Heavy rain early Monday caused some localized and urban flooding across Los Angeles County, making the morning commute hazardous, or at least slow, for many commuters.
The latest in a series of wet winter storms has much of Southern California under a flood warning until 9:30 a.m. Monday, with the potential for thunderstorms and heavy downpours still in the forecast into the evening, according to the Weather Service. National.
“We had about a quarter to a half inch of rain in an hour across much of the area, which resulted in a lot of urbanized flooding and a lot of puddles on the roads,” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Service in Oxnard. Reports of road flooding hampered travel throughout the region, including most lanes closed on the southbound 405 Freeway in Long Beach.
But by 8 a.m. Monday, Sirard said, much of the worst was over.
“It looks like the heaviest rain is moving out of the area,” Sirard said. “We still have a chance for showers and a slight chance for thunderstorms today…what that means is there could still be some brief, localized, heavy rain.”
However, the flood warning remains in effect until 9 a.m. for southeastern Los Angeles County, as well as parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. For coastal San Diego County and the foothills of Orange County, the warning was issued until 9:30 a.m.
County officials issued an evacuation warning for some Topanga Canyon residents that lasts until Tuesday morning, citing concerns about landslides.
“Any time we get this kind of rain, there's always that possibility,” Sirard said, noting that scars from recent burns, like in that area, are particularly vulnerable. But as of early Monday, he said rainfall rates had not yet reached levels that would prompt flash flood warnings there or elsewhere in the region.
Rainfall totals for Monday are expected to reach nearly 3 inches in some foothill communities and up to an inch in the greater Los Angeles area. Localized flooding will remain a concern due to possible scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms, but widespread heavy rain has mostly moved out of the area, Sirard said.
“If the roads are wet and it's raining, you have to slow down and use caution,” Sirard said.
