Major SoCal storm triggers evacuation orders in LA County amid flood threats
A powerful atmospheric river -linked storm that began slamming Southern California on Wednesday prompted evacuation orders in Los Angeles County amid flood threats to burn scars from wildfires that erupted in January.
Threat level: Flood and flash flood watches and high-wind advisories have been issued across Southern California.
Zoom in: With the worst of the "significant storm system" set to hit Thursday with heavy rains and gusty winds, Santa Barbara County said on X an evacuation order was also issued for properties associated with a burn scar from the 2024 Lake Fire due to the potential for "flash flooding, debris flow."
In LA County, evacuation warnings were also set to take effect from 7am Thursday through 2pm Friday "due to high mudslide and debris flow risk," according to a statement posted on the LA Fire Department's website.
Among the recently burned areas that the LAFD notes are "especially susceptible to heavy rain" are those affected by the destructive Palisades Fire, including around the Getty Villa art museum, the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills and the Hurst Fire in the San Fernando Valley.
Situation report: Ahead of the storm, California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed teams to take emergency measures to prevent debris flows from burn scar areas, with up to 2 inches of rainfall expected in some places.
The Cal OES Watershed and Debris Flow Task Force has "installed emergency protection materials," including straw wattles, compost silt socks, and silt fences "to contain hazardous materials from the Eaton and Palisades Fires from entering LA's creeks, rivers, and other bodies of water," per a Monday statement from the governor's office.
The task force "is coordinating locally requested materials such as K-rails to divert debris flow and has completed debris basin clean-up activities over the last month to mitigate potential impacts in vulnerable areas," the statement added.
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District said all Malibu schools would be closed Thursday and possibly Friday "due to road closures and weather concerns."
What to expect: While only light precipitation was expected on Wednesday evening, periods of moderate to heavy rain were forecast Thursday followed by scattered showers into Friday morning, per a National Weather Service LA forecast discussion.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain noted in a Wednesday blog post that while the "whole region should see a good soaking, the SoCal mountains will see widespread 3-6 inch totals (locally higher), and that does include most of the major recent fire footprints."
Thunderstorms were expected to hit Southern California from noon to 10pm Thursday and rainfall rates of just over 1" per hour were expected across parts of Santa Barbara County and Ventura Counties, according to the NWS LA.
"However, any location is susceptible to rain rates between a half and one
inch per hour, especially during the peak of the event when convection is most likely," it added.
Meanwhile, heavy snow in addition to the rains was forecast in the Sierra Nevada.
Between the lines: Southern California had already been hit by " hydroclimate whiplash" from very wet to drought conditions ahead of the atmospheric river.
Swain said while it has "finally rained" in Southern California this winter, "nearly the entire region remains woefully behind average."
Human-caused climate change is leading to more frequent and intense extreme precipitation events, research shows.
Go deeper: Climate change made LA fires far more likely, study says
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Here's why forecasters see California turning red on this map
California's first real taste of summer arrived recently, with temperatures pushing triple-digit highs from Redding to Palm Springs, heat more typical of July than spring. Yet during last week's heat wave, due to fog pooled beneath the Golden Gate Bridge that spilled over western San Francisco, afternoon highs only hit the low 60s in San Francisco. Meanwhile, just 30 miles inland, Concord baked at 100 degrees. These sharp temperature contrasts mark a California summer rite of passage, but forecasts suggest a less pronounced divide for future heatwaves this year. That's because coastal areas may have to rely on a thinner marine layer, which means less of the cooling ocean air that typically allows places like S.F. to stay comfortable. According to the seasonal outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, most inland areas in California have a 60% to 70% chance of experiencing one of the warmest summers since 1991. This forecast extends a clear warming trend. California's average summer temperature has come in above the 1991–2020 climatological normal every year since 2012. The run peaked in 2024, the hottest summer for California in over 100 years, when Sacramento, Stockton, Redding and San Jose all shattered their all-time seasonal heat records. This summer, even traditionally mild coastal cities face a coin‑flip level chance for above normal warmth, hinting that the marine layer may not offer its usual insulation. Rain won't offer relief either this summer and that's no surprise. California summers are historically dry and the Climate Prediction Center's 'equal chances' designation simply means the long range forecast models see no clear signal to tip the odds toward wetter or drier conditions. In practical terms, the state can expect its familiar pattern of scant summer rainfall even as the temperature outlook climbs. 'There really isn't much push from El Niño, La Niña, or other classic climate drivers,' said Johnna Infanti, a forecaster with the Climate Prediction Center. 'Yet every major model we run is pointing toward heat from June through August.' Why are the forecast models so sure of the heat? UCLA Climate scientist Daniel Swain sees two forces at work. First, he says, is the rising baseline: 'Climate change means most recent summers already start warmer than the 30- to 40-year average.' Second is an ocean pattern forecast models clearly detect even if meteorologists are not exactly sure what it is. As Swain puts it: 'There is something in the initial state of the Earth system — mostly the sea-surface-temperature pattern beyond ENSO, that is forcing this persistent very hot signal. We know it isn't El Niño, so it has to be something else, and we may not even have a clear name for it yet.' California's trend of increasingly severe heat waves illustrates these warnings. Cities statewide have witnessed a notable uptick in extremely hot days. Last summer shattered heat records across several locations, including Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and Redding, each experiencing significantly more triple-digit days than their historical averages. Even more concerning are increasingly warm summer nights, disrupting the critical overnight cooling that communities depend on for recovery from daytime heat. The Climate Prediction Center's latest outlook suggests 2025 will once again deliver an above‑average run of 100‑degree afternoons and unusually warm overnight lows across much of the state. The hotter, drier backdrop will impact the fire season as well. Cal Fire and the National Interagency Fire Center reported that a lush grass crop is drying weeks ahead of schedule in Southern California. Sparse winter rains in that region left soils thirsty and vegetation quick to brown. The summer outlook shows July with above normal large fire potential over nearly all of Northern California and much of the Sierra and Coast Ranges. That risk expands to nearly the entire state by August, as persistent heat and drought-stressed fuels could push fire activity above normal this summer. The Southwest monsoon activity signals are mixed this year. Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of California are running above normal, a warm bath that can fuel northbound moisture pulses. The Madden‑Julian Oscillation, a slow‑moving pulse of tropical thunderstorms that circles the globe every 30 to 60 days, is forecast to stay active into late June. And if that pulse coincides with a strengthening of the ridge of high pressure, it could help pull more monsoon moisture north in July. Meanwhile, NOAA calls for a subdued eastern Pacific hurricane season, a key late summer moisture source. Taken together, forecasts show no strong tilt toward a wetter or drier monsoon. As July and August approach, prolonged heat waves, particularly inland, seem increasingly likely. 'The models were really, really, really insistent on above‑normal temperatures across the entire U.S., not just over the West,' Infanti noted. California should brace for another exceptionally hot and largely dry summer, with inland valleys racking up many more 100‑degree days than usual and nights that stay uncomfortably warm.
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Crews in Westlake District contain fire at commercial building weeks months after previous blaze
Crews put out a fire at a commercial building in the Westlake District on Tuesday morning, weeks after a blaze at the same location. Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters responded to the 1300 block of Shatto Street around 2:24 a.m. When crews arrived, they found a vacant and boarded one-story commercial building, a former private school, fully engulfed in flames. In just about 33 minutes, about 49 firefighters were able to put out the fire and stop extension to any adjacent structures, fire officials said. No injuries were reported during the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The LAFD said on March 20, crews also responded to the same scene for another fire.
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Bloomberg
Highways Baking at 158F Signal a Red-Hot Summer From China to the US
In northern China, road surfaces have soared to 158F (70C). In California's Central Valley, temperatures are reaching into the triple digits Fahrenheit. Across much of Spain, the mercury has risen so high that it's prompting warnings for tourists. Weeks before the official start of the Northern Hemisphere's summer, signs are emerging that the coming months will be blistering in North America, Europe and Asia. There's even a chance that the season could shatter global high-temperature records, said Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
