An El Nino-driven storm is shifting out of the Los Angeles area to the east. It’s a 1-inch storm, a 2-inch storm, followed by a 1-inch storm, followed by a 2-inch storm.
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“We’re amateur meteorologists now”, he said. “And then, instead of having 6 inches of mud running down your street or off the hillside behind your house, then you can get serious mudflows – 2 to 3 feet in height”.
The Police Department for Arcadia, a city near Los Angeles in Southern California, tweeted warnings regarding the flooding and subsequent road closures.
Although the rain eased by late afternoon, forecasters said more thunderstorms were expected on Wednesday and Thursday, and possibly Friday. “We’re at least on a good trajectory”.
In Southern California, Residents of the Silverado Canyon burn area in Orange County and the Solimar burn area in Ventura County were told they may want to evacuate in advance of the storm, but have not been ordered to do so.
The weather service warned of flooding on urban roads, as well as flash floods and mud flows that could hit areas recently ravaged by wildfires.
This is only the first major line of storms, so the majority of the problems, including devastating flooding and mudslides, will likely come later this winter.
“That’s called, ‘The price you pay with the view, ‘” Patzert said. The storm was expected to move south through the Central Coast and into Southern California by midday.
Besides this El Nino, there are only two similarly strong El Ninos in the record books over the last half-century.
Mike Thawley fills a sandbag Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in San Anselmo, Calif. El Nino storms lined up in the Pacific, promising to drench parts of the West for more than two weeks and increasing fears of mudslides and flash floods in regions stripped bare by wildfires.
Los Angeles County Flood Control District crew member David Martinez uses an excavator to keep a flood inlet clean in Glendora, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Four vehicles were damaged in what California Highway Patrol labeled as a mud, dirt and rock slide, said Siara Lund, CHP information officer.
The season is expected to last through March. A subtropical jet stream that’s normally not well-defined has emerged as a strong force over California. Coastal California, from San Francisco to San Diego, is under Flash Flood Watches, and a total of eight western states are under winter alerts.
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.
Motorists in mountain areas are warned that blizzard conditions are possible above 4,000ft – including several inches of snow and wind gusts up to 60mph. “So it’ll be a mess up there”.
Authorities have spent days getting homeless people from low-lying areas along the Los Angeles River.
“They’re incredibly risky”, Frasher said.
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Below is how much additional rain is forecast through Thursday. Certainly don’t go anywhere near rushing water.
