Weather

/

Knowledge

New storm brings more rain across Southern California through Wednesday

Rong-Gong Lin II and Priscella Vega, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Weather News

Rain rolled into Los Angeles County on Monday and was expected to continue through Wednesday, with the latest storm system bringing heavier precipitation and a more likely threat of flooding to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

A flash flood warning was in effect for swaths of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties Monday morning. By 8 a.m., there were reports of flash flooding and landslides in those areas, with between 3 to 7 inches of rain dropping. Santa Barbara Airport was closed Monday morning due to flooding.

There were reports of two lanes of U.S. 101 in Ventura shut Monday morning due to flooding, the weather service said. There were also reports of flooded roads in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, including a large fallen tree and heavy mud that flowed on sections of Highway 192 in and near the foothill areas of Santa Barbara, Montecito and Carpinteria.

“Rainfall intensities have decreased, however, additional light to moderate showers will continue moving across the warned area,” the weather service said Monday morning. Heavy rainfall rates were reported in parts of Ventura County, of up to 0.75 inches per hour.

Ventura County was expected to “experience the heaviest rain this morning and L.A. County will see a less intense, but longer duration event, lasting into Tuesday,” the weather service said.

Compared with the historic storm that pummeled the region earlier this month, forecasters expect “much less rain” for Los Angeles County this time but warned that the most intense precipitation of the storm was expected during the day Monday and Tuesday night. Over the next three days, downtown could see up to 2.4 inches of rain; Santa Clarita, 2.19 inches; Long Beach, 1.8 inches; and Torrance, 1.97 inches.

 

The rain may not be as intense as some areas farther north, but there are still concerns about the prospect for flooding, landslides and mudflows — particularly in the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills — because of the soaking Southern California received from the previous storm, David Gomberg, a weather service meteorologist in Oxnard, said during an online media briefing.

“Debris flows, mudslides, and landslides could happen just about anywhere within the flood watch area, as even L.A. County — which is expecting somewhat lower rainfall totals — took the brunt of the last storm, leaving them more susceptible to this kind of activity,” the weather service office in Oxnard said Sunday night.

Residents are urged to move parked cars out of low-lying flood-prone areas, to be alert for mudslides and rock slides on or below canyon roads and to prepare for possible flooding and power outages, the weather service said.

The slow-moving storm system began moving into the Central Coast region Saturday night, bringing light rain to Santa Barbara and western San Luis Obispo counties, officials said. The second, more powerful wave of the storm had arrived in Santa Barbara by Sunday evening. Officials warned of gusty winds, an increased chance of thunderstorms, and the possibility of high surf and coastal flooding.

...continued

swipe to next page

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus