California is dealing with a powerful storm these days, full of heavy rain and snow, which shut down a major interstate highway in the Grapevine area and California 58 in Mojave. At the same time, rainfall hit record drops in Santa Barbara, with 4.14 inches in 24 hours, as the Santa Barbara Airport monitoring station reported.

Heavy rains determined authorities to issue flood watches for areas of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, as well as for the Malibu area, which was recently burnt by wildfires. More than 2.5 inches of rain were recorded at the San Luis Obispo airport, while Santa Barbara topped the 1943 record of 2.45 inches.

Amtrack canceled all Coast Starlight train service between Los Angeles and Seattle for a week, for the safety of the passengers who use this particular mean of transportation, as rainfalls moved north to Oregon and produced mudslides.

The storm also brought a lot of snow, more than enough for the authorities and the National Weather Service to issue warnings since Wednesday night. 5 inches of snow had gathered during the night in Grapevine area, while Frazier Park was dealing with double the snow.

California 58 in Mojave was closed due to heavy snows, which will create a big problem for those who were already making a detour after the Interstate 5 closure, in order to get from Southern California to San Francisco or Sacramento.

Drivers abandoned their cars everywhere, as significant snow fell in a short period of time, just a few hours, which made the traffic impossible in some areas. The National Weather Service reported nearly an foot of snow in Lockwood Valley, northwest of Los Angeles.

In the Los Angeles area, the winter storm is expected to hit hard, as meteorologists expect 2 feet of snow in the mountains before the night is over, except for the Santa Monica Mountains. Authorities remain in alert as the storm continues to raise concerns.