An AFP journalist saw tractors fighting to pump floodwater back into the river in fields near Salinas. The newly falling rain was not helping the effort.
And forecasters say the fluctuating weather in the US West—called an atmospheric river pattern—isn’t done.
In the mountains, heavy snow was making travel dangerous or impossible on a three-day holiday weekend in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Amid the growing danger of avalanches, officials urged people to stay indoors.
Officials in the Lake Tahoe resort area posted photos showing dozens of vehicles stuck in a severe blizzard.
Among those killed in the past three weeks were drivers found in submerged cars, people killed by falling trees, and a husband and wife killed by falling rocks.
Winter storms are not uncommon in California. But global warming is making them soggy and wild.
At the same time, the western United States is getting drier than it has been for years.