California rain may ease, but more mudslides, flooding possible, forecasters say
A strong storm system that brought relentless winds, rain and snowfall to California this week was expected to ease Friday, but there was still a risk of high surf along the coast, flash flooding near Los Angeles and avalanches in the Sierra Nevada.
Waves near the San Francisco Bay Area could reach up to 25 feet Friday, parts of Southern California were at risk of flooding, and avalanches could hit the Lake Tahoe area, officials warned. Residents were told to be ready to evacuate the mountain town of Wrightwood, about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, because of mudslides.
"It's not going to take a whole lot to create some hazards on the highways," Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Los Angeles, told The Associated Press. "Still not quite out of the woods, but for the most part, the worst is over."
Atmospheric rivers carried massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. The storms were blamed for at least two deaths earlier in the week. Some 70,000 homes and businesses had no power overnight, according to Find Energy.
Firefighters rescued over 100 people Thursday in L.A. County, with one helicopter pulling 21 people from stranded cars, officials said. The LAPD also responded to more than 350 traffic collisions, the L.A. mayor's office said.
The system brought the wettest Christmas season to downtown L.A. in 54 years, the weather service said. The area recorded 3 inches of rain in three days, while the mountain areas saw up to 12 inches, Wofford said.
In Wrightwood, a 5,000-resident mountain town, the roads turned into rivers when relentless rains came down Wednesday, residents said. On Friday, cars were still buried up to their windows in rocks, debris and thick mud.
With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Shawn Millerick.
"We're ready," he said. "It's all hands on deck at this point."
In Northern California, two Mammoth Mountain ski patrollers were caught in an avalanche while doing avalanche mitigation work Friday morning, before the resort opened. One of the patrollers sustained serious injuries, and the other ski patroller was being evaluated for possible broken bones, according to resort officials.
A falling tree killed a San Diego man Wednesday, fire officials confirmed to the CBS affiliate there, KFMB-TV. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriff's deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.
Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches, with even more in the mountains, Wofford said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared emergencies in six counties to allow state assistance.
The state deployed resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.