The Latest: More rain, snow for already soaked California

The Latest on storms hitting the West (all times local):

7:30 a.m.

Scattered showers and snow are expected for an already soaked California, prompting authorities to issue a flood warning for coastal areas and a winter storm warning for mountainous regions.

Drake Road is flooded by the Russian River at the Pee Wee Golf and Arcade of Guerneville, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, trapping people in floodwaters, washing away a mountain highway, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. (Kent PorterThe Press Democrat via AP)

Officials say Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada is closed Friday from the small community of Colfax to the Nevada border because of whiteout conditions. They say dangerous travel conditions will continue through early Sunday.

The area is expected to receive at least 3 feet (0.9 meters) of new snow.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the westbound lanes of Highway 36 in the city of Novato were closed after a levee breached and flooded it. That complicated the commute for thousands of motorists.

Forestvillle Fire Protection District firefighters Mike Pierson, left, and Eric Gramola rescue a counselor from the Sonoma County Juvenile Probation Camp off Trenton Healdsburg Road in Forestville, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, trapping people in floodwaters, washing away a mountain highway, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. (Kent PorterThe Press Democrat via AP)

Officials issued a flood warning lasting through Saturday for the community of Guerneville north of San Francisco because the Russian River surpassed flood stage overnight.

12:00 a.m.

Authorities warn that mudslides are still possible even after a damaging storm moved through California.

This Feb. 14, 2019, photo released by Caltrans District 3 shows a 7-mile back up on the South bound Interstate 5, as it reopens to traffic in Maxwell in Colusa County, Calif. A storm in California has trapped people in floodwaters, triggered a mudslide that destroyed homes and forced evacuations in wildfire areas. The storm delayed flights destined for San Francisco International Airport, closed sections of several key highways, including Highway 1 on the Central Coast, Interstate 5 north of Sacramento, and U.S. 395 in the snowy eastern Sierra Nevada. (Caltrans District 3 via AP)

April Newman, spokeswoman for Riverside County Fire Department, says crews will continue damage assessments Friday.

The powerful system unleashed rain, snow and wind across the U.S. West into Wyoming and Colorado.

In California, roads were washed away, people were trapped in rising floodwaters and debris flows destroyed homes. At least two deaths were reported: a man who was paddle-boarding down a surging storm channel in Escondido and a woman who suffered a heart attack while being rescued from rising waters in Corona.

Aldo Cabrera, of Forestville, Calif., photographs the sunset at Wholer Road in Forestville, Calif., as the Russian River and Mark West Creek floods vineyards, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, trapping people in floodwaters, washing away a mountain highway, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. (Kent PorterThe Press Democrat via AP)

Some evacuation warnings remain in place for neighborhoods near wildfire burn areas southeast of Los Angeles.

The Mojave River floods near the Deep Creek area as a winter storm passes through Hesperia, Calif., Thursday Feb. 14, 2019. (James QuiggThe Daily Press via AP)

This photo released by Caltrans District 8 shows damage to Highway 243 near Lake Fulmor, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Waves of heavy rain pounded California on Thursday, flooding streets, triggering a mudslide that destroyed homes and forcing residents to flee communities scorched by wildfires last year. (Caltrans District 8 via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death — which came soon before the Russian president's reelection — or directly ordered it, according to the official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Soon after Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.

At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that “there is no doubt” that his death “was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”

Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, died Feb. 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he rejected as politically motivated.

He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.

In March, a month after Navalny’s death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.

The Wall Street Journal first reported about the U.S. intelligence determination.

FILE - Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 18, 2017. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, in February of 2024. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found "no smoking gun" that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death or directly ordered it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)