US: Los Angeles Sees Rare Snow Storm And Heavy Rain, Causing Large Power Outages

Major roads were closed in Los Angeles as ice and snow made them impassable. Notably, Meteorologists seemed to be divided over whether it was technically “snow”.

New Delhi: Heavy snowfall was witnessed in southern California, including hills around Los Angeles which saw the first blizzard in generations while flooding threatened other places. Snow and high winds brought down power lines, resulting in power outages for more than 100,000 customers in California, according to news agency AFP.

In some neighbourhoods, the repairs were said to have taken hours leaving customers without power until Saturday night or Sunday, NBC News reported. Trees had toppled overnight, on power lines, so crews needed to remove the trees before they could start repair works. 

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison was reporting multiple large outages that began Friday, according to NBC.

As per a report by AFP, television presenters who are more used to delivering a forecast of warm sunshine every day found themselves knee-deep in white snow as the region grappled with its worst winter storm for decades.

Major roads were closed as ice and snow made them impassable including sections of Interstate 5, the main north-south highway that connects Mexico, California, the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Authorities said there was no estimate of when it would be reopened.

"Dangerous and potentially life-threatening snow related impacts are likely for mountain, desert, and foothill roadways in southern California," the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

"Multiple rounds of heavy snowfall coupled with strong winds will lead to blizzard conditions over some of the higher terrain and mountain passes. Areas very close to the Pacific Coast and also into the interior valleys that are not accustomed to seeing snow, may see some accumulating snowfall”, NWS added. 

Jeff Zarrinnam of the Hollywood Sign Trust made a video of the unbelievable weather, he was seen holding a snowball with the Hollywood sign in the background. He said, “it snowed in Hollywood and I made a snowball and the proof is the Hollywood sign in the back.”

“This is crazy, crazy weather we are having”.

While speaking to the Los Angeles Times, he said, "I've seen everything, it was quite a surprise" to find snow this low.

However, Meteorologists seemed to be divided over whether it was technically “snow”. The NWS offered an explanation for Californians struggling to put a name to the unusual white stuff.

"Wondering what kind of frozen precipitation is falling from the sky in your area (assuming you are at a higher elevation)? Here is an informative graphic... that distinguishes between graupel and hail," NWS Los Angeles tweeted, on Friday.

Hail ("hard & solid") is "frozen raindrops of ice from thunderstorms," while graupel ("soft & wet") is "snowflakes that collect supercooled water droplets on the outer surface," the agency informed readers.

Meanwhile, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) meteorologists said this was the result of climate warming which is caused by humanity’s unchecked burning of fossil fuels in the industrial age which had changed the nature of winter precipitation in the area. Adding that many more places may have seen snow in a storm event like this.

"Back in the 1940s there's records of heavy snowfall in the city of LA and of course that seems almost unthinkable today," he said.

"The reality is that the fact that the climate is several degrees warmer in California than it used to be makes low (elevation) snow events less likely."

People at much lower elevations witnessed heavy rainfall on Friday, sparking warnings of inundations and landslides.

In places such as Ventura, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara Counties a flood watch was in place, as up to an inch (2.5 centimetres) of rain was expected in an hour. The NWS said there was an increased threat of flash flooding or rockslides.

"Expect potential for very heavy rain, road flooding, small hail, & gusty winds. Ocean waterspouts & land-based tornadoes are possible."

Due to the unexpected weather conditions, more than 370 flights into, out of or around the United States had been cancelled by 23:00 GMT, on Friday, with almost 6,000 more delayed.