More rain fell on waterlogged Southern California on Friday in what forecasters expected to be the tail end of a storm that has prompted evacuations, rocky mudslides and the wettest Christmas holiday in decades.
While the rain intensity is beginning to ebb in some places, the continuing showers only add to the risk of additional flooding before the weather improves, forecasters said.
Across the state, at least three people have died of causes related to the winter storm system.
A new wave of precipitation arrived Thursday night and was expected to last until Friday afternoon, bringing another inch or so of rain to the Los Angeles area, and twice that to the nearby mountains.
The persistence of the heavy rainfall, which exceeded 10 inches from Christmas Eve through Christmas Day in some of Southern California’s mountainous areas, is not normal for the region. “We see this kind of storm maybe once in 25 years, which makes it pretty unique,” said Kristan Lund, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
She added that the floods and mudslides that have closed roads and highways over the past couple days were a result of the rain pounding land that was already saturated. More dangerous flows were likely to follow.
The rain caps an exhausting year of weather extremes for Californians: The fires that burned Los Angeles and surrounding communities in January left scarred land that could not absorb much water, intensifying this week’s flooding. While the causes of any one weather event are complex, a warming planet heightens the intensity of both fires and floods.
On Friday morning, parts of southwestern California, including Los Angeles County, were under a flood advisory, with a less-serious flood watch for Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. As of Friday morning, all flash flood warnings had been lifted.
Still, around 8 a.m. local time, firefighters in Los Angeles used a helicopter to rescue a woman who was being swept away by rushing waters in the Tujunga Wash, a waterway that flows into the Los Angeles River.
Elsewhere in the state, a winter storm warning was in effect over the Sierra Nevada, with several feet of snowfall expected in parts. There were avalanche warnings around Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe.
Evacuation orders for some Los Angeles County burn-scar areas were extended through early Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said in a Thursday night statement that some evacuation orders remained in effect in Los Angeles. Those living in three areas near burn scars left by the January wildfires were warned they might have to evacuate.
Friday’s rain is expected to be lighter and briefer than the earlier waves, with improving conditions expected by the evening, though spots of fog could make driving difficult.
The additional rain adds to what has already been record-setting holiday weather. Downtown Los Angeles recorded 2.59 inches of rain through midday Thursday, making the Christmas Eve-Christmas Day period the wettest since 1971, according to the Weather Service.
Flooding disrupted travel and prompted evacuations across the region. Some residents spent Christmas Eve in shelters after the authorities ordered mandatory evacuations in parts of Orange, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Thursday in those counties as well as in Riverside and Shasta Counties.
The hardest-hit area in California this week was Wrightwood, a ski resort town of 5,000 in the mountains of San Bernardino County that was battered on Wednesday. The local power company told residents that an outage there would continue into next week, said Chris Reid, a contractor who lives in town.
The three deaths occurred in scattered parts of the state. In Shasta County, in Northern California, a man died on Sunday after he drove his pickup truck onto a flooded roadway, according to the police in Redding. In Mendocino County, a woman died at the beach after a big wave pushed her from a rock and into the sea on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office there. And in San Diego, a man died on Wednesday after a tree splintered and fell on him, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The heavy rain is the result of a series of atmospheric rivers — large plumes of moisture drawn from the ocean — that have been flowing over California for the past week. Climate change also plays a factor: A warmer atmosphere holds more water, making intense rainstorms and flooding more common, and heaping one threat on top of another.
Jacey Fortin covers a wide range of subjects for The Times, including extreme weather, court cases and state politics across the country.
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