Widespread heavy rainfall and hurricane-force winds struck California on Sunday, leading to power outages affecting 900,000 customers. The storm’s prolonged presence over major cities raises concerns about potential severe floods in the coming days.
This recent storm, identified as the second Pineapple Express weather system or atmospheric river storm within the week, coincided with Los Angeles hosting the Grammy Awards. While the red carpet was tented, attendees, including celebrities, navigated heavy rain in glamorous cocktail attire, some resorting to using only a handbag as makeshift umbrellas.
The extreme weather conditions led the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office to issue an uncommon hurricane-force wind warning for Big Sur and its vicinity. Additionally, heavy rain forced the cancellation of the final round of the professional golf tournament at Pebble Beach in Northern California’s Monterey County. Due to the forecast for continued rain on Monday, the PGA Tour concluded the event prematurely after three days, declaring Wyndham Clark as the winner.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in eight counties, totaling over 20 million people. Flash flood warnings were issued for areas in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties.
“This has the potential to be a historic storm, severe winds, thunderstorms, and even brief tornadoes,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a news conference.
Both the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County faced relentless downpours, with the storm anticipated to stall or even reverse course in certain areas until Tuesday. This heightened the significant risk of severe flooding and mudslides.
“The Monday evening commute is going to be a complete disaster, to say the least. It’s going to be bad enough that I would recommend everybody stay home in L.A. if we possibly can,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Los Angeles, said in a live stream on Sunday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) documented peak wind gusts surpassing 80 mph (129 kph) in certain areas. Over 900,000 homes and businesses faced power outages on Sunday afternoon, as reported by PowerOutage.us. Mayor Rex Richardson of Long Beach, near Los Angeles, anticipates unprecedented rainfall this week, reaching 5-7 inches (13-18 cm) from Sunday through Tuesday.
Southern and central California coasts brace for intense rainfall, with the U.S. National Weather Service forecasting rates of up to an inch per hour and overall totals ranging from 3-6 inches (7-15 cm). Foothills and lower-elevation mountains could experience as much as 6-12 inches.
The Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas faced a high risk of excessive rainfall on Sunday and Monday, with forecasters predicting “near continuous rainfall” for 48 hours.
Evacuation orders were issued for residents in these areas, as well as in the San Jose region, Ventura County, and two locations in Los Angeles County previously affected by wildfires, where denuded terrain heightened vulnerability to mudslides.
