Flood watches have been issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Southern California, as forecasters warn that heavy rain could trigger flooding.
“Avoid the roads as much as possible Wednesday Night through Thursday,” the NWS forecast office in Los Angeles said Tuesday on X.
“DO NOT try to drive through any road covered with water,” the post said. “Stay away from streams and rivers, especially if camping in the mountains.”
The NWS has issued flood watches signaling that conditions are favorable for flooding across Los Angeles and many surrounding areas.
“A strong winter storm will bring moderate to heavy rainfall to the area Wednesday night and Thursday,” read one such alert encompassing Los Angeles and nearby areas.
The NWS warned that excessive runoff could cause flooding along rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying or flood-prone areas. Flooding may also occur in areas with poor drainage and in urban locations, and low-water crossings could be flooded, it said.
“Debris flow are possible near recent burn scars,” the NWS said. “There is a high risk of rock and mudslides in the canyons.”
Additional flood watches have been issued for the following areas:
- Frazier Mountain Communities
- Grapevine
- Indian Wells Valley
- Mojave Desert
- Mojave Desert Slopes
- Piute Walker Basin and Tehachapi.
- Orange County Coastal Areas
- Orange County Inland Areas
- San Bernardino County Mountains
- San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys
- The Inland Empire
- Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills.
As of reporting, the flood watches are in effect from Wednesday evening through Thursday evening.
In an advisory shared with Newsweek on Wednesday, forecasters at AccuWeather said three “moisture-packed” storms are expected to deliver widespread rain to the state through early next week.
“Rain will return on Wednesday and then continue into the weekend as the first storm targets Southern California with one to four inches for most areas,” AccuWeather said, adding that storms arriving Friday into early next week could deliver more than twice as much rain to northern portions of the state.
AccuWeather said to anticipate airport delays and dangerous driving conditions from Los Angeles to Sacramento through New Year’s weekend and into early next week. Heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada and Siskiyou Mountains could shut down sections of Interstate 80 and Interstate 5, interrupting post-holiday travel and freight traffic across the state.
Read the full article here
