LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Snow shut down Interstate 5 at Gorman, Calif., Monday and officials warned streets and roads could be flooded by heavy rains at lower elevations.
Poor visibility was expected in the higher elevations where high winds and 2-3 feet of snow were forecast, the Los Angeles Times reported. Travel was being discouraged in those areas.
"This is going to be very dangerous, with the winds and the snow," said Stuart Seto, a National Weather Service specialist in Oxnard, Calif. "Near-whiteout, zero visibility."
Despite lighter commuter traffic because off the Presidents Day holiday, the Times reported several rain-related accidents clogged highways in the region early in the day.
The weather service issued flash-flood and high-wind warnings and there were fears of mudslides in Orange and Los Angeles counties and other areas hit by wildfires last year, the newspaper said.
Heavy rains with winds up to 75 mph were expected through the day and into Tuesday in Southern California.
"That's the threshold for potentially damaging winds ... the kind of speed that could be knocking down trees or picking tiles off roofs," David Gomberg, an NWS meteorologist in Oxnard, told the Times.
"We are expecting high surf and dangerous rip currents in all the beaches of LA and Ventura" counties, Gomberg added. "It will definitely be dangerous for beach goers."
AccuWeather,com said while the Southern California mountains would get the most snow, up to a foot was expected in the Oregon Cascades before the storm moves inland early this week. Heavier snow will spread through the mountains of Utah, Arizona and Colorado Monday night and Tuesday, the forecaster said.
Significant snow could reach the Midwest and the Northeast Wednesday into Thursday with strong winds howling behind the storm across the Northeast through the end of the week, AccuWeather.com said.
