2-Day Storm Breaks Southern California Rainfall Records

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Half a dozen rainfall records for Southern California have been broken, thanks to the storm that is forecast to wind down Wednesday.

Forecasters say that from Tuesday through tonight, the region will experience its heaviest rainfall since March. Tuesday produced a raft of rainfall records for a December 2. These included:

- Record rainfall of 1.21 inch fell in downtown L.A., eclipsing the record of 1.10 inch set in 1961.
- 1.12 inch was recorded at LAX, breaking the record of .73 inch set in 1966.
- 1.04 inch was recorded at Long Beach Airport, breaking the record of .79 inch set in 1961.
- 1.14 inch was recorded at Lancaster Fox Field, breaking the record of .45 inch set in 1961.
- 1.20 inch was recorded at Palmdale Airport, breaking the record of .46 inch set in 1961.
- 1.49 inch was recorded in Sandberg, breaking the record of 1.07 set in 1961.

A few records were also set in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

A flash flood watch in effect through Los Angeles County Tuesday was extended to Wednesday night, but only near the sites of previous wildfires. National Weather Service forecasters warned residents near the sites of the Colby, Madison, Powerhouse and Williams fires to brace for the possibility of "significant mud and debris flows."

The California Highway Patrol reported 46 traffic crashes Wednesday on rain-slick freeways in Los Angeles County in the six-hour period beginning at midnight. During the same period a week ago, when it did not rain, 12 traffic crashes were reported. The CHP did not immediately release accident figures for Tuesday.

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