Back-to-back storms in California drop deluge of rain and snow with more ahead

Californians used a brief lull in a series of brutal storms to survey the damage on Friday, while bracing for the next onslaught of extreme weather due to arrive this weekend.

A succession of powerful storms have brought heavy rains and hurricane-strength winds over the past two days, knocking out power to thousands, battering the coastline, flooding streets, toppling trees and causing at least six deaths.

The lull was expected to be brief as more Pacific storms lined up to blast into the state. The next storms are predicted to arrive in northern California on Friday night and spread south into the central region during the weekend. The National Weather Service (NWS) said in its forecast that the heavy downpour could dump three to six inches (15cm) of rain on the region, potentially causing scattered flash flooding and mudslides due to the already saturated soil. Heavy snow was forecast for the Sierra Nevada.

Much of the northern two-thirds of California, the most populous state in the nation, was under flood, gale-force wind and winter storm warnings on Friday as forecasters urged residents to prepare for flooding and to stay off the roads.

The ominous forecast comes on the heels of a massive Pacific storm this week that unleashed high winds, torrential rains and heavy snow across the region for two days. As of Friday morning, some 60,000 homes and businesses remained without power because of the weather, according to data from Poweroutages.us.

The seaside village of Capitola in Santa Cruz county, about 60 miles (100km) south of San Francisco, suffered possibly the worst damage as waves that were forecast to top 25ft (7.6 meters) crashed into homes and restaurants at the mouth of Soquel Creek and knocked out a section of its historic wooden pier.

Hurricane-strength gusts as high as 101mph (162kph) toppled trees onto buildings and roads, knocked out power lines and blew down the roof on a gas station in South San Francisco.

National Weather Service meteorologist Warren Blier said the wind speed recorded on a Marin county hilltop was among the highest he could recall in a 25-year career.

The blast of extreme winter weather marked the third and strongest atmospheric river to strike California since early last week. Research predicts that climate change will cause atmospheric rivers to become larger and carry more water.