SAN FRANCISCO — The latest in a series of wet winter storms gained strength in California early Monday, with forecasters warning of possible flooding, hail, strong winds and even brief tornadoes as the system moves south over the next few days.
Gusts topped 30 mph in Oakland and San Jose as a mild cold front late Saturday gave way to a more powerful storm on Sunday, said meteorologist Brayden Murdock with the National Weather Service office in San Francisco.
“The winds are here and getting stronger, and the rains will follow quickly,” he said Sunday afternoon.
California’s central coast is at risk of “significant flooding,” with up to 5 inches of rain predicted for many areas, according to the weather service. Isolated rain totals of 10 inches are possible in the Santa Lucia and Santa Ynez mountain ranges as the storm heads toward greater Los Angeles.
Thunderstorms in valleys around the state capital on Monday could bring “brief tornadoes, large amounts of small hail, heavy rain, lightning, and gusty winds,” the weather service in Sacramento warned on X.
Residents in the region, including Sacramento, Chico, Yuba City, Stockton and Modesto, “are advised to pay close attention to the weather,” the office said later in a separate statement.
Firefighters on Monday rescued two people from the top of their vehicle, which had stalled in flood waters in Sloughhouse, a community about 20 miles southeast of Sacramento, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said.
Hours earlier, a man was rescued along a creek in El Dorado Hills, northeast of Sacramento. The man, who had been camping in the area, was trapped in a tree as floodwaters rose, El Dorado Hills Deputy Fire Chief Dave Brady told NBC affiliate KCRA-TV of Sacramento.
More than 400 miles south, a woman’s body was discovered Monday morning in trees off the bank of Mission Creek,…
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