47.0°,
Light Drizzle Fog/Mist Long Beach declares snow emergency
Schools to close on Tuesday; city and school programs canceled
The city declared a snow emergency on Monday, in anticipation of what weather forecasters are calling a "crippling and potentially historic" blizzard expected to drop up to 3 feet of snow on the area.
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning on Sunday, which is in effect from 1 p.m. Monday through midnight on Tuesday. The agency is calling for heavy, blowing snow with whiteout and high-wind conditions and accumulations of 18 to 24 inches, a decrease from the previous forecast of up to 30 inches.
“City public works crews have been preparing over the weekend – they are already out and will continue working through the overnight to clear our roads,” City Manager Jack Schnirman said in an automated call to residents.
The Long Beach School District, meanwhile, announced that schools would close on Tuesday. And while normal dismissal time was scheduled on Monday, all afterschool, aftercare and evening activities were canceled.
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, the district that, at the moment, it plans to operate on a two hour delayed opening for elementary and middle schools, and a revised exam week transportation schedule for Long Beach High School on Wednesday if weather permits. High school students must check the district website for changes to the exam schedule and transportation schedule.
The district said it would notify residents early Wednesday morning if school would be closed.
The storm will pack 30- to-40-mph winds, with gusts of 55 to 65 mph.
The National Weather Service also issued a coastal flood watch, saying that moderate coastal flooding could hit the area Monday night into early Tuesday morning during high tide.
Light snow began on Monday morning, with accumulations of 1 to 3 inches expected by the evening rush, and picking up intensity Monday evening.
The heaviest snow and strongest winds will hit between midnight Monday and Tuesday afternoon, with "life-threatening conditions" and extremely dangerous travel with whiteout conditions, in which visibility will be a quarter-mile or less at times.
