The El Nino weather phenomenon is bringing storms to California, which are causing some minor flooding.
Advertisement
The National Weather Service said 1.42 inches of rain fell Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport, beating the 1979 record for the date by a tenth of an inch.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday morning said Los Angeles could see 2.82 inches of rain, Long Beach could receive more than three inches of rain and Pasadena could get 3.75 inches of rain by Thursday.
One to two feet may pile up through Thursday, with strong winds gusting to 50-60 miles per hour creating blizzard conditions.
Flash flooding and mudslides are of concern, especially in areas of California hit by last year’s wildfires. A dog was rescued in Los Angeles after being trapped by high waters in the West Hills.
“Rainfall rates this high have the potential to cause flash flooding and mud and debris flows”, forecasters said.
This current incarnation of El Niño is expected to be one of the worst in history, rivaling the dramatic storms of 1998.
Socha is among uncounted Californians trying to protect their property after the first El Nino storms descended on California this week and brought wet, windy weather to an area stretching all the way to the Gulf Coast.
Image: A auto passes a sign warning of flooding on the roadway following an El Nino-strengthened storm in Leucadia, California January 5, 2016. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, streets were blocked at Burbank Boulevard at the San Diego (405) Freeway, Burbank and Hayvenhurst Avenue, Burbank and Balboa Boulevard, Burbank and Victory, and Woodley and Victory.
The Los Angeles Times reports that at least four storms are lined up back-to-back across the Pacific, stretching from Asia to the California coast, and all are expected to bring deluges to the drought-stricken metropolis.
Voluntary evacuations were temporarily in place for homes in the Camarillo’s Springs Fire burn area Tuesday morning, and a flash-flood warning was issued for Ventura County’s Solimar Fire area, and L.A. Counties Colby, Williams and Cabin fire areas.
Authorities have spent days getting homeless people from low-lying areas along the Los Angeles River.
“I hope that it rains so much that Noah and his ark are flowing down the San Joaquin River”, he said. The mountain communities will be cold with heavy snow expected at elevations above 6,000 feet.
The system is on pace to pour heavy rains into California for the next couple of weeks.
State officials said residents in November missed their 25 percent water conservation mandate for a second month running.
“We’re amateur meteorologists now”, he said.
El Niño occurs when trade winds across the Pacific Ocean, which usually flow east to west, weaken, allowing for the warmer parts of the ocean to expand in the middle and eventually reach the shores of North and South America, according to the United Kingdom’s national weather service.
Advertisement
The storms are also whipping up large ocean swells that could generate hazardous breaking waves at west-facing harbors.
