Life-Threatening Flood Threat as Rain and Winds Pummel State

Written by Eric Joseph Gomes Posted on

The atmospheric river—which looks like a river in the sky—is the second storm to hit the state in the last few days. However, meteorologists said this one would be the strongest of the season, especially in Southern California.

Life-Threatening Flood Threat as Rain and Winds Pummel State

Life-Threatening Flood Threat as Rain and Winds Pummel State: A strong winter storm fed by a powerful atmospheric river was pounding California with heavy rains on Sunday, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people, flooding roads, and causing a rare warning of hurricane-force winds.

Based on what Accuweather said, up to 37 million people, or 94% of the state’s population, could be killed by floods caused by the storm. The atmospheric river—which looks like a river in the sky—is the second storm to hit the state in the last few days. However, meteorologists said this one would be the strongest of the season, especially in Southern California.

Life-Threatening Flood Threat as Rain and Winds Pummel State

The National Weather Service warned that hurricane-force winds could hit the Central Coast. From the Monterey Peninsula to the northern part of San Luis Obispo County, wind gusts of up to 92 mph were expected.

Police in San Francisco warned people about streets that were flooded and closed, downed trees (including a big one that hit power lines), and a landslide on a hillside. The last round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf event was moved to Monday in Monterey County, which is about 100 miles down the coast. Monday doesn’t look like a good day for golfing either.

The storm was supposed to move south and hit the Los Angeles area on Sunday afternoon and evening with heavy rain, flash floods, and snow in the mountains at high elevations. On Monday and Tuesday, it was supposed to hit Orange County and San Diego hard. Eight counties in Southern California were put under a state of emergency by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Los Angeles and Orange were two of them.

“All systems are go for one of the most dramatic weather days in recent memory,” the National Weather Service said Sunday.

Wednesday and Thursday, the first storm in the “Pineapple Express” dumped 1 to 6 inches of rain on the state. Forecasters say that the new storm brings even more water, which will make already-wet areas even more dangerous and deadly.

In some parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, winds were over 60 mph, and in the mountains, gusts were over 80 mph, which is strong enough to be called a Category 1 storm. In some places, gusts of wind reached 102 mph and 98 mph.

According to poweroutage.us, more than 856,00 homes and companies in California were without power by 9:00 p.m. PST. Most of them were along the coast.

On Sunday, firefighters saved a man who was stuck on a rock in the Ventura River. Jeremy Henderson, a battalion chief with the Ventura City Fire Department, said the guy was trapped and the water was rising around him. Someone heard the man yelling for help and called the police.

Local leaders are telling people to leave because of the risk of flooding and mudslides

Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Monterey counties all had evacuation orders and alerts out in place.

On Monday, all schools in Santa Barbara County were closed. It said on its website that the Santa Barbara Airport was closed Sunday night because the runway was flooded.

“This storm is predicted to be one of the largest and most significant in our county’s history and our goal is to get through it without any fatalities or any serious injuries,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

Lindsay Horvath, the supervisor of Los Angeles County, told people who live near areas burned by wildfires in Topanga and Soledad mountains to do what they were told and leave their homes before mudslides happened.

“If you have not already left, please gather your family, your pets, your medications and leave immediately,” Horvath said at a Sunday briefing. The county set up shelters where evacuees could spend the night.

At a news conference on Sunday, Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego said that the storm “has the potential to drop a significant and unusual amount of rainfall on San Diego.” He also said that from Sunday night to Tuesday, the city could get two to three inches of rain, with some places getting half an inch of rain every hour.

Gloria said that the storm would be the third rainstorm in two weeks in the city and sent out another order for people to leave low-lying and flood-prone parts of the city.

Meanwhile, Orange County warned people to leave Silverado Canyon, Williams Canyon, and Trabuco Canyons because of heavy rains. They told people in the area to leave, especially those with disabilities, access or functional needs, or big animals.

Desert towns are on high alert

In the low and high California deserts, it will rain the most from late Monday night through Tuesday morning. However, the nearby mountains will get hit earlier, with heavy rain starting Sunday night and heavy snow Monday night.

It will rain about a quarter to a half inch in the western part of the Coachella Valley on Monday, and between 1 and 1.5 inches all the way through Tuesday. It’s going to rain three quarters of an inch in the east valley.

Up to three feet of snow could fall on Mount San Jacinto and a little more on San Gorgonio. The Coachella Valley is less likely to get rainy after Wednesday, but showers could happen here and there until the end of the week.

Southern California schools get ready for bad weather

The weather service said it could rain up to 8 inches along the coast and in the valleys of Southern California. In the peaks and mountains, it could rain up to 14 inches.

The Los Angeles County weather service said flash flood warnings were sent out for most of the county, including downtown, where the Grammy Awards are being held, and the east area. The alerts will last until Tuesday at 12 a.m.

As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the weather service said it had rained up to 1 inch. “The area that was warned could get another 2 to 5 inches of rain.” “Flash flooding is happening now or will start soon,” the weather service said.

Because of the dangerous weather, some schools said on Sunday that classes would be moved online.

“Out of an abundance of caution and with the safety of students, faculty and staff as its top priority, Cal State Fullerton will pivot to remote classes on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Staff are encouraged to work remotely,” the university said in a statement.

California State University Long Beach also said campus operations would be modified due to the severe weather, adding that “in-person classes may shift to online instruction or alternative assignments, where possible.”

So far as Sunday afternoon goes, the Los Angeles Unified School District has said that schools will be open as usual on Monday. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said that the choice would be looked at again at 6 a.m. on Monday.

Heavy rain could cause mudslides and floods

The NOAA Weather Prediction Center said that from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast through Southern California on Sunday and Monday, it would rain a lot. The weather center said that it would likely rain between 2 and 5 inches, and in some places it could rain up to 6 to 10 inches. The prediction center said, “This will cause a lot of flash flooding in cities and small streams, along with debris flows and mudslides.”

On Sunday, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said that heavy rain was coming: In the mountains, it could rain up to 12 inches, and along the beaches and in the valleys, it could rain 3 to 6 inches.

AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin said, “Because there are so many mountains and hills, even a few inches of rain can cause a lot of flooding.” This is where the biggest risk is likely to be in Southern California’s valleys and hills, especially in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties.

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Storm is more dangerous because it moves slowly

By staying over large parts of California for a long time, the storm soaked land that was already wet from the atmospheric river-driven system that hit most of the state on Wednesday and Thursday, making floods more likely.

“The core of the low pressure system is very deep, and it’s moving very slowly and it’s very close to us,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles-area office. “And that’s why we have those very strong winds. And the slow nature of it is really giving us the highest rainfall totals and the flooding risk.”

Forecasters say that Southern California will get heavy rain through Tuesday and maybe some showers through Friday. This means that mudslides and garbage flows are likely to happen.

Kattell said, “Even if the rain stops in the morning on Monday, the sheer amount of rain that fell overnight will still cause flooding problems in the morning.”

Three kids 400 miles or more away “in the eye of the storm.”

In their San Francisco neighborhood of Miraloma Park, Doug and Pam Barry were among more than 100,000 people who lost power early Sunday morning.

That wasn’t even close to their biggest worry, though. Their two sons go to college in Los Angeles and San Diego, respectively. When the storm hit, their daughter Jessica was in San Diego visiting their younger son. Now she’s hoping that nothing gets in the way of her plans to go back to her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Sunday.

“We have all three children in the eye of the storm in Southern California,” Doug Barry said. “We texted them yesterday to be careful with the approaching storm. We will get a good storm, but they will have it worse. Rarely do we share the same weather concerns with our children in California who are 400-plus miles away.”

Will bad weather keep stars from getting to the Grammys?

The stylish clothes and fancy hairstyles at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles don’t have to worry about the rain and wind. In fact, a biblical-sized downpour is expected early in the evening.

The red carpet walk is taking place outside of the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown L.A., under a roof and tarp. It is supposed to rain nearly 5 inches through Tuesday. The L.A. office of the National Weather Service is warning of a “DANGEROUS SYSTEM” that poses a big threat to land and life. Large-scale floods.

People in the stars will have an even worse time with traffic because of that. There wasn’t any rain last year, but big names like Beyoncé and Bad Bunny got stuck in traffic and arrived late.

Heavy rain won’t happen until 6 p.m. local time, an hour after the Grammys start. However, Los Angeles County will experience mild rain and winds of 30 to 50 mph from noon on.

Whiteout conditions could happen if there is a lot of snow and strong winds.

The Sierra Nevada was going to get heavy, wet snow from Sunday night through Tuesday morning, with two to three inches of snow falling every hour, the weather service said. Forecasters say that gusts of up to 60 mph of wind could make it impossible to see in the mountains of Southern California.

Palisades Tahoe, a ski area about 200 miles northeast of San Francisco, said it was expecting up to two feet of snow, which is the most snow that has fallen so far this season.

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