Record Rain, Snow And Flood Warnings Hit Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES, CA — Southern California will begin to dry out Wednesday after record-setting rainfall prompted flash flood warnings and evacuation orders in burn scar areas.

The much-needed precipitation dropped more than 7 inches of rain in some parts of Los Angeles County as snow as low as 4,000 feet. The San Fernando Valley saw between 1-3 inches of rain, and Downtown Los Angeles recorded almost two inches of rainfall by 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

SEE ALSO: Tornado Touches Down In California: National Weather Service

As nightfall set in Tuesday and a powerful band of rain moved across the area, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning that prompted alerts on cell phones across Los Angeles County. NWS officials quickly canceled that alert and issued an apology on social media, noting that the warning was only intended for the Fish Fire burn area near Duarte, where heavy rain prompted fears of "life-threatening" debris flows.

Duarte city officials had already imposed a mandatory evacuation order beginning late Monday night for 25 homes near the Fish Fire burn scar. It was unclear how many of those residents heeded the warning.

A flood watch was in place for all Los Angeles County burn scars through Tuesday evening.

Forecasters said coastal and valley areas were expected to get 1 to 3 inches of rain from the storm overall, with 2 to 5 inches possible in the mountains, with "locally higher amounts."

Top Rainfall Amounts From All Local Areas:

• Crystal Lake: 7.32 inches
• Opids Camp: 6.71 inches
• San Antonio Sierra Ph: 6.47 inches
• Mt Baldy: 5.61 inches
• West Fork Heliport: 5.32 inches
• San Antonio Dam: 5.10 inches
• Cogswell Dam: 5.08 inches
• Sandberg: 4.48 inches
• Tanbark: 4.10 inches
• Claremont: 3.82 inches

Record rain totals were recorded in parts of Los Angeles County on Tuesday well before torrential downpours hit overnight.

• At Sandberg, 3.62 inches of rain was reported, breaking the record for the day of 0.43 inches set in 2002.
• At Los Angeles International Airport, 1.31 inches of rain was reported, breaking the record for the day of 1.3 inches set in 1998.
• At Hollywood Burbank Airport, 0.98 inches of rain was reported, breaking the record for the day of 0.66 inches set in 1979.
• In Lancaster, 0.51 inches of rain was reported, breaking the record for the day of 0.4 inches set in 2002.
• At Palmdale Airport, 0.31 inches of rain was reported, breaking the record for the day of 0.22 inches set in 1979.

By mid-morning Tuesday, Caltrans officials said traffic was impacted by flooding on the Pasadena (110) Freeway at Via Marisol, with Caltrans workers on the scene to clear drains. Caltrans also reported that the right lanes of southbound Interstate 5 from Branford Street to Sheldon Street/Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Pacoima were closed due to flooding and drainage work.

More flooding was reported on freeways across the region as the evening commute began. The Angeles Crest (2) Highway between Vincent Gulch Road and San Gabriel Canyon Road had to be closed late Tuesday afternoon due to rockslides.

Rain also had fire crews on alert. Los Angeles fire officials responded Tuesday morning to the Los Angeles River on a report of two vehicles being spotted in the rushing water. Rescue crews ultimately found no indication that any people were stuck in the river.

Los Angeles County mountains were under a winter storm warning through 10 a.m. Wednesday, although snow is expected to be restricted to higher elevations, with up to 20 inches possible in areas above 7,000 feet.

Mountaintop winds could reach up to 70 mph, according to the NWS.

Daytime temperatures are expected to drop into the low 60s in the valleys and the downtown Los Angeles area through Wednesday, with lows in the 50s Tuesday and the lower 40s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The Antelope Valley will see overnight temperatures below freezing level later this week, with lows of 33, 30 and 31 degrees expected Wednesday through Friday.

A drying and warming trend is expected by later in the week.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin