Storm 'double-whammy' batters both coasts

Intense storms are slamming into both coasts of the US on Tuesday, bringing more rain, flooding and mud slides to California, and high winds and heavy snow to the north-east.

Nearly 90,000 customers are without power in New York State and over 3,000 flights in the US have been delayed.

States of emergency were declared in New York and New Jersey on Monday, ahead of the storm.

Officials predict storms on both coasts will persist overnight.

On Monday night, the National Weather Service warned of the "Double-Whammy" of storms heading to the two coasts.

The storm sweeping along the north-east has hit several states including parts New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont.

As winds in some areas reached above 40mph (64km/h), hundreds of schools in the region were closed, power lines downed and trees were toppled.

A bulk of the flight cancellations occurred between Boston Logan International Airport, New York's LaGuardia Airport, and New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, CNN reported.

In Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont ordered all executive branch state office buildings closed on Tuesday.

Over two feet of snow fell in parts of western Massachusetts and southern Vermont, Marc Chenard, a forecaster for the National Weather Service, told the BBC.

"The worst of the snow is ongoing now and continuing into the evening hours," he said. "Once we get through tonight it'll start winding down."

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CBS reporters that things were "a lot better than we had feared, but we are not out of the woods yet".

Thousands of miles away, on the west coast, California is being hit with yet another bout of bad weather after being pummelled by 11 atmospheric rivers since the beginning of the year.

Atmospheric rivers occur when water evaporates into the air and is carried along by the wind, forming long currents that flow in the sky like rivers flow on land. They can lead to significant precipitation.

The state has faced widespread flooding, levee failures and mudslides, and a number of deaths have been linked to the severe weather since earlier this winter.

Some flooding has already occurred in the central part of the state, Mr Chenard said, including in the San Francisco to Monterrey corridor, and the rain is expected to move south toward Los Angeles.

Mud slides were reported near Santa Cruz, where a flash flood warning remains in effect for areas just north of the area, he added. Meanwhile, roughly a dozen other counties in California are under flood advisories.

Although up to 10in (25cm) of rain was forecast in some areas, Mr Chenard said the most reported as of Tuesday afternoon was 4 to 5in. But, he added, rain is expected to continue through the evening and into tomorrow.

"By tomorrow afternoon, most of the state should be drier," he said.