Rain falls or drizzles across Southern California, putting region at above-average precipitation levels
A fairly quick bout of rain dampened parts of Southern California Tuesday evening through Wednesday, adding roughly an inch of precipitation to an already wet winter season with more to come later this week, National Weather Service experts said.
Last week’s storm during Thanksgiving dropped a few inches of rain in Southern California, with up to 4 feet of snow in the mountains, but this week’s storm was less intense. This storm’s rain began drizzling throughout parts of the Southland Tuesday evening, which prompted several flood watch warnings in Los Angeles County burn areas, in addition to parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The rain started to wind down by Wednesday afternoon, said Adam Roser, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
“The rest of this evening,” he said, “it’s looking like some scattered showers and then it’ll clear up.”
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The rain and snow from last week caused multiple road closures and power outages, which some communities in the mountains were still recovering from. In the Crestline-Lake Arrowhead area of the San Bernardino Mountains, the number of customers without power on Wednesday evening was 100, down from 423 Tuesday night, Southern California Edison said.
The storm also put the region above its average precipitation levels, which were expected to increase even more by the end of Wednesday, according to Roser.
“It’s definitely been a rainier start to the winter season compared to last year,” he said.
This is how much various parts of the region got from the beginning of the rainy season, Oct. 1, to Tuesday, Dec. 3:
- Fullerton: 2019 – 2.1 inches, 2018 – 2.3 inches;
- John Wayne Airport: 2019 – 2.3 inches, 2018 – 2 inches;
- Long Beach: 2019 – 2.9 inches, 2018 – 1.9 inches;
- Ontario: 2019 – 2.7 inches, 2018 – 2 inches;
- Riverside: 2019 – 1.8 inches, 2018 – 1.9 inches;
- LAX: 2019 – 1.4 inches, 2018 – 2.7 inches.
By Wednesday afternoon, LAX got nearly an inch of rain and Long Beach received about 3/4 of an inch, according to National Weather Service reports. The San Fernando Valley got more than an inch of rain, with other areas such as Pasadena and Whittier getting a little less than an inch, the reports said.
Here are rain gauge measurements of today’s rainfall across southwest CA through 11am. Many areas received 1 inch, but less than 0.5 inch in western #SBACounty. Peak amounts 2-2.5 inches in the mountains. Additional showers are expected thru the afternoon. #LArain #CAwx pic.twitter.com/3yoBxbqdvz
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) December 4, 2019
In Orange County, Fullerton had nearly an inch of rain and John Wayne Airport saw about 3/4 of an inch, a NWS report said. The northern part of the county, such as Anaheim Hills and Brea, saw more than an inch of rain, with southern coastal areas such as Laguna Beach with about a half-inch, according to the report.
Toward the Inland Empire, Riverside got about 3/4 of an inch of rain and San Bernardino saw about an inch. Mountains got between 1-2 inches of rain, but higher elevations at about 7,000-feet-and-up saw a light dusting of snow, Roser said.
Call it a good soaking rain past 24 hours but a little too much in some places, view the totals here https://t.co/HXffMQLq5R and zoom up to your area #castorm #cawx pic.twitter.com/MNAE0PiqJJ
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) December 4, 2019
As the rainfall winds down Wednesday evening, folks will get a couple of dry days, but should probably keep their umbrellas handy for the weekend.
Possibly starting Friday evening, more rain showers are expected for Southern California, but it isn’t clear yet how much precipitation there will be, according to Roser. The storm is expected to continue through Saturday and possibly into Sunday, he said.
“It’s a good start,” Roser said of the rainy season. “Hopefully the storm turns a little bit more this weekend. Because then it’s looking pretty dry.”
Among the water-related mishaps Wednesday:
–Huntington Beach lifeguards rescued a hiker who lost his footing and slipped into a body of water at the bottom of a hill.
–In East Los Angeles, a big rig jackknifed on the transition road from the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway to the eastbound Pomona (60) Freeway during heavy rainfall, and a portion of the trailer and cab were hanging over the edge of the bridge for several hours. By late morning, the truck had been removed, but the connector remained closed for guardrail repairs until about noon.
–The northbound Interstate 215 connector to the westbound Riverside (91) Freeway in Riverside became partially flooded about noon, forcing motorists trying to enter the 91 to squeeze into one lane for safety. At the same interchange, flooding in lanes snarled traffic transitioning from the eastbound 60 to the westbound 91, according to the CHP.
City News Service contributed to this story.