California

California Gets More Rain, 1 Big Mudslide

The recent rain lashing the Bay Area is good news for some and cause for concern for others.

It's raining again in Marin County causing concerns about the possibility of a flooding on 101 in Southern Marin.

But one place in Northern Marin is celebrating the rain and predicting it will boost their business 100 percent over last year: the McEvoy Ranch olive groves

Over in the South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains, people are scrambling to take advantage of a lull in the storm. For some it means assessing and repairing damage. In Burbank Drive, the storm cause a giant pine tree to crash down on a multiplex. The family inside was evacuated but not hurt. A tree-trimming crew decided against a crane and began cutting the tree up.

LOOKING AHEAD

Mostly cloudy skies are expected Wednesday in the Bay Area. There is a chance of showers. Highs are expected to be in the upper 50s, and west winds could reach 10 to 20 mph.

Mostly cloudy skies are expected Wednesday might. There is a slight chance of showers in the evening and after midnight. Lows will be in the lower 50s with south winds of 5 to 15 mph.

Cloudy conditions and a slight chance of showers are expected Thursday. Highs will be in the upper 50s with east winds of 5 to 15 mph expected.

STORMY WEATHER

The latest in a string of storms noisily marched across Southern California early Wednesday, hurling lightning bolts, coating mountains with snow and unleashing downpours that triggered a freeway-blocking mudslide but missed most vulnerable areas.

The storm exited the state by midday, but flash flood watches remained in effect through the afternoon in interior areas east and south of Los Angeles due to lingering shower activity.

"It was rather rare to see lightning all night long as this storm system moved across the region,'' the National Weather Service said, noting that the tempest's instability was similar to a heavy rain event last week that produced no lightning at all.

"Rain rates were intense in the stronger thunderstorms but the ... coverage was much less widespread and missed any significant burn area or other susceptible problem spot,'' NWS added.

A weaker storm entered the northern end of the state Wednesday but rainfall was expected to remain light and the system wasn't expected to spread farther south than central coast counties.

California has been hit hard by rain and snow over the past week, but experts say it will take many storms to end a three-year drought.

On Wednesday, a torrent of mud and rocks from a recently burned hillside covered part of State Route 91 in Orange County before dawn. Cars and trucks were stuck for about 90 minutes and the eastbound lanes were shut for several hours. No injuries were reported.

"It's pretty bad. It's about 2 feet deep,'' Jeff Dean, a motorcyclist who was stranded, told KABC-TV about the mud on the roadway. The lanes reopened by 8 a.m. but not before rush hour traffic was backed up for miles.

After moving down the coast from Northern California, the second of back-to-back storms prompted temporary evacuations Tuesday night in Camarillo Springs, which was hit by mudslides last week. This time, the wildfire-scarred hillsides held above the community about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Forecasters warned of possible debris flows in several areas that had been burned in recent fires.

Skies were clearing Wednesday after clouds dumped more than a half-inch on downtown Los Angeles and nearly an inch at Los Angeles International Airport and in Beverly Hills.

Eight to 10 inches of snow accumulated at ski resorts at Mountain High and on Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, and 5 inches to 7 inches fell at resorts at Big Bear farther east in the San Bernardino Mountains, the weather service said.

Up to 7 inches of snow was expected in the Central Sierra Nevada, with wind gusts of up to 45 mph possible.

A study of satellite data released by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory found that at the peak of the drought earlier this year, water storage in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins was 11 trillion gallons below normal seasonal levels.

Still, rainfall has been trending above normal in many places so far during the 2014-2015 rain season that began July 1. As of Tuesday, downtown Los Angeles had collected 4.32 inches, more than 1.3 inches more than normal to date. A year earlier, it had collected just .86 inch to date.

Also as of Tuesday, downtown San Francisco had tallied 13.37 inches, or more than 6 inches above normal to date.

The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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