The strongest storm in a year is set to pound Southern California this week, with forecasters warning of potential widespread roadway flooding and the chance of landslides throughout the region — especially in areas recently charred in the devastating Los Angeles County firestorms.
The rain will be nothing like the relatively modest storms that have brought largely beneficial rain to Southern California the last two weeks. Forecasters suggest avoiding travel if possible on Thursday.
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“Thursday is just not a great day to be on the road,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “If nothing else, [expect] lots of slick roads, lots of traffic accidents. There will be some roadway flooding. Not all areas … but certainly more than we’ve seen this winter so far.
The storm is expected to bring 1.5 to 3 inches of rain across much of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, with 3 to 6 inches expected in the mountains, including around several burn scars.
The heaviest bands of rain are anticipated to arrive between 2 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday, said Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Those living in or around recently burned areas should plan to leave their homes before the storm or, if they choose to remain at home, hunker down and stay off the roads. The National Weather Service said the next few days could end up delivering the wettest storm of the entire winter.
Cohen urged the public to remain vigilant and prepare ahead of the rain’s arrival given the destructive nature of debris flows, a type of landslide in which water rapidly flows downhill — moving as fast as 35 mph and picking up not only mud but also rocks, branches, and sometimes even massive boulders and cars.
Large debris flows can result in “raging torrents of rock slides and mud slides that can be damaging and even deadly,” Cohen said. Forecasters have estimated a 50% to 70% chance of debris flows in the region.
“With so many burn scars across the area and the rain having the character more of a bursting type of pattern, we’re looking at very intense rainfall rates to bring the potential for significant debris flows,” Cohen said.
Even if significant debris flows don’t happen, there may be street closures around the burn scars and roads that still end up caked in mud.
Since a fire tore through Pacific Palisades last month, killing a dozen people and scorching more than 23,000 acres, workers have installed more than 7,500 feet of concrete barriers, more than 6,500 sandbags and other erosion control mechanisms across the area. Crews have also cleared catch basins and storm drains in preparation for the wet weather, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during a news conference Tuesday.
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