The tornado
touched down 40 miles north of Sacramento on Monday afternoon. Only
minor damage was reported when it hit near Yuba City.
There
were several other reports of funnel clouds north of Sacramento, but no
others touched down, said National Weather Service meteorologist Eric
Kurth.
Forecasters called for up to 2 feet
of snow at the highest elevations in the northern Sierra Nevada, a good
sign for a state dependent on snow accumulation for its water supply.
"It
looks like Mother Nature threw us our first snowball," said Rochelle
Jenkins of Caltrans, which was enforcing chain controls above 4,300 feet
on I-80, the state's main highway from San Francisco to Reno, Nev.
Those
at AT&T Park in San Francisco watching the Giants claim the NLCS
pennant were less pleased with the weather. Heavy showers and a brief
cloudburst earlier in the day threatened to call off the game, though it
went on without delay. By the ninth inning, however, the rain returned
and the teams were forced to play in a torrential downpour that made
visibility difficult.
Fans bundled up in
ponchos, baseball caps and hooded clothing to stay dry, though with
little effect. After the win, they streamed onto San Francisco streets
to celebrate, telling television news crews that they were so pleased
that they didn't care how wet they were.
Earlier
in the day, chain controls were in effect on U.S. Highway 50 southwest
of Lake Tahoe. By late morning, nearly an inch of rain had fallen on
Sacramento. On Highway 20 east of Nevada City, five big rigs jackknifed
after at least 6 inches of snow had accumulated by midmorning.
A
winter storm warning above 5,500 feet was in effect until early
Tuesday, and snow showers were expected into Tuesday night, said Karl
Swanberg, a forecaster with the weather service in Sacramento.
Showers
were in the forecast across Northern California through Wednesday — the
day of the first game of the World Series, in San Francisco.
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