(NEW YORK) — A major storm is hitting the West Coast with flood, high wind and heavy snow alerts in effect for California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state.
More than 118,000 customers are without power in California.
Although the heaviest of the rain has ended, unsettled weather continues across California and a flood watch remains in effect.
A winter storm warning is in place for the mountains outside of Los Angeles, where up to a foot of snow is possible.
In California, winds gusts up to 132 mph were reported in Alpine Meadows and up to 60 mph at San Francisco International Airport.
Heavy rain will continue Thursday in California and then most of the state will catch a break on Friday before more rain arrives over the weekend and into early next week.
Winds in Los Angeles County gusted up to 87 mph and up to 63 mph on the Santa Barbara County coast.
The highest rainfall totals in California over the last 24 hours were 5 inches in Potter Valley, 3.98 inches in Valley Christian, 4.67 inches in Los Angeles County and 1.8 inches in Beverly Hills.
San Francisco picked up more than half of its annual rainfall in just 30 days.
Winter storm warnings are in effect for the Sierras, where there could be up to 4 feet of snow.
Heavy snow will continue to fall in the Sierras and mountains of Los Angeles later Thursday while snow will also be moving into the central Rockies.
Additional Atmospheric Rivers will move in this weekend and into next weekend. More rounds of flooding rain, winds and mountain snow are to be expected. The northern and central part of the state will likely get the brunt of it.
Elsewhere, there were 23 reported tornadoes across the South.
Seven tornadoes were confirmed in Illinois alone, making it the biggest tornado outbreak for the state since 1989.
To the north, up to 15 inches of snow fell in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, breaking a daily record and making it the snowiest start to January in five years.
With more than 45 inches of snow so far this season, this is the snowiest start to winter in almost 30 years at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport.
Photography by Keith Getter (all rights reserved)/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — A major storm is hitting the West Coast Wednesday into Thursday with flood, high wind and heavy snow alerts in effect for California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state.
More than 176,000 customers are without power in California.
A winter storm warning is in place for the mountains outside of Los Angeles, where up to a foot of snow is possible.
In California, winds gusts up to 132 miles per hour were reported in Alpine Meadows, California, and up to 60 miles per hour at San Francisco International Airport.
Heavy rain will continue Thursday in California and then most of the state will catch a break on Friday before more rain arrives over the weekend and into early next week.
Winds in Los Angeles County gusted up to 87 mph and up to 63 mph on the Santa Barbara County coast.
The highest rainfall totals in California over the last 24 hours were 5 inches in Potter Valley, 3.98 inches in Valley Christian, 4.67 inches in Los Angeles County and 1.8 inches in Beverly Hills.
San Francisco picked up more than half of its annual rainfall in just 30 days.
In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, more than 5 feet of snow is expected in the next seven days.
Elsewhere, there were 23 reported tornadoes across the South.
Seven tornadoes were confirmed in Illinois alone, making it the biggest tornado outbreak for the state since 1989.
To the north, up to 15 inches of snow fell in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, breaking a daily record and making it the snowiest start to January in five years.
With more than 45 inches of snow so far this season, this is the snowiest start to winter in almost 30 years at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport.
Monroe County Correctional Facility via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The 28-year-old accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death was studying criminal justice at the time of the murders.
More than six weeks after the gruesome slaying shocked the college town of Moscow, Idaho, the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains on Dec. 30.
In the early hours of Nov. 13, roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death in the girls’ off-campus house. Two other roommates — who police said are not suspects — survived, according to officials.
Kohberger, a Ph.D. graduate student at Washington State University, finished his first semester in the criminal justice program last month, the university said.
Washington State is in Pullman, Washington, located about 10 miles away from the University of Idaho.
Police said Kohberger applied for an internship with the Pullman police in the fall of 2022. In an essay he said he wanted to help “rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations,” according to court documents.
“Kohberger also posted a Reddit survey which … asked for participants to provide information to ‘understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime,'” the affidavit said.
After Kohberger’s semester at Washington State ended in December, he and his father drove cross-country together to the family’s Pennsylvania home, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar told ABC News.
They drove the pre-planned road trip in the white Hyundai Elantra which authorities said they were looking for in connection to the murders, according to LaBar.
The father and son were pulled over twice in Indiana, once for speeding and once for tailgating, LaBar said.
Kohberger received a bachelor’s degree from DeSales University in Pennsylvania in 2020 and completed graduate studies there in June 2022, according to DeSales.
Kohberger, who was arrested for four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, has been extradited from Pennsylvania to Idaho.
“Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges,” LaBar said.
Kohberger’s family said in a statement, “We care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them. We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother. We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions.”
Thomas Arntz and his sister Casey Arntz were friends with Kohberger in middle school and high school, but Thomas Arntz told ABC News that Kohberger later turned into a “bully.”
“He would regularly pick on me and try to put me down, and after so long, I mean, I just couldn’t take it anymore,” he said.
Kohberger’s parents “were always very kind to me and I really liked his dad,” he added. “His parents were very nice people.”
Casey Arntz said Kohberger told her that he wanted to go to school for criminology. Thomas Arntz said Kohberger had mentioned that he was interested in becoming a police officer or going into the security industry. The siblings said Kohberger worked as a security officer at a school.
ABC News’ Kayna Whitworth, Soorin Kim and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
(OCCIDENTAL, Calif.) — A 2-and-a-half-year-old boy has died after a redwood tree fell on a double-wide mobile home on Wednesday evening in California as a massive storm pummeled the state, authorities say.
The incident occurred in Occidental, California — approximately 70 miles northwest of San Francisco in Sonoma County — on Wednesday evening as hurricane-force winds battered parts of California as part of the bomb-cyclone that has also brought heavy rains and flooding, according to Ron Lunardi, the fire chief in Occidental.
“One of our major incidents we’ve had involved a redwood tree falling on a house … and we had a fatality up there of a minor — infant, actually. A one-to-two-year old infant,” Lunardi said in an interview.
The child was home with his mother and his father when the accident happened, Lunardi said.
“When I first arrived on scene, a frantic father came out of the house holding the child. He was kind of covered in debris and he said my child is not breathing,” Lunardi said. “We are in a rural location out here so my first thought was get him into my truck and let’s get him out to the main road because he is on a long dirt driveway. I got the father into the truck. As I was backing up down the driveway in reverse I was giving him instructions to breathe his child for him and as we did we got back out to the main road where I met the rescue squad and they immediately grabbed the child from the father and started CPR and waited for the paramedics to get there.”
Neither the mother nor the father of the child were injured when the tree fell but the young boy succumbed to the injuries he suffered in the accident.
“Any time you have a situation like this, especially with a child, everybody’s emotions are a lot higher,” Lunardi said.
Damaging winds gusts of at least 50 mph were forecast Wednesday night and gusts of up to 70 mph are possible near Northern California’s coast, according to the National Weather Service. Flooding rain, damaging winds and mudslides will also be possible across the state over the next several days.
(ENOCH CITY, Utah) — A family of eight people, including five children, were found dead with apparent gunshot wounds in a Utah home on Wednesday after police conducted a welfare check, according to the officials in Enoch City, Utah.
No suspects are at large, and there is no threat to the public according to a press release from Enoch City.
“We all know this family; many of us have served with them in church, and community, and gone to school with these individuals,” City Manager Rob Dobson said at a press conference. “And so this community at this time is hurting, they’re feeling loss, they are feeling pain, they have a lot of questions which is natural.”
In a letter to parents, the Iron County School District confirmed that the five children in the home were students of the Iron County School District.
According to Dotson, the welfare check was called into the police department on Wednesday evening.
Dotson indicated that police are unaware of a motive at the moment. At the time of the press conference, police were actively searching the home. Law enforcement from Enoch City, Iron County and Cedar City are cooperating in the investigation, according to Dotson.
Dotson said that the public could learn more about a possible motive within “a day or two or maybe longer.”
“The most important thing that we can say is that this community is feeling remorse, feeling pain,” he said. “There are friends and neighbors and family members who are hurting because of this incident.”
Enoch is a rural city with roughly 8,00 residents in the southwest corner of Utah near Zion National Park. About 250 miles from Salt Lake City, the city is closer to Las Vegas than the Utah capital.
The small city is mourning the loss of these residents, according to Dotson. Visibly choking up during the conference, Dotson said he appreciated the prayers from across the county for the family.
“We are getting word from across the nation about how much people care for each other, and it is overwhelming and appreciated,” he said.
Learning of the tragedy, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox tweeted, “Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless violence. Please keep the community of Enoch in your prayers.”
Doug Andersen, director of media relations for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, declined to say whether the family had been members or if the church was aware of any allegations of domestic violence.
ABC News has reached out to the Enoch City mayor and police department for more information.
(NEW YORK) — Extremist violence targeting migrants along the southwest border could rise amid the possible lifting of the public health restriction known as Title 42, according to a Department of Homeland Security intelligence assessment obtained by ABC News.
The bulletin, dated Dec. 23 and issued by DHS’ intelligence and analysis branch, came just before the Supreme Court announced that they would hear arguments on whether or not the policy should continue.
The high court ordered the controversial restriction, which allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants and is officially intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19, be kept in place until they decide on an appeal from 19 states who want to preserve the policy.
The justices will hear the appeal in February.
“We assess that the potential for domestic violent extremist (DVE) violence along the US Southwest Border likely will increase in the coming weeks based on recent online calls for violence in response to the anticipated lifting of US Code Title 42,” the late-December bulletin states.
In particular, the bulletin cites “calls for attacks targeting primarily migrants and critical infrastructure.”
“But our insight into DVE plotting is constrained by these individuals’ use of online security measures to limit exposure to law enforcement,” the DHS assessment notes.
On social media, the department says extremists have also posted “online calls for violence targeting migrants at the US Southwest Border.”
“The tactics discussed are consistent with DVE messaging and include firearms attacks, the placement of land mines along migration routes, and luring migrants into trailers to poison them with gas, according to DHS reporting,” the bulletin states.
DHS believes that domestic extremists will be influenced by “perceptions of … law enforcement action along the border” after Title 42 ends: “This includes perceptions about individuals, groups, or other organizations operating along the border, the treatment of migrants encountered there, and the number of migrants entering the United States.”
According to the department, social media users have discussed shooting electrical substations near the southern border as a way to “disrupt immigration facilities and public safety and emergency services, judging from DHS reporting.”
This tactic, the department says, is new and similar to what occurred in early December at a substation in Moore County, North Carolina.
Militia extremists pose the greatest threat to law enforcement, the bulletin states, because of their readiness and preparedness. In years past, extremists have targeted immigrant communities, such as in the 2019 mass shooting of an El Paso, Texas, Walmart.
“Since at least 2018, DVEs responsible for mass casualty attacks tied to immigration grievances have prioritized soft targets perceived as being densely populated by immigrants or facilitating migration to the United States,” the bulletin states.
Monroe County Correctional Facility via Getty Images
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old suspect in the University of Idaho murders, has arrived back in Idaho to face charges, Latah County Sheriff Richie Skiles confirmed to ABC News.
He landed earlier at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport in Washington state.
“It’s been a long day. The transport went really well,” Skiles said. “I would like to thank the Pennsylvania State Police and the Idaho State Police for all of their hard work and helping us make this happen.”
Kohberger, a Pennsylvania native, was arrested in his home state on Friday for the Nov. 13 murders of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin. The four victims were stabbed to death at an off-campus house in the middle of the night.
Kohberger was a Ph.D. student in Washington State University’s department of criminal justice and criminology at the time of the murders. The Washington State campus is less than 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger appeared in court in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday on the first-degree murder and burglary charges and agreed to be extradited to Idaho.
Kohberger’s attorney in Pennsylvania, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, said in a statement his client was “eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”
The probable cause affidavit allegedly connecting Kohberger to the murders has been under seal; Idaho officials said it could not be released until Kohberger returned to the state.
Moscow police said Tuesday night that an Idaho judge has issued a nondissemination order in the case
“The order prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney concerning this case,” police said. “Due to this court order, the Moscow Police Department will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding this case.”
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison and John Capell contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A second body was discovered outside of a vehicle on Wednesday, as authorities attempted to recover vehicles that washed away due to the flooding in Sacramento County over the New Year’s weekend, California Highway Patrol (CHP) told ABC News.
Officials discovered the woman’s body around 10 a.m. in a field about one mile east of State Route 99, CHP said.
Authorities could not confirm if the body was connected to the vehicles they were towing until they could positively identify the person.
Earlier this week, one person was found dead in their vehicle in California on Sunday morning, as a winter storm brought flooding and heavy snow to the state, a Sacramento Metro Fire spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
A Sacramento Metro Fire spokesperson confirmed that the deceased was recovered from their flooded vehicle in the southernmost part of Sacramento County, near the city of Elk Grove.
The identity and cause of death of the deceased haven’t been confirmed pending a coroner’s examination, according to Sacramento Metro Fire.
The National Weather Service in Sacramento issued flash flood warnings for the area, urging drivers to stay off the road.
A levee break in several places caused the flooding in the area, Sacramento Metro Fire Captain and Public Information Officer Parker Wilbourn told ABC News.
The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services ordered residents in Wilton to shelter in place earlier Saturday afternoon.
“Rising water has made roads impassable in the area,” the office said in an advisory.
According to Caltrans District 3, which maintains the state highway system in 11 northern California counties, a highway near Elk Grove has been closed because the Cosumnes River flooded.
Two more storms are expected for the next week in northern California, with the second storm set for Wednesday and Thursday, possibly causing flooding in the area, according to NWS Sacramento.
Over 5 inches of rain had fallen in downtown San Francisco on Saturday, setting a new daily record, the National Weather Service for the San Francisco Bay Area said.
The West Coast is being slammed with an atmospheric river, which usually brings heavy rain, wind and snow to areas that it flows through, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The NOAA describes atmospheric rivers as “rivers in the sky” because they’re somewhat long and narrow regions in the atmosphere that send most of the water vapor outside the tropics.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(BOSTON) — William “Rick” Singer, the ringleader in a college admissions cheating scandal that spanned the country, was sentenced to 42 months in prison by a federal judge on Wednesday. Singer will then be on supervised release for three more years.
He will turn himself over to authorities on Feb. 27.
The former college admissions consultant pleaded guilty in March 2019 to helping parents of dozens of well-to-do high school students cheat their way into elite universities.
His sentence comes nearly four years after his plea, as he helped prosecutors convict his former clients, including high-powered executives, fashion moguls and Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Singer, 62, pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six years in prison — much more than the six-month maximum Singer’s lawyers requested.
Prosecutors called it the “most massive fraud” ever perpetrated in the U.S. education system.
“Without this defendant, without Rick Singer coming up with a scheme, masterminding the scheme, orchestrating the scheme it never would have happened,” the prosecutor said.
Singer’s lawyer Candice Fields said Wednesday in a statement: “It was a sobering day in court but Rick is resilient and committed to a future dedicated to the underserved. He hopes to continue making amends for mistakes of the past.”
His sentence all but marks the end of “Operation Varsity Blues,” the moniker for the FBI’s investigation that uncovered a cheating ring of approximately 50 defendants.
Among those prosecuted were parents who paid Singer more than $6 million, Ivy League coaches who opened sham spots on their rosters for Singer’s clients in exchange for bribes and test administrators who were paid to fudge applicants’ entrance exam scores.
Prosecutors said Singer was the mastermind of the decadeslong scheme, which has since become the subject of at least four books, a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary.
“He is the architect, he is the face of this fraud,” the prosecutor said.
Before the sentencing, Singer read a letter apologizing to students whose parents paid him to bribe their kids’ way into school, to some of the institutions, and to his family and friends.
“Those students were intelligent and deserving of more integrity than I showed them,” he read aloud in court.
“I can see the difference between how I was and how I am now and always want to be,” he said. “All I want to do is live a life that is deeper and more enriched by devoting myself to making a difference in other people’s lives,” he continued.
“Despite my passion to help others, I have lost my ethical values and I have so much regret. To be frank, I am ashamed of myself,” he also said.
Singer sat slumped in his chair between his two attorneys throughout the hearing, and did not react to the sentence.
He had convinced wealthy clients to pay him bribes in order to give their children a leg up at schools such as Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, prosecutors said. Singer then funneled the money through his charity he said would support disadvantaged youth, allowing his co-conspirators to write off their dues as tax deductions.
Singer was “exceptionally valuable” following his plea deal, according to prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum. He agreed to have his phone tapped to help indict his former clients and accomplices, allowing the government to secure the convictions.
Still, his cooperation was laden with missteps, prosecutors wrote. He met in person with at least six of his former clients to warn them about the investigation and was subsequently convicted of obstructing justice.
“He was the architect and mastermind of a criminal enterprise that massively corrupted the integrity of the college admissions process,” prosecutors wrote in the memorandum.
“Without Singer, the scheme never would have happened,” they added.
In his own memorandum, Singer wrote that he had forfeited his assets, including a sprawling mansion in Orange County, California, which he exchanged for a modest home in a Florida trailer park.
“I have been reflecting on my very poor judgment and criminal activities that increasingly had become my way of life,” he wrote. “I have woken up every day feeling shame, remorse and regret.”
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Potential for deadly flooding, damage from incoming monster storm
Potential for deadly flooding, damage from incoming monster storm
Millions in Northern California are bracing for a massive winter storm, just days after the area…
After significant rainfall last week, the West Coast is bracing for another major storm that is expected to bring the threat of flooding rain, damaging winds and mudslides.
A “potent atmospheric river” will start impacting northern California on Wednesday, before moving to the central and southern coast into Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
Damaging winds gusts of at least 50 mph are forecast Wednesday as the front moves in, with gusts up to 70 mph possible near the coast. The gusty winds may down trees and cause power outages, the agency warned.
The storm will bring “substantial rainfall to the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast on top of already saturated soils,” the National Weather Service said.
Excessive rain, with river flooding and flash flooding, is possible. Some rivers, like the Russian River, are expected to rise more than 20 feet in just over 24 hours.
“As a result look for rapid rises in area creeks, streams, and rivers. Bankfull exceedance is possible,” the National Weather Service said.
Burn scars will also be vulnerable to flooding, the agency said.
The worst of the storm is expected to hit Northern California and the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon into the evening.
“Between 3 and 7 p.m. you do not want to be on the roads anywhere in the Bay Area,” ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee said.
The heavy rain will move into Los Angeles Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, with flash flooding possible.
Over the next few days, 2 to 4 inches of rain is possible from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with 4 to 8 inches forecast in the mountains.
The excessive rain comes days after San Francisco reported its second-rainiest day ever, when over 5 inches of rain fell on New Year’s Eve.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said during a press briefing ahead of the storm that the city is anticipating “something just as significant” on Wednesday.
Ahead of the storm, the city activated its Emergency Operations Center to clear storm drains, distribute sandbags and “ensure residents are prepared,” Breed said.
The storm is forecast to then bring heavy snow as it moves into the Rockies Thursday and Friday, where up to a foot of snow is expected. Avalanche danger will be high.
This is the latest atmospheric river storm to bring significant rainfall to the region in recent weeks.
The long, narrow regions in the atmosphere are like “rivers in the sky,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They carry large amounts of water vapor over the Pacific Ocean, which is released as rain in lower elevations or snow in higher elevations when they make landfall.
The events are “tied closely to both water supply and flood risks,” NOAA said. Extreme rainfall from an atmospheric river can also cause mudslides, it said.
