Intense storm hits Southern California with flooding threats - Los Angeles Times

All of Montecito was ordered to evacuate Monday day arsenic a almighty wintertime tempest brought dense rains, damaging winds and threats of flooding to the already soaked region.

Parts of the adjacent communities of Carpinteria and Summerland arsenic good arsenic the metropolis of Santa Barbara were besides ordered to evacuate “due to threats to beingness information caused by the ongoing storm,” according to the Montecito Fire Protection District.

The bid comes 5 years to the time aft a tempest unleashed mudslides that ravaged Montecito, killing 23 people, destroying 130 homes and causing hundreds of millions successful damage.

“In little than 12 hours we’ve received much than 8 inches of rain, with 7 to 8 inches inactive forecast to fall. And the watershed is behaving unpredictably,” Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor said during a briefing soon aft noon.

The evacuation successful Montecito is mostly owed to the types of hazards that tin travel with steep terrain arsenic good arsenic wildfire pain scars, said Michael Anderson, authorities climatologist astatine the California Department of Water Resources.

“When you get dense rainfall waves similar this, it makes the onshore much prone to landslides and debris flow,” helium said. “And to marque definite that we don’t repetition the incidents aft the Thomas fire, they wanted to evacuate radical from that area.”

Along with Montecito, the evacuation bid applies to residents of Toro Canyon, Padaro Lane from Via Real to Santa Claus Lane and Sycamore Canyon,and each campgrounds from Rincon Beach to Gaviota Beach.

“If you are successful a presumption to location friends oregon family, delight widen an invitation to shelter,” Santa Barbara County officials wrote on Facebook.

In Santa Barbara County, the California Department of Transportation connected Monday day said the northbound 101 Freeway was unopen down conscionable westbound of Carpinteria, and besides successful Montecito, owed to flooding. In San Luis Obispo County, the southbound 101 was closed astatine Santa Rosa Road successful Atascadero.

Another evacuation bid was issued astir 2 p.m. for the Serena Park country owed to flooding. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo besides said it was evacuating its agriculture facilities, including the Cal Poly Creamery, amid concerns astir the Shepard Reservoir needing to merchandise floodwaters.

“We are moving to evacuate animals that whitethorn beryllium impacted,” the field said. The field halfway is not affected by the evacuation.

An evacuation structure has been established astatine Santa Barbara City College’s Wake Campus, 300 N. Turnpike Road successful Santa Barbara.

Flash flood warnings went into effect for overmuch of Santa Barbara County, cardinal San Luis Obispo County and westbound cardinal Ventura County connected Monday until 4:45 p.m., with residents told to structure successful place.

“This is not a time to beryllium retired doing thing if you don’t person to,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.

The tempest is causing flooding and mudslides crossed the county, helium said. Images shared connected the National Weather Service Los Angeles Twitter illustration showed a wholly flooded Refugio Road successful the Alisal pain scar country successful southwest Santa Barbara County.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department said astatine a quality league Monday that assorted agencies had stepped up staffing and activated rescue patrols successful anticipation of dense rains Monday evening. Mark Hartwig, Santa Barbara County Fire chief, reported downed powerfulness lines, trees and astatine slightest 1 rescue successful the Refugio canyon area.

Authorities successful San Luis Obispo County received calls of fallen trees and stone and mudslides connected respective roads, the region nationalist works section said successful a tweet Monday.

In Ventura, an evacuation bid is present successful effect for the Ventura Beach RV Resort done Tuesday evening, officials said, and Ventura River is astatine hazard of flooding.

After a abbreviated reprieve, Southern California was facing different acceptable of wintertime storms Monday, with bursts of dense rains, damaging winds flooding, and forecasts of mud and debris flows done Tuesday. Authorities ordered the evacuation of immoderate areas and imposed warnings successful others, wherever residents were advised to stay vigilant of the storm’s increasing intensity.

Much of southwestern California was nether flood and precocious upwind watches and warnings and precocious surf warnings, according to the National Weather Service, with galore of the advisories stretching into Tuesday.

“This [storm] volition beryllium rather strong, precise energetic, delivering a batch of rainfall positive strong, gusty winds,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service successful Oxnard.

The tempest is the latest successful a bid of atmospheric rivers lashing the Golden State. The astir important impacts volition beryllium successful Northern California, prompting concerns implicit flooding and hazardous winds. Late Sunday, President Biden approved an exigency declaration for the state.

But the watercourse of atmospheric rivers, oregon lukewarm plumes of airborne moisture from the Pacific Ocean, is besides expected to bring 2 waves of aggravated rainfall to Southern California done Tuesday evening, upwind experts said. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center warned of marginal hazard of isolated beardown to terrible thunderstorms precocious Monday into Tuesday. The halfway besides warned of the anticipation of little tornadoes.

Another tempest is likely this weekend, forecasters say.

Light to mean rainfall moved into Southern California aboriginal Monday morning, with hourly rates of a 4th to three-quarters of an inch, according to the National Weather Service successful Oxnard. The heaviest rainfall was falling connected Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, with reports of roadway flooding and swollen creeks, the upwind work said.

The tempest is predicted to prime up successful strength Monday day done Tuesday, earlier tapering disconnected Tuesday evening. Rainfall amounts successful Los Angeles County implicit the adjacent 2 days are expected to scope 2 to 4 inches on the seashore and successful coastal valleys and 4 to 8 inches successful the foothills and mountains, particularly south-facing slopes.

Wind gusts could apical 60 mph astatine the seashore and 70 mph successful the mountains. Snow levels volition apt stay supra 7,500 feet. A high upwind warning is successful effect for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties until 10 p.m. Monday, and successful Los Angeles County mountains and the Antelope Valley until 7 p.m. Tuesday. A wind advisory went into effect astatine noon until 10 p.m. Monday for portions of southwest California, including the Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands and Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

High surf advisories are successful effect done 4 p.m. Tuesday for the beaches of Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, with unsafe rip tides and waves reaching 12 feet successful immoderate areas.

Urban and tiny watercourse flooding is apt with this storm, Sweet said. He besides warned of imaginable flooding successful main rivers, including the Ventura River, and successful the Sepulveda Basin, due to the fact that of higher h2o levels and saturated ungraded from erstwhile storms.

Evacuation warnings were issued, opening astatine 6 p.m. Monday done 8 p.m. Tuesday, for areas of unincorporated L.A. County adjacent the Lake occurrence and the northbound extremity of the Bobcat occurrence pain scars due to the fact that of the anticipation of mud oregon debris flows, according to region officials. The informing included areas of the northbound Los Angeles County communities of Lake Hughes and Kings Canyon — adjacent the 20000 artifact of Pine Canyon Road; the 18000 artifact of Ellstree Drive; the 46000 artifact of Kings Canyon Road; the 1800 artifact of Newvale Drive; and the 43000 artifact of Lake Hughes Road. The informing for the Bobcat occurrence pain country includes, astatine the northbound end, the Juniper Hills and Valyermo areas on the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

L.A. County Public Works besides issued a Phase 2 mudflow forecast for the Fish occurrence country adjacent Duarte from Monday evening to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation closed Mulholland Drive betwixt Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Drive successful anticipation of the tempest activity, officials with the bureau announced Sunday.

Rain and beardown winds were spreading into Orange and southwestern San Bernardino counties Monday, on with stronger and gusty southbound to southeast winds. Parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties were nether a flood watch done Tuesday evening, and a upwind advisory takes effect astatine 4 p.m. Monday done 4 p.m. Tuesday successful the inland and coastal areas of Orange County, according to the National Weather Service successful San Diego.

Monday’s tempest comes connected the heels of a bid of upwind systems past week successful California that pummeled coastal communities and left much than 400,000 without power connected Sunday.

The atmospheric stream is fundamentally “draped on the Central Coast,” slamming the country from Monterey County into Santa Barbara County with the heaviest rainfall, with immoderate downpours extending northeast and southwest, Daniel Swain, a clime idiosyncratic astatine UCLA, said.

“This is conscionable the mediate of what has already been a precise bedewed and progressive signifier — and what is expected to beryllium one, really, for astatine slightest different week oregon so,” Swain said.

Times unit writers Hayley Smith and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.