2 cross-country storms forecast to start the new year

Residents across the U.S. are bracing for multiple powerful storms forecast to impact a large swath of the country with heavy rain and snow.

Residents across the U.S. are bracing for multiple powerful storms forecast to impact a large swath of the country with heavy rain and snow.

The systems will bring high surf to much of the West Coast before they trek east.

Here is what to expect from the first storms to start the new year:

The first storm began to bring rain to the coasts of Oregon and Washington on Tuesday morning. By the evening, it will be snowing in the higher elevations from Washington to Northern California, with rain stretching through San Francisco.

It will be raining or snowing throughout much of California by Wednesday morning, with the system bringing snow as it moves over the Rockies on Thursday morning and begins to push east.