SCWXA hits major Southern California storm; next up the Eastern USA this weekend

Published on February 16, 2012 - 9:10 am PT - By TWS Staff Reporter - Edited by Staff Editor

(TheWeatherSpace.com) - A very strong storm system seemed to come out of nowhere to some. This storm system hit on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain, heavy snow, desert snow, gusty winds, and travel alerts to the Southern California area.

Mountain High; "Southern California's closest winter resort", had some of the best conditions of the season thus far. Riders are excited about the new snowfall.

"I'm heading up today to get my shred on," said Ben, a rider from San Bernardino. "When SCWXA issued the report I had already called in sick for the next day, pow pow!"

Other areas received over a foot of new snow. with some higher elevations near 18 to 24 inches, in areas like the Riverside County Mountains. This was a surprise to many, but not ones that followed Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin at TWS' Southern California Weather Authority.

Martin had issued a Special Weather Statement and article the day before the storm hit, including a Winter Storm Watch. This outlined heavy snow, desert snow, and pounding rainfall with the storm. Many would be skeptical of such a forecast due to the fact every single weather source was saying a couple of inches of snow would fall. However, those that trusted his word got it to their loved ones and Martin saved lives, according to a resident in Los Angeles.

"My parents live on the rim of the San Bernardino Mountains," said Scott. "NOAA had a Winter Weather Advisory when Martin had a Winter Storm Warning. They said two inches of snow while Martin had much higher values. The decision saved my parent's lives because they would have been traveling down the mountain when the heavy snowfall hit had they listened to the winter weather advisory, because a couple of inches of snow is no biggie up there. NOAA turned it to a Winter Storm Warning, parroting Martin's forecast when it was too late. The storm had slammed the rim!"

This storm system is east of the area, according to Martin's latest update at SCWXA. Santa Ana Winds are gusting where the SCWXA Santa Ana Wind Warning remains through the evening hours.

Martin is tracking the system through the southern parts of the states through the weekend.

"We will be looking at the possibility of heavy snowfall in the Mid-Atlantic states, with severe weather and tornado probabilities in the Southeast," said Martin. "This scenario will be watched as we have a full surface low to work with, aiding in both a heavy snow event and severe weather event. The directional shear parameters looks like a solid tornado event in the southeast, with a high probability of supercells. If you have not signed up up for the tornado product notification list for your state now would be a good time to do so."

The Southern Calif. storm was monitored on TWS' Southern California Weather Authority Online and on Facebook.

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