Powerful California blizzard shuts roads to Tahoe, Mammoth; 190-mph winds reported

A more intense blizzard warning was already in effect for the rest of Yosemite National Park outside of Yosemite Valley, which will last through Sunday morning.

Some 2 to 3 feet of snow could fall at the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park along Highway 120, a route often taken by travelers from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Along Highway 41, a route to the park often taken by those from Fresno and Southern California, 3 to 5 feet of snow could fall at the entrance to the park, around Mariposa Grove. At the historic Victorian-era Wawona Hotel, 3 to 6 feet of snow could fall.

The winter storm was expected to be more mild for Southern California. The wettest period of the weekend was expected on Saturday, but there’s still a chance of rain that exists on Sunday.

Still, there could be “isolated and brief bursts of heavy rain likely through Saturday night,” mainly in the foothills and coastal slopes, the weather service office in Oxnard said. There is the potential for mudslides and rockslides on canyon roads and below steep hillsides, and ongoing land movement in recent landslide areas.

For the weekend storm, downtown L.A. could get 0.6 inches of rain; Long Beach, 0.44 inches; Pomona, 0.74 inches; Pasadena, 1.33 inches; Santa Clarita, 0.77 inches; Oxnard, 0.65 inches; and Santa Barbara, 0.92 inches.

San Diego could get up to 0.2 inches; Irvine, San Clemente and Riverside could get up to 0.3 inches; Anaheim, up to 0.4 inches; Ontario and Temecula, up to 0.7 inches; and San Bernardino, up to 1 inch.

The San Francisco Bay Area was facing thunderstorms Friday night, which were expected to continue Saturday, with increasing winds. Gusts of up to 50 mph are possible through Saturday morning. Cities in the Bay Area were generally forecast to get between 1 and 1.5 inches of rain through Sunday.

Four people were hurt in San Francisco on Friday evening after a tree fell on their car at Golden Gate Avenue and Laguna Street, firefighters said.