The coastal city and port of Long Beach near Los Angeles could get more rain this week than it does during an entire year, said Mayor Rex Richardson, who is expecting 13-18cm starting Sunday until Tuesday.
Los Angeles could get hit with as much wind and rain as what Tropical Storm Hilary brought in August, Mayor Karen Bass said.
California’s southern and central coasts are bracing for an inch of rain an hour and totals of 7-15cm, the US National Weather Service said. As much as 15-30cm are expected in the foothills and lower-elevation mountains.
The weather agency designated areas including Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties as high risk for excessive rainfall both Sunday and Monday, forecasting “near continuous rainfall” for the next 48 hours.
With soil already saturated and streams running high, the flood potential is even higher, forecasters said.
Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties issued evacuation orders for some residents due to the risk of life-threatening floods from the storm. Mandatory evacuations were in effect in parts of the San Jose region and Ventura County.
Rain will turn into heavy snow at higher elevations in the mountain ranges of northern California and the Sierra Nevada, with total accumulation of several feet forecast for the Sierra region through Tuesday, and snow rates of 5-7.5cm per hour the NWS said.
