SAN FRANCISCO – Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway, which just reopened after last month’s devastating Palisades Fire, is closing again Tuesday due to concerns about potential mudslides, landslides and debris flows from a prolonged atmospheric river event.Â
The closure, from Chautauqua Boulevard to Carbon Beach Terrace, begins at 3 p.m. local time and will affect all traffic except first responders, recovery workers and utility personnel. The highway is expected to remain closed until at least this weekend.
This comes as the West Coast is in the middle of a long-lasting atmospheric river event that began last Friday.Â
Following heavy snow in Oregon and a few reports of flooding in far Northern California, the FOX Forecast Center said a resurgence in moisture will expand the rain and mountain snow once again across California on Tuesday.Â
The plume of moisture will briefly stall across Northern California on Tuesday, supporting an uptick in rainfall rates from near San Francisco into the Sacramento Valley and foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Hourly rainfall rates could approach and locally exceed 0.5 inches, which should increase the flood threat. The good news is that most of those areas in line for the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday have been south of the heaviest rain of the past few days, the FOX Forecast Center said.
After the brief stall, the shield of rain will begin to slide south quickly by Tuesday evening. This should limit the threat of more widespread flooding impacts. Nonetheless, some flooding of roads, minor creeks and streams and a few landslides are possible.Â
More than 3 inches of rain has fallen across nearly all the higher elevations of California north of the Bay Area. The bull’s-eye has been across Butte and Shasta counties, where over 13 inches and 15 inches of rain, respectively, have already been recorded. An additional 3-8 inches of rain is expected in these areas.Â
Winds will also pick up throughout Tuesday. Wind Advisories are in effect for the lower elevations for gusts up to 45 mph.
On Wednesday, the atmospheric river will weaken as it moves toward Southern California.
Heavy snow pasting Sierra Nevada
At higher elevations, snow will fall from Northern California extending into Montana.Â
Moisture from the atmospheric river has caused up to 40 inches of snow to fall since Friday in northwestern Wyoming and 30 inches in Idaho. An additional 1-3 feet of snow will fall from the southern Cascades of Oregon to the Sawtooth and Salmon River mountains of Idaho and the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana.Â
Meanwhile, in California, snow levels were around 6,000 feet at the start of the day Tuesday.
As the peak of the storm arrives, colder air from the Gulf of Alaska will bring snow levels down dramatically. By late Tuesday, they will drop as low as 2,000 feet across the Shasta County mountains and 3,000-4,000 feet in the Sierra.
The heaviest snow will fall during the day Tuesday, with snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour at times. Snowfall totals of 1-3 feet are anticipated along the Sierra and southern Cascades above 5,500 feet, with up to 5 feet possible over the peaks.Â
Additionally, snowfall totals of 4-8 inches, with up to 1 foot over the peaks, will be possible across the Coast Range and Shasta County mountains.
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