MILLIONS LOSE POWER IN CALIFORNIA:

A fierce storm swept through central and northern California on Friday, cutting power to more than 1 million homes and businesses, closing major roads and canceling flights at several airports.

The storm may dump as much as 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.5 metres) of snow through the weekend in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, and up to 2 feet (0.6 metre) at the popular tourist spot of Lake Tahoe, forecasters with the U.S. National Weather Service said.

Southern California braced for possible flash floods and mudslides in areas that burned in the October wildfires. Total rainfall could reach 5 inches (12.5 cm) in Los Angeles and 10 inches (25 cm) in the mountains of Southern California — the most significant rainfall in the region since January 2005, and on the heels of the driest year on record.

“It is very important, since there is so much land that has burned, that we are prepared for mudslides,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said after being briefed by the Office of Emergency Services.

Hope they’ve done their disaster-preparedness in advance, because it’s too late now.

UPDATE: Snow in Mexico?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Readers think this storm is being, er, overblown:

Being here in the brunt of the storm, I can attest that this is the biggest storm to hit California since, oh, March.

I’m not sure what the news here is. Yes, the winds have toppled trees all over town. This happens EVERY year. The TV reporters were measuring the depth of the water in the gutters; it was up to 4 inches. (Sacramento people usually dump yard waste in the street, causing storm drains to be clogged. Again, this happens EVERY year.) We joke – but it isn’t really a joke – that in California, our four seasons are Earth, Air, Fire and Water; mudslides, Santa Ana winds, forest fires and floods.

This isn’t _disaster_ preparedness, Glenn; this is _winter_ preparedness. EVERY year we have wildfires. EVERY year, we have mudslides when the rains soak the fire-ravaged hillsides. EVERY year we have strong winds, generally starting about now, that blow down a few trees and power lines. Every year, hikers and skiers get trapped by “unexpected” snowstorms in the mountains and have to be rescued. And any person with an IQ in triple digits knows enough to have flashlights, battery powered radios, and the minimal basics of storm preparedness.

You remember the old children’s song about the “Eeensy Weensy Spider”? That’s us.

Ah, to live in idyllic California! And reader Rodney Graves emails:

Here in South San Jose the area around us is without power (including my data center [about a mile from here], which is still running on generator power), while our new housing development is powered.

The storm has been very windy, and we had some gusts I would estimate at more than 50kts here on our hill. Rainfall has also been heavy.

But…

Not all that unusual for our rainy season here. Worst in six years, twelve worse than this in the last fifty. More of a pain in the posterior than a threat to life and limb for most.

Bad weather news overhyped? Say it ain’t so! And speaking of weather alarmism, John Tierney has some thoughts: “It would be nice to think that we, unlike the ancients who propitiated the gods with human sacrifices, could accept the fact that it’s natural for unusual weather to occur — that the weirdest year of all would be one in which no record was set anywhere.”

MORE: Dr. Stanley Tillinghast emails:

In the few hours my MacBook Pro’s battery has left, I went first, of course, to Instapundit.

I appreciated the dose of reality from your Sacramento reader. This is our winter; we won’t freeze to death, but may get wet.

My wife and I are cocooned very snugly, thank you, in our vacation home on the northern California coast. Last night the storm was howling, today the surf was high, but we had a little breakthrough sun just before sunset.

Our necessary ‘survival’ equipment so far has included: (1) an Aladdin oil lamp that puts out a light via its mantle that is bright enough for comfortable reading; (2) a Coleman propane stove; (3) our Lopi wood-burning stove. The Mountain Green LED lantern is very useful but not as cozy as the Aladdin lamp.
We do have the two cookbooks you recommended for when the power goes out, but are too lazy to actually cook up anything as long as the canned soup and PB&J makings hold up.

We don’t quite have the emergency radio thing worked out, though. I think the local radio station lost power too.

Power outages are expected here on the coast; the full-timers have their generators, but we’re very happy with our books and the light to read them by.

Just finished reading Robert Zubrin’s Energy Victory, BTW, and highly recommend it.

I have one of these hand-crank radios. But the radio station should have a generator. . . .