The powerful storm, on which the Californians were repeatedly warned, battered the state on Friday and caused power disruption to about 1,000,000 people, as well as flooding, mudslides and snowfalls, the New York Times reported. By late Friday evening, 850,000 were still cut off.

The San Francisco-Sacramento area experienced on Friday the worst the storm brought with it: high winds and heavy rain storms. The southern part of the state prepares for mudslides as the storm moves towards that region.

The residents of the Sierras endured a powerful blizzard along with winds of about 100 mph. the bad weather conditions caused the Interstate 80 across the Donner Pass to close from Applegate to the Nevada line and the drivers which had left for the mountains had to pull over.

In San Francisco, a subway line was blocked by a fallen tree and all ferry services were brought to a halt, the Times reported.

Some bridges and motorways were closed in centre California because of the high winds.

"Los Gatos has been blowing like crazy, gusting at almost 80 mph at one point. Today seems like one of those days when if you can stay home, it's recommended," Charles Bell of the National Weather Service said for The San Francisco Chronicle.

The recent fire storms, which burned the forests in Southern California, left a big part of the region bare and vulnerable to flash flooding and mudslides. Meteorologists predict that the rain storm will slow down, but warned that just a few inches could cause slides, The Orange County Register reported.

In the Orange County, officials decided to order mandatory evacuations beginning at 7 p.m. Friday. The areas to be evacuated are those hit hard by the fires, The Los Angeles Times reported.