Heavy rainfall early Monday brought some localized and urban flooding across Los Angeles County, making for a treacherous — or at least slow — morning drive for many commuters.
The latest in a string of wet winter storms has much of Southern California under a flood advisory through 9:30 a.m. Monday, with the possibility for thunderstorms and heavy showers still in the forecast through the evening, according to the National Weather Service.
“We had a quarter- to half-inch of rain in an hour across much of the area, which did result in a lot of urbanized flooding and a lot of ponding on the roadways,” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Reports of roadway flooding hindered commutes across the region, including a majority of lanes shut down on the southbound 405 Freeway in Long Beach.
But by 8 a.m. Monday, Sirard said, much of the worst had passed.
“It looks like the heavier rain is moving out of the area,” Sirard said. “We do still have a chance of showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms today … what that means is there still could be localized, brief heavy rains.”
The flood advisory, however, remains in effect through 9 a.m. for southeast Los Angeles County as well as parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. For San Diego County’s coast and Orange County’s foothills, the warning has been issued through 9:30 a.m.
County officials issued an evacuation warning for some Topanga Canyon residents that lasts through Tuesday morning, citing concerns about mudslides.
“Any time we get this kind of rain, there’s always that possibility,” Sirard said, noting that recent burn scars, like in that area, are particularly vulnerable. But as of early Monday, he said the rain rates hadn’t yet reached levels to prompt flash flood warnings there or elsewhere in the region.
Rain totals for Monday are expected to reach almost 3 inches in some foothill communities, and up to an inch across the L.A. metro area. Localized flooding will remain a concern from potential scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms, but the widespread heavy rains have mostly moved out of the area, Sirard said.
“If the roads are wet and it’s raining, you want to slow down and use caution,” Sirard said.
Grace Toohey
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