Early-season storm to bring heavy rain and snow to California

We’re still dealing with storms on both coasts of the Lower 48 to start the week. The East Coast storm will diminish in impacts through Monday while the West Coast storm ramps up from San Francisco to Los Angeles and further inland.

Weather watch

Western storm. A cold upper-level low is hitting California and Nevada Monday into Wednesday. It’ll deliver 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rain from near San Franscisco to the Los Angeles region, where Gov. Newsom has prepositioned assets to respond. On the early side for a major cold season storm, it will also deliver up to 2 or 3 feet of snow in higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada.

Alaska storm. Remnants of Typhoon Halong slammed Alaska over the weekend. The southwestern Kuskokwim Delta region was particularly hard hit, with villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok seeing significant inundation from storm surge and damaging winds. The storm was among the strongest recorded in the region and a number of people remain missing.

Nor’easter. Widespread coastal flooding occurred over the weekend with a slow-moving nor’easter that prompted a state of emergency in New York City. Among the harder hit areas was around Norfolk in southeast Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, both facing overwash and tidal flooding. Some locations in the Mid-Atlantic witnessed a top-5 storm surge from the event, which will be winding down Monday and moving east Tuesday.

Lightning links

Tropical Storm Lorenzo Forms, 12th Of The 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season. (Jonathan Erdman, The Weather Channel)

Why less land has burned in much of the West this year. (Ruby Mellen and me, The Washington Post)

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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