Waves of Valley storms expected to grow colder

4:46 p.m.: Traffic lights on Herndon Avenue at Palm, Fruit and West avenues are working again after an outage in the area knocked them out.

Power was restored in the area about 3:20 p.m, said Jeff Smith, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman.

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4:08 p.m.: One flight was canceled because of the power outage earlier this afternoon at the Fresno Yosemite International airport, spokeswoman Vikkie Calderon said.

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3:49 p.m.: Power has been restored at Fresno Yosemite International Airport.

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2:20 p.m.: A weather-related power outage this afternoon has affected operations at Fresno Yosemite International Airport.

The outage, which happened about 1:30 p.m., is affecting 15,719 customers in the area bounded by Dakota, Chestnut, Sunnyside and Olive avenues, said Jeff Smith, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman.

A backup power system at the airport is allowing flights to take off and land for passengers already past the security checkpoint, said airport spokesman Vikkie Calderon said. But the outage has shut down the security checkpoint, which could affect subsequent flights this afternoon, she said.

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12:30 p.m.: Traffic signals are out on Herndon Avenue at Palm, Fruit and West avenue, Fresno city officials said. Major backups and delays can be expected.

City officials noted that non-operational traffic signals must be treated as all-way stop signs.

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Noon: About 3,300 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers are without power in Fresno because of recent storms, a spokesman said today.

The largest outage is between Barstow and Nees avenues and Brawley and Blackstone avenues. The spokesman said the company is working to restore power.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Hanford has issued a flood warning throughout the central San Joaquin Valley, especially for areas with poor drainage. The warning is in effect until 5:30 p.m.

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11:15 p.m. Monday: Travelers planning to head out of the Valley this week are advised to leave sooner rather than later — and make sure to pack snow chains.

The National Weather Service in Hanford predicts that this week’s series of storms will get colder, dropping snowfall levels to about 4,000 feet, which could close Interstate 5 through the Grapevine and Highway 58 through Tehachapi by Friday.

Though snow is not expected over the Grapevine until late this week, “that can quickly change,” said Scott Jobinger, a California Highway Patrol officer.

Monday’s tumultuous storm produced a rare tornado warning for Fresno and Clovis, with high winds that brought down trees and power lines and created headaches for motorists attempting to navigate stormwater-filled roadways.

Today’s weather pattern should be similar to Monday’s, said Cindy Bean, a weather service meteorologist. The third of six storms is expected to hit the Valley today, bringing heavy rain at times.

“The bulk of the system will come in the afternoon,” Bean said.

Motorists should check on road conditions before leaving on a trip, Jobinger said.

And when roads are wet or snow-covered, slow down — even if that means driving under the posted speed limit, he said.

“The speed limits are set for ideal conditions,” Jobinger said.

Conditions were not ideal for travel Monday, which caused many vehicles to spin out of control, he said.

Twenty-six traffic accidents, most of them fender-benders, were reported to the CHP between noon and 4 p.m. Monday in Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties.

An accident closed northbound Highway 99 at Highway 145 in Madera and backed up traffic for about two hours Monday afternoon.

By Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno Bee