Weather

Newsweek - Hundreds of thousands of people in California were included in a sweeping batch of winter storm watches issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) on Friday afternoon as meteorologists warn of a snowstorm that could dump as much as 8 feet of snow over a span of four days.

A series of Pacific storms is poised to deliver a drastic shift in the West’s weather pattern this weekend and into next week, with forecast models projecting as much as 8 feet of snowfall across high-elevation terrain from the Sierra Nevada to the central Rockies. The incoming storms mark a sharp turn from the region’s prolonged dry stretch and persistent snow deficits in states like California, Utah and Colorado, where low snowpack has raised concerns about water supply heading into spring.