In the ‘Golden State’ of California: 120,000 people without power after a snowstorm Two women and a man are running for the head of government in Scotland

A rare winter storm has brought a lot of snow and rain to the usually sun-drenched US state of California. Blocked roads, flooding, freezing temperatures and power outages paralyzed life in parts of the west coast state.

More than 120,000 customers in California were without power Saturday afternoon (local time), according to the site “poweroutage.us”. While it snows occasionally, even in the warmer parts of Southern California, a blizzard of this magnitude is not uncommon.

For the first time in decades, there was also a blizzard warning for parts of the US state. This is what violent snowstorms with severe temperature drops in North America are called. TV footage showed snow-covered roads and mountains. According to the media, the snow fell meters high in some regions. Some used the winter weather for sleigh rides. Snow has even fallen in unusual places: snow or at least sleet was reported to have been seen near the famous “Hollywood” sign on Friday, the weather service reported on Twitter.

In other parts of the state, torrential rain caused problems: In metropolitan San Diego, two people trapped in a flooded street were rescued, as reported by “The San Diego Union-Tribune” newspaper. Rescuers also came to the aid of those in need in other parts of the state – the homeless were particularly affected. According to the media, the storm brought record amounts of rain and flooding to Los Angeles – there was sometimes a flood warning.

The West Coast’s main north-south highway, Interstate 5, was partially closed. The weather service continued to warn of heavy rain and thunderstorms in parts of Southern California on Saturday. In other regions there was an avalanche warning. The low will move further south and then into the east of the country over the weekend, it said. (sda/dpa)