California drenched as new atmospheric river brings thunderstorms and winds

Snow-covered mountain towns in the Sierra Nevada foothills braced for another round of heavy precipitation. So much snow has fallen across the ranges that residents are still struggling to dig out days after earlier storms; now, warmer rains are threatening more damage to towns and buildings by adding more weight to snow-heavy roofs that could cause them to crumple.

Evacuation warnings were issued in advance for various foothill and mountain communities that are prone to flooding and mudslides. An evacuation order was in place for a small number of central coast residents who live below a levee near Oceano in San Luis Obispo county.

Mountainous areas of San Bernardino county were among those where flood watches were issued as the extreme weather threatened to wreak more havoc for communities only just emerging from the catastrophe caused by the last round of storms.

Many residents in the area spent weeks barricaded in their homes without access to essential supplies as power outages left neighborhoods dark and cold. Roofs collapsed, cars were buried and roads were blocked. Officials are only just beginning to tally the toll from the snowstorm, but investigators are assessing whether more than a dozen deaths that occurred were linked to blizzard conditions.

In the Bay Area, where flood watches have been issued through Sunday, the relentless rain is believed to have caused a warehouse roof collapse that resulted the death of one person and an injury of another.

On the far north coast, Humboldt county authorities organized an emergency response to feed starving cattle stranded by snow. Cal Fire and US Coast Guard helicopters began dropping hay bales to cattle in remote mountain fields last weekend, and then the California national guard was called in to expand the effort.

The severe storms have been a dramatic shift for a state that spent the last several years beset by drought. Reservoirs that just recently bore stark bathtub rings showcasing how far water levels had receded are now being approved for releases as fears of flooding mount.

Officials expect a small spill at the lake but emphasized that the spillway is fully operational and ready for higher releases as needed, hoping to assuage fears of a repeat to the 2017 disaster that forced thousands of people to evacuate after heavy runoff collapsed the main spillway and the emergency spillway began to erode.

Yet another atmospheric river is already in the forecast for early next week. State climatologist Michael Anderson said a third appeared to be taking shape over the Pacific and possibly a fourth.

The Associated Press contributed to this story