UPDATED with latest: Even before the first drop of rain falls, the impacts of the coming storm are already beginning to be felt across Los Angeles.
Among them:
- Due to the potential for flooding, Pepperdine University will shift to remote classes tomorrow for students at the Malibu and Calabasas campuses. Regular operations are expected to resume Wednesday.
- Topanga Canyon Boulevard will be closed beginning at 10 p.m. tonight and continuing until 5 a.m. Tuesday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The closure will occur over a 3.6-mile stretch between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive. That stretch of road is a work zone, with nightly closures occurring beginning at midnight, but it will close two hours early tonight due to the wet weather. The stretch is bounded by high cliffs and subject to frequent slides, even un light rain.
- Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that swiftwater rescue teams, mud and debris flow crews, as well as heavy-duty high-water vehicles are moving into Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange and Santa Barbara counties. The state is prepositioning over 200 personnel and dozens of pieces of equipment including fire engines, bulldozers, hand crews, helicopters and front loaders.
PREVIOUSLY at 4:18 p.m.: In a good news/bad news combo typical of life in Southern California, the first appreciable rain in more than six months will help provide some much-needed moisture before the fall fire season, but also potentially cause mudflows around the burn scars from last season’s massive fires.
With 1.5 inches of rain forecast to fall in Los Angeles later today — and 2-4 inches in the mountains and foothills — officials have issued evacuation warnings for debris flows near recent burn areas from 10 p.m. tonight to 6 a.m. Wednesday. Residents in the areas burned this year in the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, the Hurst Fire in Sylmar and the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills are advised to prepare to evacuate quickly if ordered.
See specifics on the storm in the graphic below.
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for much of L.A. and Ventura counties warning of “Southwest winds 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph” that will be “strongest in the hills and peaks.” There was also a warning about potential thunderstorms or even possible tornadoes.
A just-issued alert from the NWS further warns, “Chances for Significant/Damaging Debris Flows in & below recent burn scars have increased, esp for the Eaton, Palisades & Bridge scars. If you live in/near a recent burn scar, follow guidance from law enforcement, limit travel to avoid flooding, debris flows & mud flows.”
See specifics on the arrival times for rain in the graphic below.
Los Angeles County Supervisors Chair Katheryn Barger issued a statement a little after 4 p.m. today. It indicated that “the storm’s intensity has increased,” per county officials, and that evacuation orders may be in the offing, at least for the Eaton Canyon/Altadena area which falls under Barger’s purview.
“County emergency officials are actively working to determine next steps and the timing of official orders. If issued, nearly 400 properties could fall under mandatory evacuation. Many of these are standing homes in high-risk burn areas,” she wrote.
“I know that asking residents to leave their homes is disruptive and difficult,” added Barger. “But I would rather see people temporarily relocated than anyone put in harm’s way. Please, if you are in an evacuation warning zone, prepare now and be ready to leave immediately once an order is issued.”
On the plus side, the rain should help the region avoid a repeat of this past January’s fires. Those blazes were primed by growth from a 2022 wet season that registered a total of 28.40 inches of rainfall in the Los Angeles region, followed by 25.19 inches during the year 2023. The seasonal average is about 14 inches. The key here is that in 2024 that growth was dried out as the region experienced moderate drought conditions, including a period of eight months devoid of any measurable rainfall running up to fire season.
We’ve more or less gone seven months since the Palisades and Eaton Fire burn areas received a deluge and saw mudflows that added to the damage caused by the fires. This coming precipitation, while dangerous itself, could prevent a repeat of the wet-dry fire cycle as the region rolls into fall and awaits the rains of winter.
City News Service contributed to this report.
