTE CEO Jerry Norcia said at a press conference. That’s more than 480,000 customers, according to poweroutage.us.
By the end of the day Friday, the company expects to restore power to 200,000 customers. The utility hopes to have almost all customers back in service by Sunday, Norcia said.
Wayne County is currently hard hit with more than 227,000 customers offline due to this week’s winter storm. Another 112,000 people are without power in nearby Oakland County.
Friday night’s low in the Detroit area was 23 degrees, according to the NWS.
Fierce storm spurs rescue efforts
Several counties in Wyoming are conducting search and rescue operations after several days of more than 40 inches of snow fell in the southern parts of the state, leaving motorists stranded in heavy snow, the State Highway Patrol said. Twitter.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, saw more than 13 inches over three days this week. More than 160 vehicle crashes were reported statewide and dozens of cars left the roadway Wednesday, a Minnesota State Patrol spokeswoman said. Tweets.
Minneapolis officials have declared a one-day snow emergency since Friday, and city crews are plowing and treating streets.
Snowfall totals reached dozens of inches in some cities since the storm began Monday evening, including 48 inches in Battle Lake, Wyoming, 32 inches in Dupuis, Montana, and 29 inches in Park City, Utah.
But snow isn’t the storm’s only culprit. Heavy ice was also dangerous.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, measured 0.65 inches, while Francesville, Wisconsin, measured 0.75 inches of snow.
In New England, ice may have caused a 15-vehicle pile-up on the Massachusetts Turnpike Thursday night, according to a tweet. Massachusetts State Police.
Officials said the chain-reaction crash involved several private vehicles and tractor-trailers. Troopers, firefighters and EMS responded to the incident and several victims had to be taken to the hospital, the tweet said.
South America records hottest temperatures
As the northern parts of the country measure snowfall and snow accumulation, the southeastern parts are experiencing high temperatures.
More than 50 daily highs were recorded in Southeast Thursday.
- St. Simons Island in Georgia recorded a high of 88 degrees, an all-time high for February.
- Tupelo, Mississippi, reached a high temperature of 87 degrees, another February record. The previous high on Wednesday was 84 degrees.
- Raleigh, North Carolina saw a high of 85 degrees, an all-time high for February. The previous record was 84 degrees in 1977.
A squalling winter storm and southern heat wave produced 100-degree temperatures temperature difference Between the northern Rockies and the southern earlier this week.
CNN’s Jennifer Henderson and Sarah Smart contributed to this report
