AccuWeather is wrapping up live coverage of the winter storm that brought record-breaking rain and snow throughout California. AccuWeather meteorologists are now warning about a severe threat set to span the central United States beginning Sunday. For additional coverage, stream AccuWeather NOW anytime on our website. Stay up to date on the latest weather in your area by downloading the AccuWeather mobile app and visiting AccuWeather.com. And keep an eye on weather news and forecasts by following AccuWeather on:
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The winter storm striking California has been packed with gusty winds, and those powerful damaging winds are expected to continue as the storm pushes eastward into the Southwest Saturday evening. According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyssa Smithmyer, winds could reach gusts of up to 40 mph Saturday evening in places such as Las Vegas and Flagstaff, Arizona, which could blow around unsecured objects and disrupt travel. Even stronger winds are forecast to develop Sunday, hitting parts of New Mexico, southeastern Colorado and the Big Bend region of Texas. “Dry conditions, low relative humidity levels and gusty winds can quickly create an elevated fire threat across the region,” Smithmyer warned. High wind watches are in effect throughout most of of New Mexico through Monday morning.

Snow throughout California Friday was not bad news for everyone, as the state’s furry friends took advantage of a snow day. In Pine Valley, the southeast corner of California, one dog went wild when faced with snowfall accumulation, jumping and barking for joy:

On the other end of the state in Redding, a trio of dachshunds didn’t let the height of the snow stop their playtime:

Two larger dogs had quite the time in the snow in Wrightwood, California, playfully snarling at each other while galloping through the precipitation:

Some of California’s mountain areas have received more than 4 feet of snow over the past several days, including one of the most popular ski resorts in the state. Since Wednesday, Bear Mountain has received 57 inches of snowfall, and over 100 inches for the whole week. Big Bear Mountain ski resort spokesman Justin Kern told The Epoch Times Friday that the snowfall this week exceeds the retreat’s yearly average. The resort remained open during the day on Friday, but did cancel night operations. Other high snow reports in California include Snow Valley, receiving 66 inches of accumulation, as well as 52 inches of snow falling on Soda Springs.

The winter storm in California has forced adjustments to sports schedules, including NASCAR’s weekend racing action at Fontana’s Auto Club Speedway, located about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Rain continues to impede the racing schedule, canceling NASCAR Xfinity Series practice and qualifying for Saturday afternoon’s Production Alliance Group 300 race. The race remains on schedule for 2 p.m. PST. NASCAR’s Cup Series practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Pala Casino 400 race were also canceled. The starting lineup for both Xfinity and Cup Series races will now be determined by performance metrics from last week’s season openers at Daytona.

Due to cancellations to NASCAR Xfinity and Cup series qualifying, the starting lineup will be determined by performances from last weekend's races at Daytona. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Major road closures in Southern California Saturday include Interstate 5, which has been closed through the Grapevine area from Grapevine to Castaic, a distance of approximately 40 miles. The interstate was closed Saturday morning due to snow and icy road conditions, with a “snow gate” open at Lake Hughes Road in Castaic that allows northbound traffic to make U-turns. The duration of the closure is unknown as of 9 a.m. PST Saturday. California Highway Patrol crews have been “working diligently” to remove snow and ice from the road.

Flood hazards continue into Saturday morning after a night of flash flooding. Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer reported from east of Pasadena on Friday afternoon, warning of heavy rainfall and flooded streets near Los Angeles International Airport where a few motorists had reportedly been stranded. By the end of Friday, 2.29 inches of rainfall had fallen in downtown Los Angeles, making it the wettest February day since February 12, 2003 when 2.45 inches fell over the city. The wettest February day on record Feb. 24, 1913 when 4.80 inches fell. The flash flood warning for Los Angeles has since expired, but the area remains under an areal flood watch.

This week’s winter storm isn’t done bearing down on California quite yet, as a large portion of the state remains under severe weather watches and warnings as of Saturday morning. In Southern California, Los Angeles County remains under an areal flood watch from the National Weather Service until 6 p.m. PST, while Orange County and San Diego County coastal areas are under the same watch until 10 p.m. PST and 12 a.m. PST Sunday respectively.

The Los Angeles County mountains are under a blizzard warning until 4 p.m. PST Saturday, while more inland locations such as Death Valley National Park and the Mojave National Preserve are under a winter storm warning until 4 a.m. PST Sunday. Winter storm warnings are also prevalent through central and northeastern California, including areas just outside of Fresno, Sacramento and Redding.

An AccuWeather severe weather watches and warnings map for California as of 6:15 a.m. PST Saturday.

As the morning arrived Saturday in Los Angeles County, drivers were reminded to drive carefully and take extra time to travel, as several highways that usually do not receive snow have been coated in the area. Highways that saw snow overnight include California State Routes 14, 41, 46, 58 and 138. Also within Los Angeles County, Interstate 5 was closed off in several spots Saturday morning, including from Fletcher Drive to Glendale Boulevard in Glendale, as well as an on-ramp closure on the interstate in Anaheim due to flooding. A view from I-5 Saturday morning warned of flooding and icy roads, with ABC7's Irene Cruz calling the conditions "a mess."

Travel has been hampered both on the ground and in the air due to the winter storm in California, with air travel in the state’s largest hub severely impacted. Late Friday evening, local time, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), impacting all departing and arriving flights. A number of inbound flights during the stop were diverted to Ontario International Airport approximately 55 miles east, according to ABC7 journalist Brittany Silverstein. The stop expired around 1 a.m. PST Saturday morning.

Throughout Friday, a total of 649 flights were delayed at LAX, with another 60 canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. Another 106 delays and 47 cancellations took place at LAX through 5:32 a.m. PST Saturday. On top of the ground stop at LAX, a SIGMET VICTOR 4 severe turbulence hazard was issued early Saturday morning by the National Weather Service for Southern California.

As snow piled up in the higher elevations of the Southern California, other areas across the region received dousing rainfall. Friday was the wettest February day for Downtown Los Angeles since Feb. 12, 2003, when 2.45 inches fell. The city recorded 2.29 inches of rain on Friday, and it was more than enough to cause hazardous conditions as rivers rose and water with nowhere to drain prompted flash flood warnings. A thick fog also rolled in Friday, shrouding the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles.

In Northern California, the combination of precipitation and cold overnight temperatures in the Bay Area poses the danger of icy roadways into Saturday morning.

Rains inundate Southern California

The Los Angeles Fire Department has been extremely busy the past several days, including early Saturday morning, when LAFD ground and air responders rescued four people and five animals from flooding in Encino. At 12:46 a.m. PST, LAFD responders came to the aid of three men, a woman, four dogs and a cat that were stranded in a remote area of the heavily-flooded Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. LAFD rescued the individuals and the animals using a helicopter, transporting them to the LAFD Air Operations facility at Van Nuys Airport. Two of the individuals were suffering from hypothermia, and were transported to an area hospital. The other individuals and the five animals were all uninjured.

Abundant rainfall since the start of the calendar year has somewhat eased drought conditions across California. At the end of December 2022, 35.5% of the state was experiencing at least extreme drought, including 7% of which was experiencing exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. However, as of Feb. 21, 2023, no part of the state was experiencing extreme or exceptional drought conditions. Where 80% of the state was experiencing severe drought conditions or higher at the start of the year, that percentage has dropped to 32%.While the rainfall hasn’t ended the drought completely and water supply issues persist across the West, the precipitation has provided at least short-term relief.

The impressive storm rolling throughout California has bumped power outages in the state to over 100,000 as of Saturday morning. According to PowerOutage.US, California had 118,066 tracked customers without power as of 4:07 a.m. PST, with the highest amount of outages coming in the state’s most populous county. In Los Angeles County, 26,770 outages were reported, including an outage affecting more than 1,600 customers in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, and another impacting over 1,300 customers in the Hollywood area. In the northern portion of the state, Lake County reported 20,970 outages with the highest percentage of customers affected in one county (37.77%). Inland counties such as Madera (over 8,000 outages) and Mariposa (over 3,800 outages) have also been impacted Saturday morning.

While similar and equally dangerous, freezing rain and sleet are different types of precipitation. Sleet occurs when snow melts in an a warm layer of air well above the ground, allowing it to refreeze in the air before touching the surface. Sleet looks like frozen raindrops or small ice pellets.

Freezing rain occurs when the warm air layer is thicker and allows less time for the raindrops to refreeze, resulting in the rain freezing upon contact with the surface instead of above it. Freezing rain causes a coating of ice to form on contact with the surface.

State emergency responders warned Californians to take steps to prepare for impacts from the winter storm that could include power outages, debris and mud flows and flooding. “There’s going to be a lot of rain, there’s going to be a lot of snow, and there’s going to be a lot of freezing temperatures in different areas, so we just want everyone to be prepared,” Alicia de la Garza, the public information officer at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, told AccuWeather Prime Host Adam Del Rosso. Downtown Los Angeles has already seen one of its wettest February days since Feb. 14, 2019, when 2.12 inches fell. Around 4 p.m., local time, on Friday, 1.37 inches had fallen over the city.

She added that due to the abundant amount of rainfall, areas located near burnscars could see debris or mudflows and should be ready to evacuate if needed. “If something like that happens, you need to leave quickly, make sure you know how to get out of your neighborhood,” de la Garza said, “and check in on your family, friends and loved ones who may need a little bit of help with those colder temperatures.”

Already in Southern California, such evacuations have already taken place. In Orange County, several locations have been requested to evacuate due to heavy rain falling on burn scars.

With this California's winter storm prompting blizzard warnings, it is important to keep in mind the criteria that separates a blizzard from a snowstorm. A storm that brings snow and gusty winds may not reach blizzard criteria. A blizzard is defined as a storm that brings sustained winds or wind gusts of 35 mph or greater, and a visibility less than one-quarter of a mile for three consecutive hours. Visibility decline can be created from considerable falling or blowing snow. Rate of snowfall is not needed for blizzard criteria, although some blizzards may produce snowfall rates of 2-6 inches per hour. A blizzard may be produced by a large-scale storm, lake-effect snow, a press of cold air or strong winds blowing across a surface made of powdery snow.

For some spots in Southern California, these warnings are unprecedented. The National Weather Service's San Diego office issued it's first ever blizzard warning on Thursday, covering the San Bernardino County mountains. The nearby Los Angeles office issued their first blizzard warnings since 1989.

As a large area of low pressure tracks toward the Southwest coast, conditions in Southern California have continued to worsen overnight. A swath of heavy rain, even containing lightning in some areas, has begun to impact the densely populated portions of Los Angeles County, and is set to impact San Diego and the Inland Empire shortly. As of midnight Pacific time, radar imagery has depicted the heaviest rain moving onshore near Los Angeles, with heavy rain continuing to move eastward overnight. This area of rain even briefly prompted a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for portions of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, an exceedingly rare occurrence for the West Coast. 2 to 4 inches of rain are likely to fall in the city by the time all is said and done, much of it in a short period of time.

Radar imagery depicting heavy rain over Los Angeles, shortly after midnight Pacific time on February 25, 2023. (AccuWeather)

While a few inches of rain may be more easily manageable under certain circumstances, Mother Nature has shown that these amounts of rain are able to cause big flooding problems. With rain falling quickly, and with excess water often running off into narrow valleys in Southern California's rugged terrain, the threat of flash flooding will be high over the next several hours in the region.

Nearly 70% of the U.S. population lives in a region that receives more than 5 inches of snow annually, and an overwhelming number of the nation’s roadways traverse those snowy areas, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA). This means there is a high likelihood that your simple grocery store run or morning commute could be impacted by winter weather at least once. From snow to sleet to freezing rain or ice, winter weather yields numerous types of precipitation that all pose hazards and difficulties on the roadways. According to the FHA, more than 24% of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy, slushy, or icy pavement, and 15% happen during snowfall or sleet. But equally dangerous is getting stuck for hours in a snowstorm in your vehicle. Many people don’t envision themselves in this situation, but the unthinkable does happen and being prepared and knowing what to do can help save you and your family’s lives. “The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to not travel if you can,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said, but if you do have to be out on the roads, being prepared is vital.

• Have an emergency car kit that includes a flashlight, gloves, a battery-powered radio, water, extra food and a blanket.

• If you cannot move, stay where you are and don’t abandon your vehicle. It is a good place to take shelter, especially during a winter storm.

• Notify the authorities with your cellphone and pinpoint your location with GPS either on your cellphone or with navigation services in your car. Make sure to tell the authorities relevant information, like how much gas your car has, how much food and water you have and your location.

• If you don’t have any cellphone service to contact the authorities, then it is important to stay put.

• Turning your car off periodically will help conserve precious gas and battery life and reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Make sure that your vehicle is visible to others. Using a piece of bright-colored fabric, road flares, or a traffic light behind your vehicle will all help to ensure your car is easily spotted on the road or highway.

• Make sure if you have to leave your home, to have a fully charged cellphone as well as a portable cellphone charger for the car.

Blizzard conditions hit portions of Southern California on Thursday and Friday, Reed Timmer reported from Wrightwood, California, located in San Bernardino County and 77 miles northeast of Los Angeles. At an elevation of 5,900 feet, the location saw the accumulation of about 6 inches of snow Thursday night. While this hardly compares to the 45.1 inches recorded at Soda Springs, California, over the last three days, it was enough snow to whirl around and reduce visibility. Video provided by Timmer showed the whiteout conditions in the mountainous area, snow shrouding everything outside of a few feet from the camera. But on Friday, blizzard conditions were raging even stronger than they were on Thursday, Timmer said.

“The very heaviest plume of precipitation is starting to work its way south through California and that’s going to push into Southern California tonight through Saturday morning,” Timmer said. “That’s when the heaviest precipitation is going to arrive and the snowfall totals will likely be measured in feet here in Wrightwood.”

Heavy precipitation continues to sprawl across California as of Friday evening. In Southern California, the heaviest rain was falling in Santa Clarita and areas north of Los Angeles as well as San Bernardino. Lighter rain was observed in the city of Ontario and areas to the south, including Riverside. Snow could be observed in higher elevations north of Los Angeles and Ontario, such as Lake Arrowhead and Lytle Creek. Heavy areas of rain expanded northwards in the central and northern part of the state, with the heaviest being present around a stretch of Interstate 5 between Lost Hills and Kettleman City. Heavy rain was also east of Fresno and Clovis, spreading into the mountains as snow in higher elevations to the east of the city.

Interstate 80 at Donner Pass has shut down for the second time since snow began to impede traffic in the area. All westbound lanes of the interstate at the Nevada state line are being turned around due to multiple crashes, according to Caltrans District 3. In addition, westbound traffic is being held at Truckee, California, as a result of the closure. Caltrans said there is no estimate for reopening the road. Before the reclosure, the interstate was reopened earlier on Friday for passenger vehicles only. The pass sits at an elevation of 7,057 feet.

Over a dozen weather alerts were in effect across Southern California on Friday afternoon, including a flash flood warning (bright green) for Los Angeles. (AccuWeather)

The weather map across Southern California is lit up like a Christmas tree with weather alerts ranging from blizzard warnings to high wind warnings. On Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Los Angeles issued a flash flood warning for a large area of Southern California, including Downtown Los Angeles. Over 5.8 million people live in the area under the warning, which continues through 10 p.m. PST. Between 1 and 3 inches of rain have already fallen in the warned area, with an additional 2 to 5 inches of rain possible, according to the NWS. Motorists should avoid driving through flooded roads as flowing water just one foot deep can carry away a vehicle.

Temperatures dipped in Southern California as a potentially historic winter storm swept into the region. Los Angeles enjoyed a warm start to the week, with the daily high temperatures reaching into the high 60s and low 70s, only to drop into the low 50s on Friday. In comparison, the average high temperature for Feb. 24 is 68 degrees, the average low recorded at 53 degrees. The low for Friday dropped into the mid-40s and is forecast to drop into the low 40s Saturday.

The high temperature in San Diego on Friday was 60 degrees with a low of 50, a bit lower than the city’s average high temperature of 66 degrees for the date. The average low is 53 degrees.  However, Saturday is expected to be cooler, with a high of 53 and low of 44 degrees.While the sun will return next week, temperatures will remain in the high 50s and possibly low 60s in both cities.

The top five snowfall totals in California totaled between 3 and 4 feet by Friday afternoon, mostly recorded in the higher elevations of the state. Soda Springs in Northern California saw the highest three-day snowfall total with 45.1 inches of snow. In Southern California, Big Bear Lake recorded 37 inches. It was the only location on the list located in the region and ranked third out of the five. In stark contrast to these totals, albeit at lower elevations, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., have all recorded far less snow this season. The weather station at Central Park in New York and the Reagan National Airport in D.C. have both respectively recorded 0.4 of an inch of snowfall throughout the entire winter. The Philadelphia International Airport has only measured 0.3 of an inch.

Strong winds have swept through a portion of California's mountains, topping 90 mph in two locations. A 98 mph wind gust recorded on Mammoth Mountain was the highest of the day for the state as of Friday afternoon. San Guillermo was the other location in the state to record a wind gust over 90 mph. Magic Mountain, Kirkwood and Pilot Rock also observed wind gusts above 80 mph.

About 106,000 customers are without power in California as of Friday afternoon. In Southern California, Santa Barbara County leads the area with over 8,300 customers with no service. In Northern California, several counties have more than 5,000 customers without power, including Mendocino, Tehama, and Humboldt. Lake County leads the state with over 27,000 without power -- more than half of the county. Every coastal county of California, from San Diego County to Del Norte County, has at least a dozen power outages reported. 

Utility crews were working to repair down poles and power lines due the storm, like above on Route 18 near Kuffel Canyon in San Bernardino County on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (Caltrans)

Roads across California have closed due to winter conditions as of Friday afternoon. California State Route 17 between Santa Clara and Santa Cruz County is closed due to snow and trees down, according to Caltrans District 4. Snow and ice also forced the closure of State Route 203 into Mammoth Lake. In Tejon Pass, a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 was shut down amid over a food of snow falling at the corridor's highest elevations. Crews are currently working to clear the snow on that stretch of the interstate and have no estimate time of reopening.

The winter storm impacting California on Friday will also make its presence felt elsewhere across the country. On Sunday, leftover energy from this storm system, which has impacted the West Coast since earlier this week, will help jumpstart a severe weather outbreak across the south-central United States.

Destructive wind gusts, damaging hail, flooding downpours and even tornadoes will all be possible as the storm re-forms over the Plains beginning late Sunday. The concern for severe weather will be greatest during the nighttime hours when most people will be asleep, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. Some of the cities at risk include Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Kansas City, Missouri. 

As if heavy snow, torrential rain and gusty winds weren’t enough to disrupt plans in California on Friday, a tornado warning was thrown into the mix. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Los Angeles issued a tornado warning for Casmalia, California, which is located on the central coast, just southwest of Santa Maria, Friday morning. This is the first tornado warning the NWS office in Los Angeles has issued in over three years. The last time a tornado warning was issued by the Los Angeles NWS office was on Dec. 28, 2019. “Earthquakes, we can handle. Born and raised in California, we know what to do. Tornadoes? Not so much,” one Twitter user wrote about the tornado warning. The tornado warning expired shortly before 10:30 a.m. PST.

Heavy snow has thwarted travel across the Sierra Nevada, including Interstate 80 through Donner Pass, which sits at an elevation of 7,057 feet. On Friday morning, officials reopened Donner Pass for passenger vehicles only, noting that tractor trailers are not yet allowed to resume travel through the area. Snow is still falling over the mountains, so motorists should prepare for snowy conditions despite the reopening. “Take your time, slow down, and increase your following distance so we can all get through this together,” the California Highway Patrol said.

A rare snowstorm of epic proportions has transformed sunny California into a winter wonderland. Winterlike scenes, like the one at the Mt. Baldy Lodge in San Bernardino County, have been spotted across the state. Although snow isn’t unheard of in Southern California, this storm is expected to bring snow to the lower elevations of the region that don’t often receive snow.

For the higher elevations, AccuWeather forecasters say several feet of snow is in the forecast. Snow started falling in some of the lower elevations of Southern California on Thursday. Plants and trees were snow-covered at the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County on Friday. In the higher elevations, the snow created a mess on the roadways and many vehicles got stuck in the snow. Several highways have been closed due to the weather. AccuWeather forecasters warn more snow is on the way.

Rare major snow event for Southern California

Students from the Yucaipa-Calimesa school district, which is located southeast of San Bernardino, were treated to a rare snow day on Thursday. “Due to the weather conditions affecting certain parts of Yucaipa and Calimesa, all schools and district offices will be closed [on Thursday],” the Yucaipa-Calimesa school district wrote in a statement. As the rare snow fell, students enjoyed the afternoon running around a park in Yucaipa. Students spent the afternoon building snow people, catching snowflakes on their tongues and enjoying snowball fights. According to ABC10, staff and students at Cuyamaca Outdoor School in San Diego County took full advantage of the snow on Thursday. The students made snowballs and enjoyed going down the snow-covered hill on sleds.

Yukaipa, CA - February 23: Bailey Griffin, 6, of Yucaipa, catches snow on her tongue amidst a rare snow storm in Southern California at Yucaipa Community Park in Yucaipa Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. Southern California has only gotten a taste of the powerful winter storm system that forecasters say will bring an extended period of cold temperatures, high winds and snow, prompting the regions first blizzard warning on record. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Ken Clark spent four decades forecasting the weather for AccuWeather before he retired in 2018. Clark, who resides in Southern California, specialized in forecasting weather across the West. The magnitude of this week’s historic storm impacting the state caused him to share his thoughts on its severity. “This will be an epic storm for much of Southern California,” Clark said, adding that in his 27 years of living in the region, this storm has the potential to drop more snow at lower elevations in Southern California than any other he had seen in his years of forecasting. Clark said that he believed that portions of the San Gabriel Mountains and Los Angeles County Mountains will get in excess of 6 feet of snow at elevations above 6,000 feet.

AccuWeather meteorologists say that winds of 60-75 mph will create blizzard conditions and nearly impossible travel through some of the passes. “Not only will travel be very difficult due to the blizzard conditions, but there will also be a risk of avalanches due to the heavy snow. The risk of avalanches even extends after the last flakes fall and, as a result, any skiers or snowboarders will be urged to exercise additional caution,” forecasters say.

Two bald eagles in Southern California are working hard to make sure their eggs stay warm as a winter storm brings cold weather and snow to the area. Video footage of the nest, which is located northeast of San Bernardino in Big Bear, California, showed snow covering the majority of the eagles’ home. The eagles took turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. Surrounding tree limbs and the eagles’ feathers can be seen moving around as gusty winds blow through the area. According to AccuWeather forecasters, 3 to 4 feet of snow is expected to fall in the town of Big Bear Lake by Sunday morning. Temperatures in Big Bear will remain just below freezing, but gusty winds will make it feel much cooler. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures are expected to dip into the single digits Friday night.

“Highway 17 between Santa Cruz and San Jose [is] completely shut down because of a big rig that jackknifed, heavy snow [and] trees coming down because of all that snow,” KRON reporter Will Tran said in a video update on Friday morning. Although Tran is located several miles from where the crash occurred, traffic can be seen backed up to his location. “In a perfect world, those cars would have no problem just going from San Jose to Santa Cruz, but they’re stacked up,” Tran said. He also noted that while it is raining at his current location, snow has reportedly been making a mess of the highway closer to where the crash occurred. A photo shared by the National Weather Service (NWS) Bay Area office showed snow completely burying a large section of Highway 17. “Right now though, there is no estimated time on when Highway 17 will be reopened in both directions,” said Tran.

Blizzard warnings have been issued in three Southern California counties ahead of an “epic” winter storm. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Los Angeles issued its first blizzard warning since 1989 for the higher elevations of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. “Snow accumulations up to 5 feet and wind gusts in excess of 55 mph are expected,” the NWS Los Angeles office wrote in its warning. On Thursday night, the NWS office in San Diego issued its first blizzard warning ever for the San Bernardino County mountains. “Travel will be very difficult to impossible due to the extremely heavy snow and extremely high winds expected,” the NWS San Diego office wrote in its warning. Both blizzard warnings went into effect early Friday morning and will continue until 4 p.m. PST Saturday unless noted otherwise.

Extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer geared up for winter weather and trekked along closed highways in Southern California as dangerous winter storm conditions developed. “It is getting brutal up here on Inspiration Point along Highway 2. Blizzard conditions developing,” Timmer said from the trail in San Bernardino County, California. Inspiration Point is a popular hiking trail in Southern California that stands 7,500 feet above sea level. “Look at down there, look at that, it’s ripping,” Timmer said as the winds howled and snow could be seen blowing about. During the day on Friday, near-whiteout conditions will be possible. By Saturday, 5 to 6 feet of snow is forecast to fall at Inspiration Point. Timmer notes this will be the “worst winter storm” to impact the area in decades.