A storm system sweeps across the Southeast triggering tornado watches and damaging winds

ATLANTA (AP) — A weekend storm system sweeping across the Southeast brought tornado warnings to Mississippi and Louisiana, and then took aim at parts of Georgia and Florida, as people in the Northeast were finally getting a reprieve from weeks of bitterly cold temperatures.

Some of the fiercest weather in the South was reported near Lake Charles, Louisiana, where high winds from a thunderstorm overturned a horse trailer and a Mardi Gras float, damaged an airport jet bridge and flung the metal awning from a house into power lines. The damage was documented by National Weather Service employees who surveyed the area.

Power poles were snapped and toppled near the Louisiana towns of Jena, Cheneyville and Donaldsonville, the weather service reported.

No deaths or serious injuries were reported, but the damage reports came as the storm system continued into parts of south Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, which were under tornado watches on Sunday.

The storms led to some power outages across southern states, but nowhere near the massive number of outages caused by ice storms late last month in northern Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee. By Sunday evening, a few thousand customers were still without electricity in Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky and Virginia, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

Meanwhile, the Northeast was beginning to thaw after a weekslong stretch of uncommonly cold weather.

Boston was running nearly 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 Celsius) below average for February last week, and the city was on pace for its coldest winter in more than a decade. Boston remained cold on Sunday, but this week’s forecast called for temperatures climbing into the high 30s and low 40s, which is closer to the seasonal average.

On the West Coast, much of California braced for a powerful winter storm that was expected to bring drenching thunderstorms, damaging winds and heavy snow in mountain areas. Jacob Spender, a weather service meteorologist in Sacramento, urged people to take precautions in the coming days.

“So if they are traveling, packing winter safety kits. Anything to be prepared. This is a bigger system, and a major system,” Spender said.

Rain that began Sunday in the San Francisco Bay Area was forecast to intensify throughout the day and overnight, bringing the risk of flooding. Forecasters said the Sierra Nevada, including ski resorts around Lake Tahoe, could see up to seven feet (two meters) of snow before the storm moves through late Wednesday.

To the south, Los Angeles area residents in some neighborhoods scarred by last year's devastating wildfires were under an evacuation warning through Tuesday because of the potential for mud and debris flows. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she's ordered emergency crews and city departments to prepare to respond to any problems.

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Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Julie Walker in New York City; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed.

Storm clouds bring rain to the Bay Area, in San Francisco, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Visitors take in city views at Hyde and Lombard streets as rain begins to soak the Bay Area, in San Francisco, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Ice covers a navigational beacon at the end of the South Pier along Lake Michigan, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in St. Joseph, Mich. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)

Coast Guard Seaman Leyla Siglam monitors ice breaking from the Coast Guard Cutter Hawser during an ice-clearing operation at Wallabout Bay in the East River in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Ice is in front of the Statue of Liberty as seen from the Coast Guard Cutter Hawser icebreaker tug boat in Upper New York Harbor in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) — UC Santa Barbara will join the West Coast Conference for the 2027-28 season, increasing the membership in the league to 12 teams.

The West Coast Conference Presidents’ Council approved the admission of UC Santa Barbara on Friday, following recent decisions to add Denver and UC San Diego.

Denver will begin play in the league next season with the two California schools following the following year.

WCC powerhouse Gonzaga is leaving the conference at the end of this school year to join the Pac-12 but the new additions will give the league 12 schools for the first time.

"This is a monumental moment for the West Coast Conference as we grow our membership to 12 institutions for the first time in our history and enhance our national profile with the addition of UC Santa Barbara,” WCC commissioner Stu Jackson said in a statement.

UC Santa Barbara will compete in the West Coast Conference in 13 sports, including men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, baseball, softball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s golf and men’s water polo.

The WCC had three schools make the NCAA men's basketball tournament this season, with Saint Mary's and Santa Clara joining Gonzaga in March Madness. This is the seventh straight tournament that the league got multiple bids.

The conference has sent multiple women’s basketball teams to the tournament five of the past seven events.

UC Santa Barbara was previously a member of the West Coast Conference from 1965-1969.

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FILE - The UC Santa Barbara mascot performs during a timeout in the first half of an Southeast Regional second round NCAA tournament college basketball game against Florida in Tampa, Fla., March 17, 2011. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)