 Hi, I'm Brian May in the Cal OES Newsroom. The headlines for this long presidential day weekend are rather ominous, hazardous travel conditions, wide out conditions, road closures. We have weather that will be impacting all of California. So we want to discuss what that means to you and your potential travel plans coming up on this long weekend. We'll talk to both the California Highway Patrol, but we begin first with the National Weather Service. And I'm joined by Julie Malangowski, meteorologist with the National Weather Service at the Western Regional Headquarters. Julie, first of all, thank you so much for taking time today to speak with us. Let's just talk about the forecast and what we're seeing all across California for these next few days. Yeah, you bet, Brian. So across Northern California this weekend, the main hazard will be the snowfall that's going to impact a lot of the state, actually not just Northern, but also Southern California. So the big thing to know this weekend is that we are expecting showers and the snow level will be decreasing from about 2,500 feet across Northern California to about 1,000 feet by Sunday morning. So as the weekend progresses, that snow level is really going to drop pretty far into the valleys. And Julie, we've had some dry winters in the past, but this is really typical of what we should be seeing this time of year, right? Yes, the reservoirs across California are definitely filling up as this recent rainfall has brought a lot of rain to the Sierras and the other mountains of California. Southern California, we know the risk is great in some of the burn scar areas. Can you give us kind of the forecast for what it looks like down south? You bet. Yeah, down south, it's going to be a very similar situation in Northern California. We're not expecting any major problems or any problems on the burn scars in Southern California or Northern California for that matter this weekend. That snow level as it drops throughout the weekend, it will also impact Southern California. And that will impact the Great Vine Corridor along I-5 as well. So a lot of the burns, such as the Holy and the Cranston Fires, are going to see snow on them instead of rain this time, this weekend. Julie, so much of what we do at the emergency services level is predicated on what happens with the weather. We know that you guys at the National Weather Service are monitoring this and in contact with the state constantly. Just talk about that collaboration and the information that you're sharing with the state all the time right now. So we here at Western Region Headquarters, we are providing daily briefings to the KELOES State Warning Center, and those are in by 9 a.m. every day. And we also have our local offices, which are 24-7, and they are providing those localized details and keeping an eye on the forecast as it progresses over time. Julie, we hear the term the atmospheric river that's been thrown around lately. What does that mean to us? So the atmospheric river is a term for a long and narrow region in the atmosphere, and it stems from the tropics up to the mid-latitudes, and it transports water vapor outside of the tropics towards mainland U.S. So it tends to bring an extended period of rain or precipitation to the west coast, so we have been seeing those conditions over the past week. Thanks to the much-lead beneficial water across the state of California. You mentioned the much-lead beneficial water across California. We've been in drought conditions for several years up until now. Have we changed, have we turned the corner? Is this ending the drought, or is this way too soon to say something like that? It is a little too soon to talk about how the recent rains are impacting the drought conditions. Drought does take into effect a lot of different variables, so it's not just dependent on the recent rainfall. Bottom line for residents, still conserved, don't go crazy, just because we are getting some good rain right now, right? Yes, that's correct. Julie Malungowski with the National Weather Service, thank you so much for joining us, giving us an update and letting us know what we can expect this coming weekend. Thank you, Julie. All right, so now that we know the wet weather and the snowy weather is coming to California, let's talk more about what that does and the impacts it'll have for those of you who are hitting the road this long weekend. Joining us now, Officer Ian Hulley with the California Highway Patrol, Officer Hulley, first of all, thanks for joining us, I appreciate it. Let's talk about driving conditions, and I want to start really in the higher elevations where there's a lot of snow on the ground and more coming. What do people need to know? You need to be prepared before you travel, so please make sure that you check either Caltrans or CHP websites to see what the conditions are where you're going to be traveling to. If you don't have the Quick Maps app, which is a Caltrans app, it's available on both the Android and Apple platforms. It's a free download, and it'll have active CHP incidents, road closures, areas of chain control. It even has some traffic cameras, which you can do real time. Obviously, don't do that while you're driving. You want to make sure your car is in good condition prior to leaving. Make sure that your tire tread depth is good. Your windshield wipers are operating properly. If you need to replace those wiper blades now's the time. Make sure your windows are clean inside and out. Your headlights are cleared off. Make sure your headlights are working. If you're going to be traveling and you hit inclement weather, whether it's rain or snow, and you need your windshield wipers on, you are required to have your headlights on. That doesn't mean your daytime running lights. It means your headlights. That way, your taillights activate as well. You want to be seen front and rear. Remember to slow down for conditions. Obey the people at the chain control closures. You are required to have chains with you, even if you're not going to need them if you're traveling to chain control areas. Also, if you do have chains on your vehicle or you don't, it doesn't matter. If you're in chain control area, you are subject to those minimized speed limits. So even if you're in an area and you have four-wheel drive, if you're within chain control, please obey those reduced speed limits. There's a reason for that. You also want to have warm clothing, blankets with you, drinking water, food, should you get stuck somewhere. Make sure your tank of gas is full in your vehicle. And make sure you have a fully charged cell phone. If you need help, please call 911. We will be there. But remember, our response times are going to be delayed because we're helping a lot of people out there. And the same goes with tow trucks as well. You speak about those response times. I know you respond to a lot of spin-outs in the higher country during this kind of element. What's the most common mistake you see people make? People drive too fast for the conditions. You may think that you're cruising along just fine, but there's ice, there's snow. There are conditions that you may not expect. You could come around a turn and somebody's disabled in the roadway. Applying your brakes in icy or snowy conditions, you have a lot more distance that you're going to require to stop. So keep that in mind. Just think about yourself, your personal safety, but the safety of the people traveling with you and the other motorists on the roadway. Let's talk now about some of the conditions that could happen. And we could see down in the lower elevations a lot of rain flooding, which especially in the South there, it can happen so quickly. If people see standing water up ahead, what do they need to know? If you see standing water, you don't know how deep it is. Moving water can very quickly overcome you. Vehicle only requires about two feet of water to actually be lifted up and moved. So think that, take that into consideration. You don't know how deep that water is. We don't want to have to come rescue you. I mean, we will if we have to, but we really don't want to put you in that situation. Don't put yourself in that situation. Don't travel into any kind of standing water, whether it looks like it's running or not. If it's in the roadway, there's a reason for it. See if you can safely turn around. If not, call for help. We'll get somebody out there. We'll determine whether or not it's safe to travel through. Getting stuck in the middle of moving water is a very, very dangerous situation and it can claim your life. We're all in a rush, but I guess this is a good weekend to say, give yourself ample time, whether you're going high country or down in the valley, right? Absolutely, we don't want to tell you not to go somewhere, but if you need to go somewhere, if you need to travel this weekend during the storms, please be careful. Think about where you're going. Think about the safety of not only yourself and your passengers, but the other motorists on the roadway. Like I said, slow down, take your time, give yourself plenty of extra time to get where you're going. And that's all I can really offer. Officer Ian Hoy with the California Highway Patrol. Thank you very much for that great advice. Again, if you are traveling, make sure that you monitor your local media. As you just heard, have provisions with you, give yourself plenty of time and drive slow. Slow it down if you're traveling on this long weekend. For all of us here at Cal OES, I'm Brian May. Thanks for joining us.