California braces for more snow as storms continue to hammer state

The first day of March offered little relief from the severe winter weather hammering California this week. Strong storms have set the stage for record breaking snow accumulation across the Sierras, choking off entry and exits from tourist towns, piling snow as high as rooftops, causing dangerous travel conditions and leaving thousands without power, with more snow on the way.

Mammoth Lakes, traditionally one of the snowiest places in California, had nearly 4ft (1.2 meters) of snow over the past three days as crews worked around the clock to keep roads and sidewalks clear.

More than 95,000 people across the state were without power on Wednesday morning, with most outages reported across the counties in central California. The extreme weather reportedly led to the death of an 80-year-old woman in the Sacramento area, who suffered cardiac arrest after her porch collapsed under the weight of the snow.

The deep snow and blustery winds have also contributed to considerable avalanche risks in the central Sierra Nevada as officials warned travelers against braving the perilous conditions.

Parts of California did get a short reprieve of sunshine on Wednesday morning. But as the skies cleared to the north, dangerous conditions persisted, including a bitter chill and widespread freezing.

In southern California, snow and ice forced closure of Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass through mountains north of Los Angeles. Visitors to mountains in southern California were stranded for days and thousands of homes and businesses were in the cold without electricity as the storm also dumped rain. Homeless people and those without electricity were at special risk from the cold, the weather service said.

The snow comes a week after storms stretched from the Pacific coast to the northern Plains and is now blamed for two deaths in Portland, Oregon. One person died of hypothermia on Tuesday, according to a medical examiner.

The weather service predicted that a powerful weather system would affect most of the lower 48 states into Thursday, with heavy snow across the south-west and some portions of the high plains, but also record high temperatures in the Gulf coast into the Ohio Valley and a threat of tornadoes from the southern plains to the mid-south.

Areas in the dividing line between hot and cold, such as the lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley, could see heavy rain, thunderstorms and some flash flooding. The high could top 100F (38C) across far south Texas, and windy, dry conditions would make for a critical risk of wildfire conditions across in parts of the south-west for the next few days, according to the weather service.

Recent storms around the country have delayed travel, shuttered schools and overwhelmed crews trying to dig out of the snow and repair downed power lines. More than 62,000 customers were without power Wednesday morning in Michigan, which is still recovering from ice storms, according to the website poweroutage.us.

Weather also continued to play a role in the cancellation of nearly 100 flights and delays of nearly 1,000 more around the country.