California Drivers Get Warning: 'Use Extra Caution'

National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists issued a wind advisory for the Sacramento, California, area on Monday night, prompting motorists to exercise caution.

Strong winds are expected to whip through California through Wednesday night as a storm system moves into the area. The Sacramento Valley to the Delta region will be affected in the northern part of the state, but the NWS Los Angeles office issued a wind advisory for its region in Southern California as well.

In Sacramento, northwest winds are blowing between 15 and 25 miles per hour, with some gusts reaching up to 45 mph. Winds are gusting slightly stronger farther south—up to 55 mph in Hanford and 50 miles in Los Angeles.

"Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result," the Sacramento warning said.

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The strongest winds are expected along Interstate 5 and to the west of the roadway, prompting meteorologists to warn motorists.

"Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects," NWS Sacramento warned in the report.

Power outages and other damage also could occur, NWS Sacramento wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"With increasing north winds expected late Tuesday through Wednesday, we have issued a Wind Advisory for portions of the central and southern Sacramento Valley," NWS Sacramento posted. "Be prepared for difficult driving conditions, downed tree branches, and possibly a few localized power outages."

NWS meteorologist Eric Kurth told Newsweek that the winds aren't associated with any thunderstorms in the area.

"The good thing is we've gotten a good bit of rain and things are green, so we don't have a lot of fire concerns," he said. "High-profile vehicles, trucks and RVs, can have difficulty driving so that's probably one of the main issues."

Power outages also could be caused by the winds in Los Angeles and Hanford. As of Tuesday morning, only 463 people in California were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

It has been an active week for severe weather in the U.S. already. Following a weekend that brought multiple devastating tornadoes to the Plains states, a storm producing torrential rainfall moved through Texas, Missouri and Louisiana on Monday. The storm produced life-threatening flash flooding in Louisiana, where up to 9 inches of rain fell in the Lake Charles region. Dangerous flash floods also occurred near Galveston, Texas, where up to 4 inches of rain had fallen.

The severe storms had moved out of the nation as of Tuesday morning, leaving behind dense fog and some remaining floods.

Elsewhere in the U.S. on Tuesday morning, New York was battling frequent lightning strikes; Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma were under fire weather watches; and a freeze warning was issued for California, Oregon and Idaho.