Heavy Southern California rain floods roads, spurs warnings
Heavy rainfall early Monday clogged the morning commute in Los Angeles County, with some localized and urban flooding, but the rainstorm is threatening to wreak more havoc across the region.
Much of San Diego County is under a flash flood warning through 1 p.m. as pockets of punishing rains and thunderstorms are moving west and south.
“We’re seeing a couple different smaller thunderstorm cells that are producing really strong rainfall rates,” said Brian Adams, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego. ”We’re looking at some pretty widespread traffic issues,” he said, noting several roads flooded and others had traffic backed up from vehicles spinning out in the wet conditions.
Just before 11 a.m., the National Weather Service confirmed multiple reports of flooded roadways, including in Coronado and National City, as well as portions of Interstate 5 and the 805 Freeway underwater near downtown San Diego.
“Between 1 and 1.75 inches of rain have fallen, locally up to 2 inches,” forecasters in the San Diego office said Monday morning. “The expected rainfall rate is 0.5 to 0.75 inches, locally up to 1 inch per hour in 1 hour.”
Three different flash flood warnings were issued by 10:30 a.m. across San Diego, through 1 p.m., including much of the San Diego County coast and some desert communities.
The latest in a string of wet winter storms had much of Southern California under a flood advisory early Monday, with thunderstorms and heavy showers possible through the evening, according to the National Weather Service.
In Los Angeles County, rainfall came earlier in the day, with several reports of roadway flooding during the morning commute, including a majority of lanes shut down on the southbound 405 Freeway in Long Beach.
“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.
But by 8 a.m. Monday, Sirard said, much of the worst had passed for L.A.
“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.”
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.
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.
The storm also brought some snowfall to Southern California’s mountains, where 5 to 10 inches of snow was forecast at elevations above 7,000 feet — above most resorts. But there was about an inch of snow recorded in Big Bear City as of Monday morning, which sits at about 6,500 feet, Adams said.
Meanwhile, across the Sierra Nevada, even heavier snowfall is predicted through early Tuesday, with up to a foot of snow likely at elevations above 7,000 feet, and up to 2 feet of snow above 10,000 feet, according to the weather service. A winter storm warning is in effect across the Sierra until 1 a.m. Tuesday, cautioning that “travel will be very difficult, to nearly impossible.”
As the storms move west, lower-lying areas are also bracing for effects, with a flood advisory in effect into the early afternoon for Kern County.
Heavy rainfall early Monday clogged the morning commute in Los Angeles County, with some localized and urban flooding, but the rainstorm is threatening to wreak more havoc across the region.
Much of San Diego County is under a flash flood warning through 1 p.m. as pockets of punishing rains and thunderstorms are moving west and south.
“We’re seeing a couple different smaller thunderstorm cells that are producing really strong rainfall rates,” said Brian Adams, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego. ”We’re looking at some pretty widespread traffic issues,” he said, noting several roads flooded and others had traffic backed up from vehicles spinning out in the wet conditions.
Just before 11 a.m., the National Weather Service confirmed multiple reports of flooded roadways, including in Coronado and National City, as well as portions of Interstate 5 and the 805 Freeway underwater near downtown San Diego.
“Between 1 and 1.75 inches of rain have fallen, locally up to 2 inches,” forecasters in the San Diego office said Monday morning. “The expected rainfall rate is 0.5 to 0.75 inches, locally up to 1 inch per hour in 1 hour.”
Three different flash flood warnings were issued by 10:30 a.m. across San Diego, through 1 p.m., including much of the San Diego County coast and some desert communities.
The latest in a string of wet winter storms had much of Southern California under a flood advisory early Monday, with thunderstorms and heavy showers possible through the evening, according to the National Weather Service.
In Los Angeles County, rainfall came earlier in the day, with several reports of roadway flooding during the morning commute, including a majority of lanes shut down on the southbound 405 Freeway in Long Beach.
“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.
But by 8 a.m. Monday, Sirard said, much of the worst had passed for L.A.
“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.”
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.
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.
The storm also brought some snowfall to Southern California’s mountains, where 5 to 10 inches of snow was forecast at elevations above 7,000 feet — above most resorts. But there was about an inch of snow recorded in Big Bear City as of Monday morning, which sits at about 6,500 feet, Adams said.
Meanwhile, across the Sierra Nevada, even heavier snowfall is predicted through early Tuesday, with up to a foot of snow likely at elevations above 7,000 feet, and up to 2 feet of snow above 10,000 feet, according to the weather service. A winter storm warning is in effect across the Sierra until 1 a.m. Tuesday, cautioning that “travel will be very difficult, to nearly impossible.”
As the storms move west, lower-lying areas are also bracing for effects, with a flood advisory in effect into the early afternoon for Kern County.
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