Powerful Storm Bears Down on Northern California
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ABC News(SAN FRANCISCO) — Rain started to fall overnight in Northern California, with hurricane-force winds expected to follow as a major storm is poised to soak the region.
Ahead of the storm, dozens of schools in the San Francisco Bay Area were closed, affecting about 100,000 students.
Residents gathered sandbags and rushed to buy emergency supplies Wednesday, hoping to protect themselves and their homes.
This week’s high surf ate away at the shoreline in Washington State, pulling some homes into the Pacific Ocean.
With road flooding expected, drivers are warned to be cautious and stay home, if possible.
In southern California, 10-foot waves are expected by the end of the week, drawing interest from surfers and skimboarders.
“I’m stoked,” pro skimboarder Austin Keen told KABC. “It gets really close to shore, really big waves … Some of the biggest waves in SoCal are this close to the shore.”
A rare blizzard warning is in effect for the Sierra Nevada mountain range, with three feet of snow possible.
Snow and heavy winds were reported along the East Coast Thursday, including 20 inches of snow near Syracuse, New York, and miles of Interstate 81 shut down for over seven hours. Winds along the coastline peaked at more than 60 miles per hour.
Sidewalks in Massachusetts were covered in black ice, with frozen streets causing chain-reaction crashes.
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