More severe holiday weather is forecast for an already soggy California bracing for the possibility of additional landslides and mudslides.
The rain from a powerful winter storm that swept through Southern California was gradually tapering off, but by Christmas, another storm system was looming on the horizon with showers and possible thunderstorms.
Two deaths in the state may be related to the severe weather, officials said.
CBS News producer Alice Morrison says “additional heavy showers along the California coast through Friday” could bring 2 to 5 inches of additional rainfall.
A flood watch Morrison notes that it is in effect through Friday along the California coast from the Oregon border to Los Angeles and into central California.
Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned of flash floods and landslides. Areas engulfed by January wildfires received evacuation warnings as heavy rains and gusty winds brought landslides and mudslides.
Many flooded areas were in burn scar zones, which were devoid of vegetation as a result of the fire and were less able to absorb water.
San Bernardino County firefighters said they rescued people trapped in cars Wednesday as mud and debris poured down a road leading to Wrightwood, a resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It was not immediately clear how many people were rescued.
Wally Scalage/AP
Firefighters also went door-to-door checking houses and the area was placed under a stay-at-home order, officials said. An evacuation order was issued for Little Creek, also in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The stay-at-home order was still in effect Wednesday evening, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said on social media.
Janice Quick, president of the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce and a resident of the mountain town for 45 years, said a wildfire in 2024 left much of the area without tree cover.
Residents in burn zones from the Orange County Airport fire were also ordered to evacuate.
Wind and flood warnings were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.
Statewide, about 158,000 homes and businesses were without power overnight, the data showed. Find Energy.
Several roads, including part of Interstate 5 near the Burbank Airport, are closed due to flooding.
The storms were the result of numerous atmospheric rivers carrying huge plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest weeks of the year.
Southern California typically gets a half-inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but many areas could get 4 to 8 inches this week, with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.
Heavy snowfall and gusty winds created “near whiteout conditions” in parts of the Sierra Nevada and made crossing the mountain pass dangerous. Officials said there was a “significant” avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe and a winter storm warning was in effect until Friday morning.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six counties to allow government assistance in the hurricane response.
The state sent emergency resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.
The California Highway Patrol reported a crash apparently related to weather conditions south of Sacramento in which a Sacramento sheriff's deputy was killed. James Caravallo, who has worked for the agency for 19 years, apparently drove at an unsafe speed, lost control on the wet road and crashed into a utility pole, CHP employee Michael Harper said in an email.
A large tree branch fell and killed a man near his home Wednesday morning in San Diego. CBS affiliate KFMB-TV reported.
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