California Storm brings floods to areas burned by fires

On By Littum

California is becoming soaked, whipping and dumping again.

A robust storm system will sweep in from Wednesday night to Friday, bringing the threat of strong wind, heavy rain or snow to any part of the state.

Officials are particularly concerned about the risk of flooding of flash and mud gliders in areas recently burned by fires in southern California in southern California. But across the whole state, power cuts and delays at the airport as well as road closures from flooding, snow and abandoned trees are possible as the storm moves through. This system also throws the Pacific Ocean up and brings dangerous surf to beaches.

  • The heaviest rain and snow are expected on Thursday. Some moisture brought modest amounts of rain to the San Francisco Bay area and central California overnight and to southern California on Wednesday morning, but the main event starts Wednesday night and is expected to last until Friday afternoon.

  • In southern California, this storm is expected to be the strongest of the winter so far, which increases the risk of flooding on roads and streams and especially in the fire burner scars. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Tuesday The fact that he was particularly concerned about bursts of stormy rain over the burned scars left behind by Palisades and Eaton -Fires in the Los Angeles area could trigger rivers with water, mud and dirt. Some evacuation warnings have already been issued.

  • In northern California, rain is expected to be heavily around the bay and just south of it. Downtown San Francisco will probably see at least see an empty rain and up to about three inches, which can lead to some nuisance for flooding.

  • This storm is on its way to being the biggest snow producer so far this winter, with more feet of snow expected in Sierra Nevada.

The storm is expected to be the strongest of the season so far for southern California, which has seen an otherwise dry start to winter, even with the recent rain.

The rain is on its way to start lights Wednesday night to Thursday morning and will be picked up on Thursday afternoon before ending early Friday. Heavy rain can lead to flooding of roads, small creeks and streams along the coast, but the greatest danger is the potential flow of waste from areas burned by fires, which can be life -threatening.

Santa Barbara County issued an evacuation warning for people Around an area burned by the lake beach last year.

The city’s flood is probably, especially in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, but Ryan Kittell, a National Weather Service Meteorologist, said it was not expected to be as serious as it was in 2023, when after storms, the streets of the center of Santa Barbara turned into rivers.

“The totals do not look as high for Santa Barbara as these storms, and the rainfall leading up to these storms is much less for this storm,” said Mr. Kittell. “But with that in mind we expect lots of road problems in Santa Barbara. “

While the precipitation hotels will add in 48 hours, the short, sharp rainfall outbreaks are the biggest threat. These can cause flooding of flash that leads to streams of water, mud, boulders, trees and the ash’s remnants of garbage in areas burned by fire.

There is a 10 to 20 percent chance of thunderstorms in the Los Angeles County, and these can cause the heavy rain speed that can cause a waste stream. But the heavy localized torrential rainfall is possible, even without thunderstorms, as the most intense periods of the storm, whether it occurs for 15 or 60 minutes, “could actually be very heavy,” said Mr. Swain.

The weather service said the concern for flooding of flash was highest in areas burned by Palisades and Eaton -fires in January and of the bridge in September.

The southern half of the state will also be whipped by winning Wednesday to Friday, and the weather service warned that delays are possible at airports, including Los Angeles International Airport.

The northern part of the state has received more rain than usual this winter, and it is getting more. Although this is not the biggest storm of the season for the area, one to three inch rain is expected on the coast and in valleys, and more is probably in the higher terrain.

While there is a risk of flooded roads and streams from the coast over Central Valley and into the Sierra Fothills, the risk is expected to be lower than it was in the last storm that led the Russian river to spill over its banks.

Winter storms more commonly deliver the heaviest rainfall to the northernmost parts of the region. However, this system will be focused to the south – around the San Francisco and into the Santa Cruz mountains, Monterey and Big Sur.

While a flooding watch was issued for most parts of the Bay area, “Our main concern is flooding and landslides in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties and some areas of South Bay,” said Crystal Oudit, a meteorologist with Weather Service in Monterey.

The storm is on its way to bringing winter’s biggest snow dump so far to Sierra Nevada. Unlike the systems this winter that have delivered a mixture of rain and snow, this is expected to be poured several feet of snow.

Three to five feet of snow are expected at Donner Pass, one of the most raised passports in the state and a gateway into the Tahoe basin.

Andrew Schwartz, the leading scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, Central Sierra Snow Lab, said the storm would also bring impressive totals to the central and southern part of Sierra Nevada, who has seen less snowfall than the northern half this winter.

“I’m not sure if this will get us up to the average in these areas, but it should help the least equalize things a little,” he said.

The northern edge of the storm will brush Oregon and Washington, which brings lower rainfall than in California and delivers a mixture of rain, freezes rain and snow.