Deadly ‘bomb cyclone’ storm slams California, toppling trees and causing blackouts
LOS ANGELES — At least one person was killed as a wet and windy storm arrived in California on Tuesday, delivering more rain, snow and hazards to residents of the Golden State on the second day of spring.
The person, who has not been identified, was killed when a tree fell onto a vehicle on Alpine Road in Portola Valley, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The death was reported as the low-pressure system rocked the Central Coast, where widespread rain and damaging wind gusts also snarled traffic, knocked glass out of skyscrapers and left tens of thousands without power.
The storm came in “much stronger than expected,” particularly in the southern half of the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay areas, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a briefing Tuesday. He said the system had reached the benchmark for a phenomenon known as bombogenesis, or a “bomb cyclone,” which indicates a rapid drop
