Businesses in the Southwest should prepare now for a powerful winter storm that will bring heavy rain and snow

BUSINESSES SHOULD BE READY FOR A MAJOR STORM BRINGING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE SOUTHWEST 

AccuWeather's expert meteorologists are keeping a close eye on a major winter storm moving into the Southwest starting this Thursday through the weekend. To be better prepared, we recommend businesses utilize AccuWeather's severe weather warnings - which have proven to protect life, safety, and property better than our competitors. 

A strong atmospheric river will move into California tonight, bringing flooding rain and high-mountain snow through the weekend. Heavy rain will begin tonight across northern California into southwestern Oregon and will spread south into central California by Saturday morning. Rain will spread into southern California by Saturday afternoon.  

Rain and snow move across the region through Saturday night. Areas in Northern and Central California can expect up to 4 inches of rain from Thursday to Saturday, with higher amounts of up to 8 inches in higher elevations. The heavy rain will bring the risk of flooding, mudslides, and rapid snowmelt, adding to runoff and flooding concerns. Locations over the Sierra Nevada can have a renewed danger of avalanches as heavy snow falls across higher terrain. There is an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 20 inches. 

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Businesses in these areas should keep an eye on this system and should: 

• Identify hazards most likely to impact your location & cause business disruptions. 
• Take steps to minimize inventory loss due to flooding from torrential rain. If your warehouse is in a low-lying area, you should take precautions.
• Expect ground logistics disruption from drifting snow, flooded roads, downed trees, and power outages due to road closures.

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You can reduce liability, increase safety, and substantially reduce the risk of injury to your employees and customers by subscribing to AccuWeather's severe warning services. Our service is the most accurate such service available, with more lead time on average than all other sources. 

We have saved over 10,000 lives and prevented injuries to over 100,000 people. As a business, our unique and proven service will allow you to reduce your risk of reputational harm from many perils and even reduce your insurance premiums. 

Serving more than half of Fortune 500 companies and thousands of businesses globally, AccuWeather is recognized as the most accurate source of weather forecasts, warnings, and data in the world.

Protect your business and team members by making the best weather-impacted decisions with AccuWeather's Snow Warning Service, backed by forecasts and warnings with Superior Accuracy™. AccuWeather's Snow Warning Service offers location-specific forecasts and 24x7x365 consulting services for snow, ice, blizzards, and other winter-hazard events.