Yosemite National Park partly reopened on Sunday after a blizzard that brought as much as 45 inches of snow in some areas and high winds that toppled trees.
The park reopened around noon, with officials urging visitors to certain campsites: “Be prepared for winter camping (bring a shovel!).” Weather officials say the likelihood of another closure in the next week is low.
Although officials expected that 6 to 12 inches of snow could fall in Yosemite Valley — the most popular part of Yosemite National Park — the total turned out to be twice that, at about 25 inches, according to the National Weather Service office in Hanford.
Typically, with some of the more common storms that move through the area, Yosemite sees somewhere between 6 inches and, at the higher end, 18 inches of snow, according to meteorologist Carlos Molina, with the Hanford office.
“This actually was more like two times to almost four times what they would normally get with a more normal storm,” Molina said.
Toward the entrance of the park, 33 inches of snow fell, the meteorologist said. Toward the east entrance, Tuolumne Meadows received 45 inches of snow.
But the closure of the park, Molina said, had more to do with the high winds than the heavy snowfall. Winds hit between 50 and 60 mph during the storm, and visibility “was maybe 10 to 100 feet.”
“A 50- to 60-mile-an-hour wind was actually strong enough to knock down some of the dead trees that Yosemite has right now,” Molina said. “The public was kept out because, as the storm was moving through … they didn’t want anyone in the park to get hurt.”
Although weather officials are expecting clearer conditions on Monday, they are also anticipating more precipitation on Tuesday.
From 3 to 6 inches of additional snow is expected that day.
“It’s going to be the more typical, the more normal, storm that’s going to be passing through Yosemite,” Molina said. “Definitely less than what this storm produced.”
Another storm is forecast to arrive in California closer to Wednesday, Molina said, but that one may affect Southern California more than the northern or central parts of the state.
Clear conditions are expected by Thursday and Friday. Molina said the likelihood of the park closing again “is very low.”
The Ahwahnee on Sunday posted on Facebook that the partial reopening of the park included the historic hotel and “all lodging, dining and retail locations throughout Yosemite Valley.”
Hotel officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Visitors to Yosemite should enter the park via Highway 41/Wawona Road and Highway 140/El Portal Road. Officials said to expect snowy conditions.
Depending on the weather conditions, Big Oak Flat Road, Badger Pass Road and ski area, and Hetch Hetchy Road will reopen on Monday at noon, Yosemite National Park posted on Facebook, along with the Hodgdon Meadow Campground.
A powerful storm taking aim at California starting Thursday could bring the strongest blizzard of the winter for the Sierra Nevada, potentially dumping 5 to 12 feet of snow at elevations 5,000 feet above sea level.
“Even by Sierra standards, this is shaping up to be a highly impactful, major winter storm,” the National Weather Service office in Reno said. “If these snow totals hold, this will easily be the biggest storm of the season.”
That includes the possibility of 1 to 3 feet of snow for communities along Highway 395 in Mono County, with Mammoth Lakes and June Lakes potentially getting nearly 4 feet of snow. There’s a strong chance of 4 feet of snow along the Sierra crest around the Tahoe Basin, and more than 3 feet in places like South Lake Tahoe, Incline Village and Tahoe City, forecasters said.
Winds on the ridge tops of California’s mightiest mountain range “could easily exceed 120 mph,” and “could lead to blizzard conditions with near-zero visibility at times.”
Forecasters urged people to take advantage of calm weather through Wednesday to prepare ahead of the incoming storm. They warned travel is expected to be nearly impossible from about 4 a.m. Thursday through Sunday morning. “If you attempt to travel, be prepared for whiteout conditions & extended road closures. Bring extra food, water, & warm clothing,” the National Weather Service office in Sacramento posted on social media.
Yosemite Valley could see snow showers on Saturday, the weather service office in Hanford said. “Snow may be heavy at times.”
For Los Angeles County, the storm is expected to bring a slight chance of rain late Friday, becoming likely on Saturday and possibly lasting through Sunday morning.
That storm could bring 0.75 to 1.5 inches of rain to the coast and valleys, and 1 to 3 inches in the mountains. But there’s also the possibly of a more dry scenario, with as little as 0.25 to 0.5 inches of rain in the coast and valleys, and 0.5 to 1 inch of rain in the mountains.
The weekend storm will be a cold one for L.A. County; there could be a dusting of snow in some areas at elevations below 3,000 feet. “This will likely be the coldest air mass we’ve had in some time with frost/freeze concerns possible for sheltered valleys Sunday and possibly a bit more widespread into Monday morning,” the weather service office in Oxnard said.
Rain could return to the San Francisco Bay Area starting late Thursday and continue through Saturday.
“Overall it’s just going to be nasty outside with cold temperatures, gusty wind and periods of moderate rain,” the National Weather Service office in Monterey said. “That being said, the actual impacts look mostly minor with wind gusts in the 25-35 mph range and only a moderate amount of rainfall, spread out over a few days.”
Winds could be a problem in the Sacramento Valley. Forecasters warned of winds gusting from 35 to 55 mph that could trigger power outages, especially from Marysville in Yuba County and northward.
Southern Californians can brace for another round of wet weather, with a storm expected to hit the region early next week to cap off a month of historically wet weather.
The slow-moving storm is expected to reach the Los Angeles area by Monday night or Tuesday morning before tapering off later Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. It’s projected to drop between a quarter of an inch and half an inch of rain in coastal areas and valleys and up to an inch in the mountains.
The storm isn’t expected to pack the same punch as the storms earlier this month.
“It’s considerably weaker,” said Mike Wofford, a NWS meteorologist in Oxnard. “This would be a light storm even in a fairly quiet winter pattern.”
But because the ground is still saturated from the back-to-back historic storms earlier this month that triggered debris and mud flows, damaged homes and killed several people across the state, there’s still the risk of landslides in areas adjacent to hills. That includes the Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Rancho Palos Verdes area and anywhere in the Hollywood Hills.
“Landslides can happen at any time now that the grounds are so wet,” Wofford said. “Any additional rain would make it worse. That’s something people will have to live with for a while until things dry out.”
Downtown Los Angeles has received 17.79 inches of rain since the water year began on Oct. 1 and 12.56 inches in February alone, making it the fourth-wettest February since the weather service started keeping records in 1877. This February is also the wettest month in 26 years and is tied for the seventh-wettest month ever.
To put things into context, downtown L.A. usually gets about 10 inches by this time in the typical water year and about 15 inches over a 12-month period.
“If we didn’t get any rain between now and October, we’d be almost three inches above the normal for the entire year,” Wofford said. “That’s telling.”
Following three years of severe drought, California is now experiencing one of its wettest years on record. Elsewhere in the state, the storms dropped enough snow on the Sierra Nevada to eradicate fears of a “snow drought” and build up the snowpack to 86% of normal for the date.
California’s major reservoirs are also at 118% of their average levels for this time of year.
“Some of the reservoirs had to do releases ahead of approaching storms so they can take in the water that falls,” Wofford said. “That’s not something we normally have to deal with in a typical winter.”
For sure, there was plenty of computer modeling available to indicate the Southland was in for a severe — and potentially dangerous — soaking. But based on their expertise, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Oxnard correctly anticipated that even the machine-calculated, eye-popping rain totals were probably an underprediction.
When it comes to such a serious storm event, getting the forecast as close to correct as possible isn’t just a matter of pride. Forecasters go to great lengths to assess a storm’s strength so they can accurately inform the public about the dangers it may pose.
“We don’t want to cry wolf and say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna get record amounts of rain, catastrophic flooding,’ and then you get about half what you think. And people are like, ‘That was no big deal,’” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. “And then they’ll tune us out. We don’t want that to happen.”
In this case, “We went a little bit above some of the models and, you know, we were right,” Sirard said.
A person walks under an umbrella at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Sirard said the first indications of a potentially significant rain event emerged about 10 to 12 days ahead of the storm’s actual arrival early this month.
To get an idea of a storm’s possible strength, forecasters look at data generated by supercomputers that produce “ensemble forecasts” made from a series of model runs based on slightly tweaked initial conditions, Sirard said.
But the forecast is quite uncertain that far out.
Say you’re trying to map out a forecast 10 days from now, when it looks like a storm is brewing. Half of the model runs might suggest 5 inches of rain will fall over a three-day period, but the other half could suggest less precipitation — sometimes significantly so.
Data like that might be too noisy to say anything with a great degree of confidence.
But as the storm draws closer, those models will start to align a bit more, giving forecasters a better idea of what to reasonably expect.
“And so that would increase our confidence levels,” Sirard said. “Once you get in that seven-day window … if these ensemble models are still showing, say, 60% hypothetically, 5 or more inches in a three-day period — already, our antennas are up. And it’s like, ‘OK, we got a potential for something significant coming in.’”
As forecasters get even closer to the storm’s arrival, they can employ higher-resolution, shorter-range forecast models.
Mud and debris flow from hills caused by heavy rain covered part of a parked car and knocked down the garage door of a home in the 10400 block of West Quito Lane in Los Angeles.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
At a certain point, there was enough confidence for forecasters to post an attention-grabbing warning on social media on Feb. 1, three days before the storm’s arrival: “We are expecting a major storm with dangerous, even life-threatening impacts!”
In subsequent days, local law enforcement and elected officials — from the city of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara County — held media briefings about the dire forecasts that included National Weather Service meteorologists.
Such coordination between meteorologists and politicians hasn’t always happened. Unforgettably, although the National Weather Service office in Monterey issued a flood watch three days before a significant storm landed on Dec. 31, 2022, San Francisco officials were caught unprepared by a record deluge that flooded swaths of low-lying parts of the city and left residents and business owners furious.
There have also been memorable misses. Fourteen years ago, an unexpectedly powerful, slow-moving rainstorm unleashed a torrent of mud that inundated more than 40 homes in La Cañada Flintridge, a far cry from an initial forecast of a light to moderate rainstorm.
The models for the storm earlier this month did adjust in the days leading up to the event. Initial projections about three to five days ahead of the storm suggested Santa Barbara and Ventura counties would get hit the hardest. But as it drew closer, there were growing indications that Los Angeles County would bear the brunt, said Ryan Kittell, another meteorologist in the weather service’s Oxnard office.
That ended up being the case.
The weather service also made late adjustments to what the computer models were showing. Over a four-day period, models said to expect 8 to 10 inches of rain in the San Gabriel Mountains and 4 to 5 inches of rain in downtown L.A.
Meteorologists thought the computer models were underpredicting the projected rainfall totals, so they added a couple of inches to that forecast, Sirard said.
Their instincts proved correct. The weather service’s final forecast was for 8 to 14 inches of rain in the mountains and foothills through Feb. 6. And that was very accurate — the highest rainfall amount recorded in the San Gabriel Mountains over that period was 13.86 inches.
“A lot of us have been here for 25 years. So we know the weather patterns of what can cause the maximum amount of rainfall here,” Sirard said. “You get the high amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, you get the strong jetstream aloft nearby, you have the strong southeast to south low-level flow — all that moisture throughout the atmosphere, from the ground to 20,000 feet or more — all gets squeezed up into the mountains.”
In some areas, the storm proved to be a rainmaker more prolific than even experienced meteorologists had anticipated.
Before the storm began, the weather service had forecast 6.37 inches of rain would fall over a four-day period in downtown Los Angeles. Some people might’ve been hard-pressed to believe such an astonishing amount: On average, downtown gets 14.25 inches of rain in an entire year.
For the four-day period ending at 9 p.m. Feb. 6, 8.66 inches of rain fell on downtown L.A.
Still, the range of the forecast totals helped accurately guide the kinds of warnings that needed to be issued. Once forecast totals in lower-lying cities reach “5, 6, 7, 8 inches, the impacts are pretty much the same” in terms of flooding and landslide risk, Kittell said.
That messaging helped fuel substantial storm preparedness, so officials and residents were not caught completely off guard when land began sliding in a number of hillside communities across L.A. County, including north of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Westwood, as well as in Baldwin Hills and Hacienda Heights.
Pre-storm warnings also let residents know to stock and stack sandbags. And officials readied response teams like swift-water rescue crews that were needed across Southern California.
Crisp morning temperatures will make way for sunny skies across Southern California this week, but don’t stash those umbrellas and rain boots away quite yet. More wet weather is on the horizon.
Temperatures throughout the week are expected to range from the mid- to upper 60s along the coast, right around normal for February, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
An offshore flow, which keeps air moving from land to sea, will weaken in the coming days, allowing for a chilly sea breeze to sweep across the region and drop daytime high temperatures a degree or two into the mid-60s. Overnight temperatures are expected to be particularly brisk, dropping to the low to mid-40s in some areas, according to the weather service.
“It’ll be kind of chilly in the morning, but it’s going to be a pretty nice week for the most part,” Wofford said.
Forecasters anticipate a storm system will begin showering the region with rain by Sunday. It’s not clear how much precipitation it could bring, but Wofford said early estimates show anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain in the valley and coastal areas.
Last week an atmospheric river, brought five days of drenching rain and heavy snow to California. The storm, made more severe because of El Nino and climate change, is the largest so far in the state this winter.
Strong downpours triggered more than 500 mudslides in the city of Los Angeles alone. It damaged more than 45 homes or buildings, flooded roads, forced dozens of evacuations and knocked out power to residents, sometimes for days. Nine people died in the storm.
It’s still too early to determine what all this wet weather will mean for California’s water supply.
Recent storms have filled the state’s largest reservoirs to 118% of their historical average. Statewide precipitation is 102% of average for the date, with more than 13 inches falling since the start of the water year on Oct. 1, according to state data.
The storms also haven’t brought enough snow to replenish the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which remains a key component of the state’s water supply. Snow is anticipated in this weekend’s storm, but it’s not clear just how much, forecasters say.
The latest series of storms boosted the snowpack statewide to to 76% of average for the date. But, it remains only about halfway to its April 1 peak, according to data provided by the California Department of Water Resources.
“It’ll be a decent storm and certainly an above average storm,” Wofford said of the system moving into California over the weekend. “We’re not confident yet if it’s going to be anything like what we saw last time, but there’s some potential of that.”
The latest atmospheric river megastorm inundating Southern California with precipitation and high winds — prompting evacuations from mudslides and causing widespread road flooding — brought eye-popping rain totals by Monday morning.
Rainfall topped 10 inches in some areas of Los Angeles County in two days, easily surpassing the average amount recorded for the entire month of February, according to the National Weather Service.
“And February is our wettest month,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. He noted this storm is “significant.”
As of 8 a.m. Monday, downtown Los Angeles had recorded 5.62 inches of rain over the previous 24 hours. The February average is 3.80 inches.
Historical records won’t be confirmed until the storm passes, and there are still multiple days of rain forecast. But Kittell said that Sunday had already become the region’s 10th-wettest calendar day since record keeping began in 1877. The two-day rainfall tally is expected to break the top five in history, he said, pointing out that the heaviest rain fell late Sunday and early Monday.
And there’s still more rain to come, with another 1.5 to 3 inches expected across the L.A. Basin. Higher elevations — which already had recorded the highest rain tallies — could see 3 to 6 more inches, Kittell said.
“It’s pretty relentless; nothing of the intensity we saw last night, but the rains really are not letting up until, possibly, Thursday,” Kittelll said. “But it should be generally light in nature. The one caveat is we do have a chance of thunderstorms, so if we do get a thunderstorm, we could get a brief, heavy downpour.”
Here are the highest rain tallies for select cities across Southern California as of 8 a.m. Monday. The totals include rain that began late Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Los Angeles County
Santa Monica Mountains, at the Topanga fire station: 10.67 inches
Bel-Air: 10.46 inches
Sepulveda Pass, near the Skirball Cultural Center: 10.28 inches
Santa Monica Municipal Airport: 5.58 inches
Brentwood: 9.90 inches
Inglewood: 4.96 inches
Los Angeles International Airport: 3.27 inches
Downtown Los Angeles: 5.95 inches
Woodland Hills: 6.73 inches
Malibu Canyon: 8.06 inches
Van Nuys Airport: 6.04 inches
Eagle Rock Reservoir: 4.05 inches
Los Angeles Valley College: 7.41 inches
San Gabriel Dam: 6.26 inches
Harbor City: 4.83 inches
Pomona: 5.73 inches
Areas with higher elevation saw greater totals, Kittell said, as the hills and mountains act as a ramp to push air up and squeeze out the storm’s moisture.
Areas along the coast have recorded some of the lowest totals, with 2.78 inches reported at Long Beach’s airport, 2.55 inches in Manhattan Beach and 2.59 in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Santa Barbara and Ventura counties:
Matilija Canyon near Ojai: 8.52 inches
Ojai: 4.38 inches
Oxnard: 1.85 inches
Thousand Oaks: 3.58 inches
Lake Casitas: 4.93 inches
Montecito: 5.04 inches
Carpinteria: 4.2 inches
Santa Barbara: 4.39 inches
Across much of San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties, rain tallies remained generally below 3 inches Monday morning, but those regions are expecting the worst of the rainfall throughout the day Monday and into Tuesday. San Diego County is not forecast to see heavy rain until Monday evening into Tuesday, though predictions there have been more moderate.
A large and dangerous storm system continued its push through Southern California on Monday, bringing life-threatening flooding, damaging winds and record rainfall — with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Rainfall totals were continuing to pile up, including 10.28 inches in the Topanga area, 9.84 inches around Bel-Air and 5.3 inches in downtown Los Angeles — with much more on the way, according to Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“There’s still a lot of rain to come,” he said. “There’s a lot of rain left.”
The plume of moisture was expected to linger over the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area through Monday night, followed by on-and-off rain Tuesday and possibly even some showers Wednesday, Kittell said.
“It’s definitely declining starting Wednesday,” he said, but “it’s not until after Friday that we get the all-clear.”
The atmospheric river also smashed several daily rainfall records on Sunday. Downtown Los Angeles received 4.1 inches of rain — breaking the record of 2.55 inches set on Feb. 4, 1927. It was the area’s 10th wettest day since records began in 1877. Santa Barbara Airport broke a daily record with 2.39 inches of rain on Sunday, as did Los Angeles International Airport with 1.76 inches, and Long Beach Airport with 1.5 inches.
The storm packed a wallop across the state, including flooding, water rescues and damaging winds in the San Francisco Bay Area and down the Central Coast. More than half a million people remained without power statewide Monday morning.
But all eyes were on Southern California on Monday, where urgent flash flood warnings remained in effect for portions of San Bernardino, Ventura and Los Angeles.
Some of the worst effects were expected Monday and Tuesday in portions of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” was possible as the storm continued its crawl toward the state’s southern border, the National Weather Service said.
The San Bernardino Mountains could see up to 8 inches of additional rainfall through Tuesday evening, while the mountains of San Diego and Riverside counties could see an additional 4 inches, the NWS said.
“Storms can change quickly, but let me be clear: This storm is a serious weather event,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a news conference Sunday. “This has the potential to be a historic storm — severe winds, thunderstorms, and even brief tornadoes.”
Indeed, many Angelenos awakened Monday to a soggy, muddy mess, including dozens of road closures and delays due to flooding and debris, according to the California Department of Transportation, California Highway Patrol and other agencies.
Multiple vehicles were submerged Monday on Piuma Road near Calabasas, and another vehicle was submerged on Balkins Drive in Agoura Hills, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials. Minor debris flows had occurred in Agoura Hills, including one on Cornell Road and one on Eagletown Street. A 10-foot boulder was reported on northbound Malibu Canyon Road about 2 miles north of Pacific Coast Highway.
Some on-ramps and southbound lanes along the 5 Freeway were closed from Burbank to Los Feliz, as was a portion of State Route 23 near Banning Dam in Thousand Oaks, CalTrans said. State Route 33 was closed in both directions between Ojai and Lockwood Valley Road due to mudslides. A video of the area showed chunks of mud and rocks splayed across the road.
Mud was also flowing across the Hollywood Hills, damaging homes and forcing residents to flee. At least two homes were damaged as debris flowed down Lockridge Road near Fryman Canyon in Studio City on Sunday night, and an additional nine homes were evacuated from the area out of concern about additional soil instability. Firefighters evacuated residents from three homes on Boris Drive in Tarzana due to flowing debris.
In Long Beach, 19 people were rescued Sunday from the rocks of the breakwater after the mast of a 40-foot boat they were on broke in high winds.
Officials urged Angelenos to stay home if possible. Those who must drive were advised to do so with caution, and to avoid deep water.
However, schools remained open in the Los Angeles area Monday, except for Vinedale Preparatory Academy in Sun Valley, which was affected by mandatory evacuation orders, and Topanga Elementary Charter School in Topanga. Both schools were affected by potentially dangerous hillside conditions. Students and staff at both schools were directed to other campuses for the day.
The storm also delivered powerful winds Sunday, including gusts up to 83 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains; 58 mph in Newhall Pass and 45 mph in the western San Fernando Valley.
By Monday, the strong gusts associated with the storm had abated into light southeasterly winds.
But slow, steady rain would continue to pour, Kittell said.
“It’s just a tremendous amount of rain in the last 24 hours,” he added.
The biggest concern is Monday, when the storm is expected to have its strongest impact.
Orange County, Inland Empire
The National Weather Service now warns of “locally catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” for those areas, stating that “the system will stall, bringing heavy rain through Monday afternoon.”
Officials warned that the rainfall in Orange County and western Inland Empire areas could be “torrential.”
Anaheim, Irvine and Ontario could get 5 to 7 inches; San Clemente and San Bernardino could get 4 to 5; and Riverside and Lake Elsinore, 3 to 4.
Orange County issued an evacuation warning Sunday night for areas in the Santa Ana Mountains, including along sections of the Santiago, Silverado, Williams, Modjeska, Trabuco, Live Oak, Rose, Holy Jim and Black Star canyons, as well as around Irvine Lake.
Rain totals have increased for northern areas, where locally catastrophic and life-threatening flooding is expected for Orange County, western parts of the Inland Empire, and SBD Mtn coastal slopes ⚠️ #CAwx
Heavy snow could cause power outages and ramp up traffic danger in the mountains. “Heavy wet snow” is expected Monday evening into Tuesday, forecasters said.
Strong winds could be powerful enough to topple tree limbs and make driving difficult for high-profile vehicles. There could be gusts of up to 55 mph in the high desert and up to 75 mph in the San Bernardino Mountains.
The bigger picture
The changing forecast came as the storm moved south, walloping Los Angeles County and the heart of Southern California.
The forecast for Los Angeles County became more severe Sunday, with rainfall totals generally rising by about 2 inches. It’s now possible that Pasadena could see up to 10 inches of rain; Northridge, Pomona and Santa Clarita could get 7; downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and Westlake Village, 6; and Redondo Beach, 5.
Peak wind gusts could be between 30 and 40 mph in downtown L.A., Long Beach, Pasadena and Pomona; 40 to 50 mph in Northridge and Redondo Beach; and nearly 60 mph in Santa Clarita and Westlake Village.
With this week’s monster storm now expected to make a direct hit on Los Angeles County on Sunday and Monday, officials are urging people to stay off roads amid concerns about flooding and mudslides.
The intense, sustained rains are going to make for an ugly and potentially dangerous Monday commute, and officials said people should avoid being on the roads if possible.
“If anyone has an opportunity to work remotely on Monday, that’s definitely the day to do it,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Forecast worsens for L.A.
The forecast rain totals for Los Angeles County worsened Sunday, with totals generally going up by about 2 inches in some areas. It’s now possible that, by the time this storm tapers off Tuesday, Pasadena could see around 10 inches of rain; with about 7 inches in Northridge, Pomona and Santa Clarita; about 6 inches in downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and Westlake Village; and about 5 inches in Redondo Beach.
If these totals hold true, the Southland is likely to see widespread flooding and mudflows and debris flows in hillside areas, especially those hit by recent fires.
Danger on roads
“We’re expecting a lot of freeway flooding and road flooding, road closures. Many parked cars will be flooded… especially in low-lying areas of neighborhoods,” Kittell said. “Even if the rain does start to let up on Monday morning, just the sheer amount of rain overnight will cause lingering flooding issues into the morning hours,” Kittell said. “Especially, stay off the freeways.”
Kittell added: “Any areas that are vulnerable to mudslides — this definitely has the signature for that, especially as you get closer to Los Angeles County, but also including Ventura and Santa Barbara County.” Expect plenty of mud, rocks and debris on canyon roads, “flooded neighborhoods,” and the potential for people living near creeks and rivers to need rescue from strong flows.
‘Stay home’
“If you are not home already, please get home and stay home. Stay off the roads,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. “As we anticipate this weather event continuing into the next couple of days, if you are able to work remotely, please stay home.”
L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian said the anticipated amount of rainfall is rare for Los Angeles, and noted that “we’ve only had this kind of intensity twice before in the last over 40 years, so take it seriously.”
“If you absolutely have to drive, slow down,” Krekorian said. “Don’t drive through flooded areas — there are going to be potholes. There are going to be dangers, and you’re going to be putting not only yourself but others on the road at risk as well.”
Some Los Angeles County employees are being advised to work from home Monday, said Lindsey Horvath, chair of the county Board of Supervisors.
On Thursday, inundated roads clogged the morning commute, closing southbound lanes of the 710 Freeway at Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach and a portion of PCH at the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica. In Huntington Beach, a three-mile stretch of PCH was also shut down by flooding.
Almost seven miles of Palos Verdes Drive South from Hawthorne Boulevard to Palos Verdes Drive East closed for a few hours Thursday because of flooding and a mudslide that left debris and mud across the roadway, with authorities urging residents to “shelter in place until the heavy rain passes.”
Floodwaters also submerged vehicles in low-lying areas of Long Beach on Thursday.
Worse than Hilary?
For some of the populous areas of Southern California, this storm will bring winds that will actually be “much stronger” than Tropical Storm Hilary in August, especially in the lower elevations, Kittell said.
Hilary brought most of its rain on the inland side of Southern California’s mountains and in the deserts; this weekend’s storm is focused on “the coastal side of the mountain — so where a lot of people live … the urban, city areas along the coast and valleys, and the south-facing foothills,” he added.
Schools
The L.A. Unified School District will hold classes Monday.
“Our schools represent more than just education. They are the places where many of our kids receive their nutrition,” Supt. Alberto Carvalho said. “After this weekend, many will depend on that breakfast, the lunch, the snack and in many cases, a dinner. Our schools will be open.”
But recognizing the threat of the storm, Carvalho also said parents and staff should not put themselves in danger Monday.
“We will be exercising a great deal of grace, of patience and understanding both with our students as well as our workforce,” Carvalho said. “I urge parents and the workforce to make decisions on the basis of what you know surrounding your community and your journey to your school or place of work. Do not put yourself in danger.”
Chilling rain, swirling gray clouds and blustery winds rolled into Southern California on Sunday as the strongest winter storm of the season geared up to deliver near-record rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding in the region through Tuesday.
The slow-moving atmospheric river was gathering strength Sunday afternoon, spurring the declaration of a state of emergency from Gov. Gavin Newsom in eight Southern California counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The National Weather Service in Oxnard warned that “all systems are go for one of the most dramatic weather days in recent memory.”
“Storms can change quickly, but let me be clear: This storm is a serious weather event,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a news conference. “This has the potential to be a historic storm — severe winds, thunderstorms, and even brief tornadoes.”
Palm trees in Santa Barbara bend in the wind on Sunday as hurricane-force gusts battered the seas off California.
(Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Indeed, forecasters said the brunt of the storm appears focused on the Los Angeles area, where the system could park itself for an extended time over the next few days. The storm could drop up to 8 inches of rainfall on the coast and valleys, and up to 14 inches in the foothills and mountains. Snowfall totals of 2 to 5 feet are likely at elevations above 7,000 feet.
“Los Angeles County now seems to be the area of most concern, where the heaviest rain will last the longest,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the NWS in Oxnard. The agency has issued dozens of flood watches and storm advisories across the region and the state, including urgent flash flood warnings in parts of Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
“If anyone has an opportunity to work remotely on Monday, that’s definitely the day to do it,” he said.
At the Ventura Harbor just north of L.A. County, as the storm moved into the region, rain was beating down on shops and restaurants that ordinarily draw tourists. It had been hours without a customer at Harbor Market and Liquor, and at a nearby hair salon, stylist Danielle White was weighing whether she should hit the road, worried that flooding could strand her there.
“We’re clearly not going to get any inquiries,” she said, gazing out at the rainfall.
Here’s the latest rain timing/intensity graphic, indicating some minor changes. – Rain totals have been increased: – 4-8″ for coasts/valleys and 8-14″ foothills/mountains – Lower totals for San Luis Obispo County – FLOOD WATCH still in effect for all areas #CAwxpic.twitter.com/YR4WwgWGsA
The storm is expected to “bring a multitude of dangerous weather conditions to the area,” forecasters said.
Evacuation warnings and notices were issued in portions of Ventura, Santa Barbara, Monterey and Los Angeles counties — including parts of Topanga near the Owen and Agua fire burn scars; the Juniper Hills and Valyermo areas near the Bobcat fire burn scar; the Lake Hughes and King Canyon area near the Lake fire burn scar; and the La Tuna Canyon area of Sun Valley near the Land fire burn scar.
Burn scars are subject to an increased risk of flooding and debris flows, and officials urged Angelenos to heed all evacuation orders.
“Make your personal safety your top priority,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley. “Follow all evacuation orders, avoid travel … If you do have to travel, please, please, slow down and avoid any flooded areas.”
Swift-water rescue teams, urban search-and-rescue teams and other personnel were standing by in preparation for the storm, Crowley said.
Newsom also mobilized a record 8,500 emergency response personnel across the state to assist communities in the path of the storm, his office said.
In addition to a high risk of flash flooding and excessive rainfall, the storm also has the potential to deliver damaging winds. That includes gusts of up to 70 mph in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties through 6 p.m. Sunday, with isolated gusts of up to 90 mph possible in mountain areas.
Ventura and Los Angeles counties could see wind gusts of up to 50 mph between 1 p.m. and 1 a.m., with isolated gusts of up to 70 mph in mountains and hills. The Ventura River is expected to swell and reach its flood stage around 11 p.m. Sunday night.
Inside Ventura’s Pierpont Tacos on Seaward Avenue, Joseph Kenton and Anna Tyler were taking a break from delivering firewood from Ojai on Sunday morning.
“People were freezing in this weather,” said Kenton, who had been out driving for hours making deliveries, between bites of his tacos. “They want wood to stay warm. Anna got up at 5 o’ clock and started splitting wood.”
As the rain started to fall, “it was real dangerous,” he said. “We had to go real slow.”
On Sunday evening, celebrities also began arriving for the 2024 Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. as the storm began to churn. Several stars were spotted scrambling from their cars to the red carpet with umbrellas.
Waves crash over a breakwater in Alameda, Calif., with the San Francisco skyline in the background on Sunday.
(Noah Berger / Associated Press)
The storm barreled through Northern and Central California before making its way south.
In Northern California, monster winds and downpours began to inundate the region late Saturday, with the worst of the weather kicking into high gear early Sunday. Thousands were without power by late morning, with officials scrambling to respond to downed trees and power lines across the Bay Area and Central Coast, as well as growing concerns about increased flooding.
Delays and cancellations at San Francisco International Airport led the nation Sunday morning, with almost a third of incoming and outgoing flights delayed as of noon Sunday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
Bob Rotiski, spokesperson for the airport, said the airport reduced its capacity for flights because of the weather, expecting continued delays through 1 a.m. Monday. He said the average flight was delayed more than 4 hours as of noon Sunday, with the possibility for that to increase.
In Sonoma County, a tree early Sunday fell onto a home; in Palo Alto, a massive tree blocked the eastbound lanes of the Oregon Expressway. Downed power lines closed a stretch of State Road 1 in San Mateo County, and in San Francisco, fallen lines forced traffic detours.
Some of the highest winds early Sunday were recorded in the Big Sur area — up to 88 and 85 mph, said Sarah McCorkle, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Bay Area. But gusts had also reached as high as 60 mph in the East Bay and were expected to remain a major threat throughout the day, with a high wind warning in effect for much of the state through late Sunday or Monday.
In San Jose, city officials declared a state of emergency ahead of expected flooding along the Guadalupe River, fueled by heavy rains in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where 6 inches of rain is expected through Monday. Officials there ordered the evacuation of people living along the river’s banks, offering free rides and shelter. The river is forecast to peak over 11 feet — almost 2 feet over its flood stage.
Fallen trees and power lines block a road in Pebble Beach, Calif., on Sunday.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
The Carmel River at Robles Del Rio in Monterey County was also expected to flood, reaching almost a foot over its 8.5-foot flood stage by Sunday night, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center.
McCorkle said the massive winter storm uniquely strengthened directly off the Northern California coast, where a low pressure system dropped down from the Pacific Northwest to merge with a moisture-heavy system moving in from the eastern Pacific.
“That helped intensify the storm from the eastern Pacific,” she said. That rapid intensification Saturday could mean the storm underwent a bombogenesis, often referred to as a bomb cyclone, but McCorkle said that will require post-analysis to confirm.
“Once it strengthened, [the low pressure system] helped draw in the moisture from the subtropics,” McCorkle said, forming a type of atmospheric river that has become known as a “Pineapple Express.” Those two dynamics — the intensified low pressure system and heavy moisture — have helped drive the dangerously high winds and severe rainfall moving across the state, she said.
Although the Bay Area and Central Coast have experienced some significant impacts, “it will be a different story when the storm moves into Southern California,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA.
“This will have a broader contiguous band of heavy rainfall developing from about Santa Barbara County eastward, and it’s going to be very slow moving,” Swain said during a briefing Sunday.
A man swims chest-deep through flood waters with his cellphone near cars that are submerged in the 2300 block of West Willow Street in Long Beach on Thursday after rain flooded several areas of the city.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Areas south and east of Los Angeles also will not be spared. Conditions in Orange County, the western Inland Empire and the San Bernardino Mountains were expected to deteriorate Sunday into Monday as the storm moves toward San Diego and the Mexican border, according to the National Weather Service in San Diego.
“Precipitation intensity will only increase across these areas on Monday, and life-threatening flash flooding will be possible. By Monday night into Tuesday, the axis of the moisture plume begins to shift farther south and east, reaching Riverside and San Diego Counties,” the agency said.
Rainfall rates in the southernmost part of the state will be modest — up to 0.30 inch per hour — but the relentless nature of the rain will still lead to impressive totals through Tuesday, the agency said.
That includes up to 7 inches in the Santa Ana Mountains; 5 inches in Orange County; 4 inches in the Riverside County Mountains; 2 inches in the Apple and Lucerne valleys; 1.5 inches in the Coachella Valley and 0.75 inch in the San Diego County deserts. The San Bernardino County mountains could see up to 11 inches on south-facing slopes.
Regional public utilities, including California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, were preparing to respond to service outages and downed power lines. More than 380,000 people were without power statewide by Sunday afternoon.
“We are taking this storm system very seriously to ensure we are accurately prepared,” Edison spokesman Jeff Monford said. “Our meteorologists discuss the current conditions and the forecast with the teams handling operations and grid management so we can place crews in the most affected areas. We do this to get crews in location before roads may be closed due to flooding or ice.”
The LADWP “will monitor the storm system closely and respond accordingly, with the ability to schedule crews to be available around the clock,” the utility said in a statement. It has also beefed up staffing at call centers to respond to potential increases in calls from customers without power.
“During the storm, winds could blow down large objects such as trees, or cause branches and palm fronds to strike power lines, which could cause power outages,” LADWP said. “This is especially true when soil becomes oversaturated by the rain, causing it to loosen and uproot trees.”
In addition to downed trees, flooding and water intrusion into underground electrical systems may also cause power outages. Repairs may be slower if the affected equipment is underground and crews need to go from vault to vault to identify the source of the damage before repairs can take place.
The utilities urged people to be careful around downed power lines, which can electrify puddles, wet grass and surrounding areas.
“Always assume a downed wire is energized,” Edison said. “Stay away and call 911 immediately.”
As steady rain fell on Sunday, George Camarena, a lifeguard and longshoreman in Ventura, brought his Nintendo down to play video games with friends inside Pierpont Tacos. Earlier in the day, he had gone out to keep an eye on the beach.
“You never want to see someone down in the water” in this weather, he said. A faraway seal had made him look twice, but he was relieved to see no one in the water, just a few neighbors walking their dogs on the beach.
When a rogue wave hit the same area back in December, he had seen people standing on top of their trucks to avoid the water; elderly people with scraped faces; women who wanted to leave but whose keys had been swept away from them, he said.
“Today I’m just keeping my eye out,” he said.
Times audience engagement editor Nicholas Ducassi contributed to this report.
Hayley Smith, Grace Toohey, Emily Alpert Reyes, Roger Vincent
If your rain gutters are overflowing now, just wait.
Forecasters say a second storm fueled by an atmospheric river will hit California next week, roughly doubling the amount of rain falling Thursday on Los Angeles and surrounding areas.
All told, the city of L.A. is expected to receive almost 5.9 inches from the storm that started Wednesday and the more enduring one that’s expected to peak on Sunday and Monday, the National Weather Service said this week. The totals within L.A. County range from 2.7 inches in Lancaster to 10.2 inches in Pine Mountain.
(Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
For those of you keeping track at home, the amount of rain expected for L.A. is about three times as much as the city received in January. And it’s more than the city saw in all of 2020-21, according to the Los Angeles Almanac.
Here are the weather service’s projections for rainfall for selected cities in the region:
Fillmore: first storm 3 inches, second storm 5.3 inches, 8.3 inchestotal
Lancaster: first storm 0.8 inches, second storm 1.9 inches, 2.7 inchestotal
Long Beach: first storm 1.9 inches, second storm 3.5 inches, 5.4 inchestotal
Los Angeles: first storm 2 inches, second storm 3.9 inches, 5.9 inchestotal
Northridge: first storm 1.9 inches, second storm 4.2 inches, 6.1 inchestotal
Ojai: first storm 3.3 inches, second storm 6.5 inches, 9.7 inchestotal
Oxnard: first storm 2 inches, second storm 4.8 inches, 6.7 inchestotal
Pasadena: first storm 3 inches, second storm 4.5 inches, 7.5 inchestotal
Paso Robles: first storm 0.9 inches, second storm 2.2 inches, 3.1 inchestotal
San Luis Obispo: first storm 1.8 inches, second storm 3.4 inches, 5.2 inchestotal
Santa Barbara: first storm 2.5 inches, second storm 5.7 inches, 8.2 inches total
The weather service offered more general projections for snowfall, saying the first storm could bring 8 to 16 inches of snow to elevations above 7,000 feet. As for the second storm, the service said, “significant and hazardous” snowfall will be possible above 6,000 feet through Monday night, with lesser amounts possible at lower elevations in the mountains by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Forecasters expect the first storm to abate Thursday afternoon, although San Luis Obispo and the mountains could see more precipitation Friday.
The volume dumped by the second storm is expected to be significantly greater because the storm system isn’t in as big a hurry to leave Southern California. The system is expected to stall “from around Point Conception south,” the weather service said, but that spot “could easily shift 50 to 100 miles either direction so there still is some uncertainty.” Nevertheless, it said, “this system will likely produce 24 to 36 hours (or more) of continuous rain.”
A major atmospheric river storm bringing heavy rains, high winds and significant snow barreled into northwestern California early Wednesday and is expected to move south across the state over the next 48 hours.
Statewide, officials are bracing for potential widespread flooding, dangerous travel in the mountains and even power outages.
The system is the first of back-to-back storms that forecasters say could cause perilous conditions through next week, depending on the severity, strength and speed of the storm systems.
This first storm is expected to be relatively fast-moving, dumping excessive rain and heavy snow primarily on Wednesday and Thursday before moving out of the area, a scenario officials hope will help minimize damage.
Here’s the latest on when Californians can expect to see the storm’s impact:
Wednesday morning
After a dangerously windy night for much of the state’s northwest corner — and a high wind warning advisory remaining through 1 p.m. for much of the North Coast — showers began in Northern California early Wednesday.
Rainfall is expected to pick up throughout the day across the North Coast, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley, with much of the region under a flood watch through late Thursday or early Friday.
An impactful storm system will bring rain and wind to the area today and tonight. Minor flooding of streams and roadways is expected along with the potential for downed trees and power outages. Stay safe and use caution during your commute today. #cawxpic.twitter.com/JA6f1roNE2
But dangerous winds remain a major concern, with the National Weather Service issuing a high-wind warning for much of the North Bay and Central Coast through Thursday afternoon.
“Given saturated soils, downed trees and resulting power outages are likely,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office warned on X.
In the northern Sierra Nevada and other high peaks above 6,000 feet, heavy snowfall is expected to begin Wednesday morning, with a winter storm warning in effect through at least Friday. As the storm develops, snow levels are expected to drop through the rest of the week and snowfall rates could reach up to 2 inches an hour, according to the weather service. Up to 3 feet of powder is possible at the highest peaks.
Wednesday afternoon
As the storm moves south and east, much of the Sacramento Valley will enter a flood watch through at least Thursday evening, with forecasters warning of minor concerns, including ponding on roads and flooding along small streams or in poor drainage areas.
Dangerous surf also will become a growing concern, with weather officials in the Bay Area warning of waves up to 26 feet high.
Thursday morning
By Thursday morning, showers will continue across Northern California, but the storm will take aim at Southern California and the Central Valley.
The heaviest rain in Los Angeles and Ventura counties is expected Thursday, with up to 2 inches in most areas — though only moderate rainfall rates are likely. Currently, no flood advisories have been issued for the regions.
However, a winter storm warning will be in effect beginning early Thursday for the Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino county mountains, including the San Gabriels, where the highest elevations could get up to 2 feet of snow. A few inches of snow are possible as low as 4,500 feet, and forecasters are warning that “travel may be difficult to impossible,” including along the 5 Freeway corridor.
Rainfall amounts of two to three inches in the Sierra Nevada below 5,000 feet and adjacent foothills may cause flooding and mudslides Thursday. Moderate to heavy rain may lead to nuisance flooding in the San Joaquin Valley Thursday. #CAwxpic.twitter.com/wZhJNsYfv4
The southern Sierra expects heavy snowfall beginning late Wednesday and into Thursday — from 1 to 4 feet, depending on elevation — but heavy rainfall in the foothills could cause flooding and mudslides, the National Weather Service warned.
Farther south and east, across much of Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, a flood watch will go into effect Thursday morning and run through Friday. With a slight chance for thunderstorms all day Thursday, forecasters warn that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.”
Storm thread time! 🧵🧵🧵
🌧️⛈️ Flood Watch in effect for all areas from the coast to the deserts Thursday morning through Friday morning. The best chances for the heaviest rainfall and thunderstorm activity look to be 9am-3pm Thursday, so plan accordingly!!#CAwx (1/4) pic.twitter.com/CqandGNJAv
Showers and bands of heavy rain will continue across southwest California, from the coast to the mountains.
Forecasters say snow levels will begin to drop Thursday night to about 4,500 to 5,000 feet, though heavy snow is not expected in those areas.
Friday
Much of the wind, flood and winter storm advisories will expire Friday, though lingering showers will remain in both Northern and Southern California.
Weekend
Saturday is expected to be a bit of a reprieve from precipitation — but officials say it won’t last long.
A second strong, wet storm, more focused on Southern California, is expected to bring more rain and snow, beginning as early as Sunday and lasting until midweek.
In a matter of minutes Monday morning, communities across southeastern San Diego were transformed into disaster zones: Families fled their homes in chest-deep floodwaters; vehicles were swept downstream as roads became rivers; residents cried for help from their rooftops.
A deluge of rainfall from what city officials are calling a “thousand-year storm” forced hundreds of rescues, flooded an untold number of homes and businesses and caused millions of dollars in estimated damage. The floodwaters had mostly receded by Tuesday afternoon, revealing the devastating aftermath of California’s latest climate emergency — and leaving hundreds without housing and transportation, and with ruined valuables and personal belongings.
“The damage and the impact was absolutely devastating,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said at a Tuesday news conference. “Entire lives changed in just a few minutes.”
“The amount of water that we saw yesterday would have overwhelmed any city drainage system,” he said. “This dumping of rainwater is unprecedented in most San Diegans’ lifetimes. None of us alive have seen anything quite like this.”
More than 4 inches of rain fell in several areas in and around San Diego on Monday — much of it in just a few hours — a historic rainfall event, according to Elizabeth Adams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. The airport recorded 2.73 inches, more than its typical total for the entire month of January.
“That is not only the wettest January day on record, but it’s the fourth-wettest day of any calendar day” for San Diego, Adams said. Many areas saw rainfall rates well above three-quarters of an inch per hour. Over half an inch per hour can easily cause dangerous flash flooding.
“It’s a ton,” Adams said. “Pretty much anywhere in the country that receives 3 to 4 inches in a three- to four-hour time period is going to see flooding.”
Parts of San Diego were completely inundated.
The city’s southeastern neighborhoods, including Southcrest, Mountain View, Encanto, Logan Heights and San Ysidro, saw some of the worst damage.
Gloria said city and county leaders are focused on recovery. Both the city and county declared a local emergency. The mayor estimated, conservatively, that the storm caused $6 million in damage, but officials say assessments are far from complete.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday proclaimed a state of emergency for San Diego and Ventura counties, both of which have been walloped by wet winter storms. At the end of December, torrential downpours in and around Oxnard caused similar damage. During that event, Oxnard saw rainfall rates of 3 inches an hour, one of the heaviest downpours ever recorded in the area.
Homeowner Maria Ramirez walks through her flood-damaged home in San Diego.
(Denis Poroy / Associated Press)
The worry now is that the number of people displaced in San Diego could continue to grow in the coming days. Though no official figure was provided Tuesday, city leaders said they estimated hundreds had been forced from their homes, at least temporarily.
“What was generally assumed to be the impact yesterday … was probably an underestimate,” said San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, whose district includes some of the communities that saw the worst of the flooding. He said he visited many of those residents early Tuesday, touring a whole apartment complex that took on water, likely displacing dozens of families.
The American Red Cross is operating two emergency shelters at Lincoln High School and Bostonia Recreation Center. As of Tuesday, the nonprofit said 18 households — more than 50 people — had registered to stay. But with so many people probably still returning home after fleeing, Elo-Rivera said he expected those numbers to rise. City and county officials are asking residents to fill out a voluntary survey about flood damage.
“I think it’s going to take a little bit more time to realize the extent of the damage,” Elo-Rivera said.
On Monday afternoon, Manuel Deleon was unexpectedly called back to the office during his shift driving a tow truck — only to find the office flooded. Roaring water had swept away his personal vehicle.
“The water was out of control,” said Deleon, 47. “My car slipped with the mud and went right into [a nearby] ditch and it was just fully submerged.”
Deleon, whose 2007 BMW was one of dozens of cars carried away in the flash floods, said he wasn’t sure how he’d get to work in the coming days. He attempted to clean the soggy and caked-in mud from the interior, but that was a lost cause.
“This rain took everybody by surprise,” he said. “It’s crazy.”
San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell said his crews made at least 150 rescues Monday, in addition to 30 animal rescues.
“We literally saw over 100 rescues in the Southcrest neighborhood alone,” Stowell said.
“Luckily we saw very few injuries and no fatalities,“ Stowell said, calling that feat “remarkable” given the extent of the emergency.
More than 1,000 people remained without power Tuesday, after widespread outages Monday, according to the San Diego Gas & Electric outage map.
Although much of San Diego was under a flood watch all day Monday, city officials said they were not prepared for the extent — and speed — of what came down.
“Nobody anticipated the severity of the storm,” Gloria said. “We got a lot more rain than [what was predicted] in a much shorter amount of time.”
He said he planned to meet with the National Weather Service to discuss the disparity between forecasts and what occurred but emphasized that his teams were currently focused on recovery.
Adams said the circumstances Monday ended up being a perfect storm for rare, heavy rainfall in San Diego: extreme atmospheric moisture and a storm path over its downtown — which forecasters warned residents about as soon as possible, she said.
Just after 8 a.m. Monday, the agency issued a flash flood warning for a stretch of coastal communities just south of Orange County, including Oceanside, Carlsbad and Vista. Soon after, a larger stretch of southwestern California was placed under a flash flood warning.
Marlene Sanchez-Barriento salvages items behind her San Diego home, which was damaged by flooding.
(Denis Poroy / Associated Press)
“We used pretty intense warnings,” Adams said. “We tried to really heighten the message … [that] this is a really dangerous situation that doesn’t happen in San Diego proper that often.”
The day before the storm, the National Weather Service’s forecast discussion warned that the ground, already saturated from storms over the weekend, could heighten flood concerns. But forecasters said it was still hard to predict how much rain would fall, and where.
By Monday morning, Adams said the situation developed rapidly, with that intense atmospheric moisture — what she called 250% to 350% of normal — and the direct storm path aligning.
That “really lead to torrential rainfall across the county, but especially focused on downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods,” Adams said.
City officials said these extreme circumstances are likely to become a new normal requiring more preparation, coordination and investment.
“This is called climate change. It is real, it is happening,” Gloria said, “and we experienced it yesterday in San Diego.”
Officials agreed that the city’s outdated stormwater drainage system, for which $2 billion of necessary work hasn’t been budgeted, didn’t help.
Elo-Rivera said he would like to see those much-needed funds allocated, and in an equitable way — noting that many of the communities affected most were working-class, with a majority of Latino and Black residents.
These communities “have long been under-invested in and divested in and ignored by the city,” he said. “Public investment in climate resiliency is incredibly important … [especially] prioritizing the communities that have been left behind and are most likely to be devastated by events like yesterday.”
Torrential rains over the holiday weekend have left Humboldt County reeling, with several roads flood-damaged and impassable, and more rain is on the way.
“The storm came and hit us hard on Saturday,” said Thomas Mattson, the county public works director. He said his agency had been working round the clock to repair washed-out roads that had left some residents stranded.
In Redwood Valley, off Highway 299, flooding from the Mad River damaged both main access roads Saturday, cutting off residents from outside aid. The 113-mile river flows northwest through the county and the rural unincorporated community. Repairs to the roads were not expected to be completed until late Wednesday.
Eureka’s daily newspaper the Times-Standard reported that at least 30 households were struggling with flooded homes and power outages amid dwindling supplies and no way to access help.
During an eight-hour stretch Saturday, 2 to 5 inches of rain fell throughout Humboldt County, according to Tyler Jewel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Eureka office. The community of Whitethorn recorded nearly 8 inches of rainfall.
“It’s a very small watershed,” Jewel said. “This last storm just happened to dump a ton of rain there. … It’s really rare for that river to flood.”
Mattson said the county’s public works crews had reopened 15 flooded roads since Saturday but were still dealing with half a dozen that sustained serious damage.
Ryan Derby, emergency services manager with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, said there had been “county-wide flooding” over the last several days. The agency declared a local state of emergency Tuesday to expedite emergency repairs and state and federal aid.
Derby said flooding from the Mad River affected Tyee City and other agricultural land in that area, along with parts of Mad River Road, or what’s locally known as the “Arcata Bottom.”
Small creeks and streams overflowed into the Blue Lake area, not far from the Blue Lake Rancheria tribal land, about a 10-minute drive from Arcata.
Other flooding stretched from Hoopa in the north down to Shelter Cove in the southwestern tip of the county along the coast.
Some of the affected areas are “sparsely populated,” Derby said, and no evacuation orders were issued, though some residents fled during the rainstorms on Saturday. No deaths or injuries have been reported.
County officials are still assessing how much damage was caused by the rain so far, Derby added, and they will meet Thursday to discuss the situation and this weekend’s expected rain. Derby said the county is referring affected residents to the Red Cross at (800) 733-2767.
Derby said the storms caused damage to county roads and culverts, and with more rain set to arrive Friday, he worries that additional flooding could interfere with recovery efforts.
“It’s not anticipated to be as severe,” he said of the rain forecast. “But there could be compounding factors with the incoming storm that pose additional issues.”
Forecasts indicate 2 to 3 inches of rainfall are expected throughout Humboldt County — though the King mountain range in the southwest could receive up to 5 inches — between Friday and Monday, with the first wave of rainfall arriving Friday morning through Saturday morning and the second from Saturday night until Monday afternoon.
Higher rainfall amounts of 4 to 6 inches were expected throughout Mendocino County south of Humboldt, with both the Russian and Navarro rivers having the potential to flood, Jewel said.
Weather officials are urging motorists to avoid the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade mountains this weekend as another system of heavy mountain snow began moving through the region Saturday morning.
The snow will continue through early Sunday with accumulations up to 2 feet above 6,000 feet elevation and 4 to 8 inches above 3,000 feet, said Sara Purdue, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
On Saturday morning along Interstate 80 — the popular route to Lake Tahoe — snow was accumulating up to 1 inch per hour and expected to increase up to 2 inches per hour later in the day, according to the weather service. Wind gusts are forecast to top 50 miles per hour in some areas, Purdue said.
She said travelers should expect dangerous driving conditions with slick roads and near white-out conditions at times. Motorists should be ready for road closures and carry tire chains, extra warm clothing, food and water if venturing into the area.
The newest storm system comes after one skier was killed and another guest was injured Wednesday when they were buried in an avalanche at the Palisades Tahoe resort, officials said. It occurred at about 9:30 a.m. above the G.S. Gully area of the KT-22 peak, the resort said in a statement.
The skier who died was identified Wednesday night by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office as 66-year-old Kenneth Kidd, a resident of both Point Reyes and the Truckee Tahoe area.
Hours before that avalanche, forecasters had warned that the risk of an avalanche in the area was “considerable” for a portion of the central Sierra Nevada, encompassing all of Lake Tahoe and much of the surrounding mountains.
A Level 3 threat indicates “dangerous avalanche conditions” that could lead to “small avalanches in many areas; large avalanches in specific areas,” and warns that “natural avalanches [are] possible; human-triggered avalanches likely.”
The Los Angeles area is heading for a wet end to the year, with rain showers forecast for later this week, raising the possibility that Rose Parade attendees might need a poncho or umbrella on New Year’s Day.
This week will be overcast, and a light storm is expected to arrive in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties by Wednesday, dropping a quarter of an inch of rain or more, according to the National Weather Service. Los Angeles and Ventura counties could receive a quarter of an inch of rain Friday heading into Saturday and likely clearing up by Sunday.
Last week, a winter storm drenched Southern California and dropped a month’s worth of rain in some areas. The latest storm passing through the region this week pales in comparison.
“Not even close. This is not even in the same realm as that one,” said meteorologist Mike Wofford of the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. “This storm system will be much weaker.”
Temperatures are expected to drop to below normal for most areas heading into the weekend, hovering around the 60s in the coastal and valley areas and the 50s in the Antelope Valley.
Forecasts are still too far out to determine what the weather holds for New Year’s Day in Southern California. But there is still a slight chance of rain for the Los Angeles region, including right over the Rose Parade route in Pasadena — though it should not be anything close to the downpour that drenched the area in 2006, raining on the parade for the first time in 51 years.
Los Angeles Unified School District band director Tony White remembers that soggy parade route — it rained when his students got off the bus and kept going all while they marched down Colorado Boulevard.
“That was a tough parade,” said White, who has led the district marching band for the last 22 years.
This year, 330 students will march with the L.A. Unified band and will likely start getting prepared by 2:30 a.m., White said. A bit of rain shouldn’t be too much of a problem; brass instruments, cases and drums made of wood can take a beating during a rainy march.
“There’s excitement and enthusiasm from students whenever they participate. They see the people cheering them on,” White said. “If it rains, we’ll make the best of it.”
Another group gearing up for the parade, rain or shine, includes a shiba inu with an underbite, a Chihuahua, a pug, a Pomeranian, and a mixed pit bull terrier. The dogs will ride aboard the Pasadena Humane Society’s first Rose Parade float in 20 years, said President and Chief Executive Dia DuVernet.
“We’re ordering rain ponchos for the dogs just in case, and even for the humans too,” DuVernet said.
The timing of a New Year’s Day storm is still uncertain, Wofford said; the rain could arrive later Monday after the parade is over, but the forecast will become clearer heading into the weekend. The Rose Parade sets off at 8 a.m., followed by the national semifinal Rose Bowl Game between Michigan and Alabama at 2 p.m.
“You can’t rule out that there could be some light rain during the parade,” Wofford said.
Southern Californians will also be under a high surf warning or advisory over the next few days, depending on where they live. Residents along northwest- and west-facing beaches can expect to see large swells, reaching 3 to 5 feet in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, but giving way to much larger swells starting Thursday with some waves around 10 to 15 feet, and peaking around 15 feet and over Saturday. Surfers along the Central Coast might also spot waves around 13 to 15 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Hermosa, Santa Monica, Venice, Dockweiler and Redondo beaches will be among those with the most wave activity, said Kealiinohopono “Pono” Barnes, spokesperson for the L.A. County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division.
“This will be the first relatively big swell event of the year,” Barnes said.
The widespread high surf is expected to coincide with high morning tides on Thursday, bringing an increased threat of coastal flooding and beach erosion and flooded beach-side parking lots. The advisories and warnings will end Saturday or Sunday, depending on the location, so residents are advised to stay up to date with their local areas or Los Angeles County lifeguards.
Coupled with the high surf, large tidal swings are expected to reach around 5.5 feet. Anyone heading out to the beach this weekend should check in with an on-duty lifeguard, officials said.
“Let them know you’re there and the lifeguard can point you in the direction of the best spot to put you in the water,” Barnes said.
Moderate swimmers should be cautious when heading to the water during the advisories this weekend.
“You should swim, surf or board within your abilities,” Barnes said. “This may not be the best time to try and flex your skills.”
As skiers and snowboarders flock to the Lake Tahoe and the Eastern Sierra slopes this holiday weekend, National Weather Service meteorologists say the latest storm is expected to drop only a limited amount of snow in Southern California.
The only area that could record even as much as 1 to 2 inches of snow over the weekend is the high mountain peaks of the Eastern San Gabriel Mountains, said John Dumas, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, operators of the Mt. Baldy Resort in the San Gabriel Mountains, said they expect to open their snow play area Saturday and Sunday as well as a chair lift “through the holidays.”
“We expect more snow after Christmas through the New Year,” according to the post.
Big Bear Mountain Resort in the San Bernardino Mountains is expected to see rain and snow flurries Friday evening but should have little to no snow accumulation over the weekend.
Looking out of his office window and seeing blue skies, Justin Kanton, Big Bear’s public relations director, said the limited trails open for skiing should remain open over the weekend, and the amount of snow in the area has been great so far for visitors, especially students on winter vacation.
As the Big Bear resort waits what the storm might bring, Katon cautioned visitors to prepare ahead of traveling to the area by checking the weather report, looking for road closures and identifying whether snow chains are necessary for travel.
“What [you] don’t want is to get halfway up the hill and CHP turns [you] around because [you] don’t have the right kind of traction,” he said.
Other parts of the state have already received enough snow to kick off the ski season.
Over the next three days Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierra is predicting about three inches of snowfall. The National Weather Service forecast for the Lake Tahoe area is partly cloudy with a slight chance of snow Friday, Saturday and Monday. Lake Tahoe’s resorts are reporting between six and 48 inches of base, with higher-elevation resorts operating up to third to a half of all trails.
Rain is expected to finally roll through Los Angeles and Southern California starting Monday and continuing through next week, according to the National Weather Service.
Saturday’s sunny skies are projected to give way to some clouds on Sunday, with temperatures starting to slightly drop.
The likelihood of showers in Los Angeles County, including downtown, is expected to increase on Monday with a 50% chance of rain.
Chance of precipitation increases through the week, with a slight chance of thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures are projected to drop to the 60s through the week.
Total rain expected from Sunday through Tuesday could reach half an inch from a storm system moving inland that is expected to bring colder weather and rain throughout California, the weather service wrote on social media.
Any precipitation should bring respite to an otherwise dry and somewhat gusty few weeks in Southern California, despite the state being in an El Niño weather pattern that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects to provide an unusually warm and wet season for parts of the west.
While Los Angeles isn’t currently under any red flag warnings or other fire-risky watches, the weather service did upgrade Los Angeles and Ventura counties to “locally brief critical fire weather conditions” until early Sunday, largely concentrated in the hills and mountains, due to wind and low humidity.
“Gusts of 25 to 35 mph will be common, strongest into Sunday morning with isolated gusts to 45 mph,” the weather service wrote. “Conditions will change rapidly Sunday night with an active storm pattern through next week.”
California has otherwise experienced a mild wildfire season, after dozens of atmospheric rivers pummeled the state earlier this year and delivered record rainfalls.
Tropical Storm Hilary showered Southern California with several more inches of rain in August, which caused flooding in Coachella Valley.
Weather experts anticipate a strong El Niño weather pattern through the first few months of 2024, increasing California’s likelihood for even more rain after years of drought and extreme wildfires.
The first significant storm of the season is expected to arrive midweek in Southern California, bringing cooler temperatures and 1 to 2 inches of rain over several days.
The predicted rainfall total is “fairly significant for this early in the season,” said meteorologist David Gomberg with the National Weather Service. “This is more typical of what you would see in the winter.”
Current models show a 60% to 70% chance of rain beginning Wednesday, with the storm possibly extending into Saturday.
“It’s a fairly long duration of off-and-on rain, but the intensities at any given point don’t look to be too extreme as it stands right now,” Gomberg said Sunday morning. “It’s just kind of this longer duration of light-to-moderate rainfall that adds up over time.”
The storm’s expected steadiness “will help delay any severe fire weather conditions for a while,” he said. Foothill and mountain areas could receive slightly more rain, but the National Weather Service isn’t expecting significant debris flow or flash flooding.
Up in the Bay Area, weather officials are predicting 1 to 3 inches of intermittent and widespread rain throughout the week. Coastal areas could see rain as early as Monday night.
While strong winds remained a concern Thursday, meteorologists have their eye on a moisture-rich storm expected to bring significant rains to Southern California by the end of next week.
An atmospheric river system with a “decent moisture plume” is forecast to hit Southern California as early as Wednesday, and is expected to bring up to 4 inches of rain to some areas, said David Sweet, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
“We anticipate getting more than an inch, maybe as much as two inches” to much of the Los Angeles area, Sweet said. The mountains could see as much as 4 inches.
“It will certainly tamp down any fire threat that we’re dealing with currently,” Sweet said.
While the storm is still almost a week out, Sweet said models show slightly different timing and rain amounts for the system. But he said with confidence the “pineapple express” system will bring significant precipitation with some strong southerly winds. Rains are likely to be most significant Thursday and Friday next week.
But in the short term, officials are still warning about dangerous fire conditions in most L.A. County valleys and mountains, as well as a the Malibu coast, with a red flag warning still in effect through Thursday evening. Gusty Santa Ana winds up to 50 mph, along with low humidity, mean that any fire start could spread rapidly, the weather service warned.
Those winds are expected to die down by Friday, causing minor cooling, Sweet said. However, the offshore winds will have a slight resurgence over the weekend, though not to the point of further concern, he said.
“Those Santa Ana-type winds [this weekend] will boost our temperatures back up into the 80s,” Sweet said.
