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‘Biggest Storm’ of Winter Misses Mark in Bay Area, Hits Target in Sierra

The winter’s most anticipated storm was little more than a second-place finisher in terms of Bay Area rainfall. Though light rain should continue into the weekend, the mountains got hit hardest. Thursday morning in San Francisco featured heavy rain to start, but by early afternoon sunshine was bursting through scattered clouds. Friday should be mostly overcast with scattered showers, forecasters said, but nothing close to predictions of the year’s biggest storm. “It was a little less than we expected,” said meteorologist Anna Schneider of the National Weather Service in Monterey

Biggest Storm of the Season Moves into California, Bringing Warnings of Blizzards and Mudslides

After enduring one of its driest winters on record, California was being hit Friday by a frigid storm moving in from the Gulf of Alaska that triggered blizzard and avalanche warnings in the Sierra Nevada and concerns about more mudslides and flash-flooding in the southern part of the state. “It’s the biggest storm of the season,” said Jim Mathews, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “Of course, February was a dud of a month, so March is coming in like a roaring lion.”

The Latest: Southern California Avoids Storm Problems So Far

Rain is moving across Southern California, but authorities on the south Santa Barbara County coast say there has not been a repeat of the deadly debris flows that struck during a January storm. County spokeswoman Suzanne Grimmesey says the worst of the storm passed over early Friday and so far there are only reports of minor roadway flooding. Officials will survey the area after sunrise, but Grimmesey says the assessments are expected to be positive. Officials on Thursday ordered an evacuation of up to 30,000 people from communities below mountain slopes burned bare by wildfires.

VIDEO: Imperial Beach, Chula Vista File Lawsuit Over Sewage Spills

NBC 7’s Audra Stafford reports on sewage spills along the U.S.-Mexico border over the last 3 years that are the subject of a new lawsuit filed Friday.

Most California Schools OK For Lead Levels In Drinking Water; Thousands Yet To Be Tested

Less than 1 percent of recent drinking water samples at California’s public schools showed elevated lead levels. But thousands more campuses still need to be tested, state officials said last week. A new law, AB 746, took effect in January requiring those tests at public schools over the next 16 months. Lead exposure can affect nearly every system in the body, and because it often has no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Childhood exposure to lead has been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention and academic achievement.

Rain and Mountain Snow Headed for San Diego County

A North Pacific storm system will slowly move over San Diego County Friday with rain and mountain snow possible late in the evening. Most precipitation is expected early Saturday morning into Saturday afternoon with rain likely for much of the county and snow possible above about five thousand feet. As the cold winter storm moves east, a high-pressure system will fill the void, bringing with it warmer weather for the beginning of next week. The windy, wet conditions should arrive by Friday evening and last through Saturday evening, then warmer, drier weather is on tap for early next week.

Editorial: Border Sewage Lawsuit: Port, Cities Had No Choice

The decision of the Port of San Diego and the cities of Imperial Beach and Chula Vista to sue the U.S. branch of the binational International Boundary and Water Commission for allegedly violating the federal Clean Water Act is a proportionate, necessary response to a grave problem that only seems to get worse, not better. The port and the cities say they can no longer tolerate the commission’s failure to prevent sewage, trash, industrial waste and pesticides from flowing through the Tijuana River and into the Pacific Ocean on the U.S. side of the border.

Biggest Storm Of The Season Moves Into California, Bringing Warnings Of Blizzards And Mudslides

After enduring one of its driest winters on record, California was being hit Friday by a frigid storm moving in from the Gulf of Alaska that triggered blizzard and avalanche warnings in the Sierra Nevada and concerns about more mudslides and flash-flooding in the southern part of the state. “It’s the biggest storm of the season,” said Jim Mathews, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “Of course, February was a dud of a month, so March is coming in like a roaring lion.”

South Bay Cities, Port Slap Feds With Clean Water Act Lawsuit For Failure To Contain Sewage From Tijuana

South Bay elected officials said they are filing a lawsuit Friday in the most dramatic attempt in decades to force the federal government to plug up the millions of gallons of sewage and polluted water that routinely stream over the border from Tijuana into the San Diego region. The cities of Imperial Beach and Chula Vista, as well as the Port of San Diego are suing the U.S. side of the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.