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LA hit by rare September rain and coastal flooding from Hurricane Marie

Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Weather News

Angelenos avoided the most significant impacts of Hurricane Marie over the Labor Day weekend, but the region continued to soak up the fringes of the storm Sunday, according to meteorologists.

Most parts of L.A. County will take on about a quarter-inch to an inch of rain as the storm continued to fizzle out over the Pacific Ocean, according to the National Weather Service.

The mountain regions of the county were likely to see more significant rainfall, while downtown Los Angeles was expected to see slightly less precipitation.

The region could also be hit by pockets of thunderstorms, which would bring heavier rain in localized and brief spurts, but the chances of that were about 10% to 15%, according to David Gomberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

More concerning than the rainfall are rip tides and coastal flooding, Gomberg said.

"There's been a large surf already with reports of 10-foot waves at Zuma Beach," Gomberg said. "A lot of rescues already."

Most areas are seeing 6- to 8-foot waves, he said.

Gomberg said that no one except experienced surfers should go into the waters.

Early Sunday morning the National Weather Service said that "flooding of lots, parks and roads with only isolated road closures" were expected.

The weather service said that a flood advisory was in effect until 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon for west central Los Angeles County — including for the Franklin and Palisades burn scars.

 

"Minor debris flows may occur in the recent burn scars," the weather service said in a Sunday morning bulletin.

The Westside and western San Fernando Valley were expected to see minor flooding, according to the weather service, including Malibu, Encino, Woodland Hills and Beverly Hills.

Areas such as the city of Seal Beach already saw flooding on Saturday, with water inundating parking lots, video showed.

The city closed its 8th Street and 10th Street beach parking lots until Wednesday "due to elevated surf and coastal flooding conditions," the city's Police Department said early Sunday morning.

UC climate scientist Daniel Swain said the rain would be "mainly beneficial," saying it did not present much flood risk.

Hurricane Marie developed off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday and although meteorologists reported models showing the storm would probably head west and away from the coast, there was a slight possibility it would move north toward Southern California.

Despite the storm's core remaining hundreds of miles from the L.A. coast, its effects still hit the region.

The soggy weekend comes as temperatures are expected to climb again in Los Angeles this week, soaring into the mid-90s by Wednesday and Thursday and dropping back into the 80s next weekend.

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