Tornado warning for San Francisco and ice, snow and rain across much of the US

Following a tornado warning on Saturday morning, the Bay Area was still at risk of flooding while other parts of the US braced for ice, rain and snow.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for downtown San Francisco and San Mateo County just before 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT Saturday morning. It was repealed soon afterwards. But severe weather remained a threat in the region as an atmospheric river event is expected to bring gusty winds and very heavy rain with the risk of flooding to northern and central California throughout Saturday, the weather service said.

San Francisco also experienced power outages due to storm impacts, according to the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, which posted an update on the social network X, formerly Twitter, shortly before 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.

The weather event is also expected to bring heavy mountain snow to the Coastal Ranges and Sierra Nevada, where the National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings.

Wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph are likely along the California coast and in the mountains of northern and central California, as well as western Washington and British Columbia, thanks to an additional storm, according to AccuWeather.

Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are expected from San Francisco to Redding and east of Sacramento. “Rain will also occur at low elevations across Northern California and southwestern Oregon Friday through Saturday,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty said in a forecast.

In low-elevation central California, rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches “could bring the risk of mudslides, other debris flows and slides, and road washouts,” AccuWeather said. “Motorists should be prepared for flooded roads in locations that typically have poor drainage.” The storm is unlikely to bring rain to Southern California, where firefighters continue to battle the Franklin Fire in Malibu.

Franklin Fire:Crews begin battling Malibu Fire on Day 5: See damage and destruction map

Winter weather advisories for the western United States

The same weather system is expected to bring rain and snow to parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Montana. Lower elevations will see rain and a limited amount of snow. Heavier snow is forecast in the mountains, including in central Idaho and western Wyoming, where winter snow warnings are in effect for snowfalls of 5 to 10 inches, with 12 inches or more possible locally, the National Weather Service said.

A winter weather advisory is in effect through Sunday morning in Idaho, where up to 6 inches of snow is forecast above 4,500 feet in the Camas Prairie, Boise Mountains and West Central Mountains.

Another winter weather advisory is in effect through Sunday afternoon for the Wasatch Mountains and western Uinta Mountains of Utah, with up to 15 inches of snow possible in the Ogden Range and Bear River Range mountains.

Winter weather advisories are also in effect for parts of Montana through late Sunday afternoon and Sunday night. 4 to 8 inches of snow is forecast for areas near the Idaho border and in the Henrys Lake and Centennial mountain ranges. Another warning — for central and eastern Montana, including Carter, Custer, Fallon and northern Rosebud counties — forecasts a wintry mix of 1 to 2 inches of freezing rain changing to snow.

The chance of precipitation – including a wintry mix – will spread east into the northern high plains by Saturday night, the National Weather Service said.

Snow and freezing rain in and east of the Midwest

The threat of a wintry mix with increasing freezing rain also led to many winter weather warnings from the Upper Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic over the weekend.

With the likelihood of a “potentially severe winter mix including freezing rain,” the National Weather Service issued an ice storm warning Saturday for portions of Iowa, east and north of Des Moines. A winter weather advisory was in effect for the entire state through Saturday afternoon, as well as parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

In areas under an ice storm warning, travel could be “near impossible” and the storm is expected to cause power outages and tree damage, the NWS said.

Icy rain left a glaze on the streets of Omaha. A local resident posted a short video on X about how the street had become a hockey rink.

According to AccuWeather, this “wave of winter precipitation” will move into the Great Lakes region late Saturday, eventually reaching places like Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Traverse City, Michigan.

A winter weather advisory is also in effect until noon Sunday for a section of the Mid-Atlantic, including northwestern North Carolina, southwestern Virginia and southeastern West Virginia, along and west of Interstate 77. Freezing rain is expected from midnight into early Sunday. With snow and sleet in the mix, ice accumulation can occur.

The forecast of snow, sleet and ice has prompted the NWS to issue winter weather advisories for western and north-central Maryland, the Panhandle and eastern West Virginia, and northwest and western Virginia through early Monday morning.

There is not rain, ice and snow everywhere in the USA. Most of the country will experience high or above-average temperatures this weekend, with some of the warmest places in Texas and the Southern Plains, where highs could reach 80 degrees, and in the desert Southwest and Florida, where temperatures will reach 80 degrees There will be 70s, the weather service said.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & Mikegsnider.

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