California battles heavy floods, high winds and rain

At least two people have died after California was hit with another storm that brought high force winds, heavy rain, and more flooding.

Millions of people remain under flood watch as the 12th atmospheric river this season pummels the state.

Over 125,000 customers are without power, according to Poweroutage.us.

California’s severe weather is expected to subside on Wednesday, with forecasts suggesting the storm is headed inland.

On Tuesday, parts of the Pacific Coast highway were shut down due to flooding.

The highest rainfall levels have so far occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the National Weather Service recorded as much as 4.4in (11.17cm) of rain in some regions.

Part of the retaining wall on one interstate cracked on Tuesday before collapsing under pressure of heavy rain, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, and chunks of concrete fell down the rain-soaked hill.

Traffic delays from the damage are expected to last weeks or even months, officials said.

In another part of the Bay Area, a man driving a sewer truck was killed after high winds knocked a tree onto his vehicle, a local CBS affiliate reported.

A train carrying 55 passengers through the Bay Area collided with another downed tree and derailed. No one was injured.

Coastal flood advisories are in effect around San Francisco through to Thursday.

Thousands have been evacuated from two small California towns, Alpaugh and Allensworth, in the central part of the state in Tulare County.

While some residents have been forced to wade through several feet of water to reach their homes in the aftermath of the storm’s ferocity, additional high winds, rain and snowfall are predicted to continue in other parts of the US.

As the storm tracks east and meets cooler temperatures, a winter weather advisory has been put in place from northern Nevada to Nebraska, where snow predictions range from 3in to 10in.

A winter storm warning is also in effect in southern Nevada, north-western Arizona, and southern Utah.

The National Weather Service has also issued a red flag warning in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, where wind gusts are predicted to reach up to 55mph (88km/h).

The atypical California rain defies years of historic droughts. Tens of trillions of gallons of rainwater have fallen on the state since the storms began in late December.

The latest atmospheric river is predicted to hit the US south-west as well as the Rocky Mountains by Tuesday evening.

Atmospheric rivers occur when water evaporates into the air and is carried along by the wind, creating long currents that flow in the sky like rivers flow on land. They can bring heavy rain and snowfall.

The extreme flooding this season has caused some parts of California to lift restrictions on water use as the rainfall has helped to ease the state’s historic drought. Experts have cautioned that the dry conditions could return next year.

Several factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere due to climate change can make extreme rainfall more likely.