California walloped by winter storm with high winds and heavy rain and snow

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
Updated 5:01 PM CST, February 16, 2026
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California was walloped Monday by a powerful winter storm carrying treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

Millions of Los Angeles County residents faced flash flood warnings as rain pounded the region and people in some areas scarred by last year’s devastating wildfires were under an evacuation warning through Tuesday because of the potential for mud and debris flows.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered emergency crews and city departments to be ready to respond to any problems.

The storm wreaked havoc on roadways spanning from Sonoma County to the Sierra Nevada. Traffic was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 near the Nevada state line due to spinouts and crashes, the California Department of Transportation reported. In Santa Barbara County, a large tree toppled onto US-101, shutting down southbound lanes.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-storm-forecast-snow-wind-rain-3624c992a6fac8d3735b61beffa509e8

[LogDog75]

1. Northern California is getting the worst of it

I live in the San Diego area by the beach and we haven't been hit hard, yet, by it. We were expecting between 1 and 2 inches of rain over the next three days but so far, not much. Downtown San Diego received about .60 inches of rain as of 5 pm today. We're expecting more rain mainly on Tuesday night and Early Wednesday night we could get a whole lot more.

[SheltieLover]

2. Stay safe!

[BigmanPigman]

9. I live in Hillcrest and we had three huge downpours at various

times of the day. I'm glad since we haven't had much rain and we need it. I also got a free car-wash. More is on the way.... 2 AM tonight and 2 AM tomorrow night.

[bsiebs]

3. Not really that bad here in Los Angeles... A big downpour earlier this morning producing 1-2 inches ...

... but now we have a big lull..like being in the eye of a hurricane.. the next big hit is in a few hours .. 8PM (PST) overnight... the plants are happy, but I am concerned about those living in the hills...

[SunImp]

4. Nevada is experiencing that too

Saw a few trees knocked over onto the road & peoples yards.

[eggplant]

5. And FEMA is shut down.

Ugh.

[Igel]

7. Not emergency operations.

Back-of-house things like reimbursement, sure.

[C Moon]

6. Crazy heavy rain in So Cal. No thunderstorms in my area.

[Mz Pip]

8. It's not awful here

in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s raining on and off with intermittent wind. The mountains should get lots of snow. Good for skiing one the roads dig out.

[Unwind Your Mind]

10. Sonoma County

We had lightening and really loud thunder starting at about 4am

Dog in the bed, trembling poor girl