By Greg Mellen, Behind the Badge
It’s been a calamitous winter, and it’s not over yet. Although California’s poppies bloomed with the recent rains, dotting Southland hillsides and open space from Anaheim Hills to the Antelope Valley, their appearance doesn’t mean winter has gone away. Another massive storm is in the forecast this week.
This winter has seen bomb cyclones, or in the ever-expanding parlance of the National Weather Service “bombogenesis,” that crippled holiday travel to the East Coast and caused 50 deaths during the “blizzard of the century.”
Meanwhile, despite its generally warmer climes, California was drenched by “atmospheric rivers” that brought record rain and snow, particularly to Northern California. As of Jan. 10, at least 22 weather-related deaths were reported, although none in Orange or Los Angeles counties. It’s a good idea to keep ReadyOC, Orange County’s preparedness website, close at hand.