The Pineapple Express storm bearing down on Southern California could bring heavy rain and strong winds throughout Christmas week, potentially triggering mudslides, downing trees and flooding not only freeways but also homes and businesses. <\/p>\n
If the forecasts are right, this could be one of the stormiest Christmases in recent memory for Southern California. There\u2019s an 80% chance downtown Los Angeles will get 2 or more inches of rain from Tuesday through Christmas Day. The last time downtown got 2 or more inches of rain over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was in 1971. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n
Timing<\/p>\n
The peak of the system is expected Tuesday through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an 80% to 100% chance of rain in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties starting Tuesday night and lasting into Wednesday and Thursday. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Precipitation timing for Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.<\/p>\n
(National Weather Service)<\/p>\n
In Orange County, the Inland Empire and San Diego County, light showers are possible Tuesday, but the heaviest rainfall is expected Wednesday, with officials warning of heavy rainfall, increased flooding risks and possible mudslides. Flood and mudslide risks will continue Thursday. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Expected effects of the storm for Orange County, the Inland Empire and San Diego County.<\/p>\n
(National Weather Service)<\/p>\n
Worst-case scenario<\/p>\n
Forecasters are warning that there\u2019s a 40% chance of \u201cvery high\u201d amounts of rain for Los Angeles, Ventura and southern Santa Barbara counties, and a 30% chance of the same for northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.<\/p>\n
That scenario would see 4 or more inches of rain fall on the coast and in the valleys, with 8 or more inches in the mountains and foothills, Tuesday through Thursday. Peak rainfall rates would be half an inch to 1 inch per hour. <\/p>\n
According to the National Weather Service, that could cause:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Significant mudslides
\u2022 Flooded freeways
\u2022 Streams and rivers flooding over their banks
\u2022 Localized flooding that could rise above curbs and into homes and businesses
\u2022 Moderate coastal flooding in south-facing areas
\u2022 Downed trees and power lines
\u2022 Dangerous sea conditions
\u2022 Swiftwater rescues<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rainfall probabilities for Los Angeles, Ventura and southern Santa Barbara counties.<\/p>\n
(National Weather Service)<\/p>\n
Between Tuesday and Thursday, numerous areas have a high chance of seeing 3 or more inches of rain. There\u2019s a 77% chance of that occurring in Anaheim and Yorba Linda, a 74% chance in Santa Ana, a 73% chance in Ontario, a 71% chance in Mission Viejo, a 69% chance in Irvine, a 68% chance in Chino, a 65% chance in Laguna Niguel and a 60% chance in San Clemente. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rainfall probabilities for northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.<\/p>\n
(National Weather Service)<\/p>\n
\u2018High amounts\u2019 of rain scenario<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a 40% chance of \u201chigh amounts\u201d of rain in L.A., Ventura and southern Santa Barbara counties, and a 50% chance of the same in northern Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. That scenario would entail 2 to 4 inches of rain falling along the coast and in the valleys, with 4 to 8 inches in the mountains and foothills.<\/p>\n
Rain to that extent would risk flooding freeway lanes; causing minor coastal flooding, mudslides and debris flows; and potentially force swiftwater rescues in fast-moving rivers and streams.<\/p>\n
Wind<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a potential for gusty winds from the south, said Robbie Munroe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service\u2019s Oxnard office, which issues forecasts for L.A., Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. <\/p>\n
That risks toppling trees and power lines. On Tuesday night, Los Angeles could see peak gusts of 31 mph; Woodland Hills, 38 mph; Paso Robles, 52 mph; and San Luis Obispo, 53 mph. <\/p>\n
\u201cAvoid parking under trees,\u201d the weather service said. \u201cSecure loose outdoor objects.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a 65% chance of gusts exceeding 35 mph in Huntington Beach, a 60% chance in San Diego, a 45% chance in Big Bear Lake and Ramona, a 40% chance in Escondido and a 35% chance in Riverside, according to the weather service office in San Diego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pineapple Express storm bearing down on Southern California could bring heavy rain and strong winds throughout Christmas…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":460636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,210299,23935,2961,224,2444,5337,210298,22803,181762,6231,3550,13841,31399,2549,2450,11441,5618,78883],"class_list":{"0":"post-460635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-foothill","11":"tag-heavy-rain","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-times","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-more-inch","17":"tag-mph","18":"tag-mudslide","19":"tag-national-weather-service","20":"tag-san-diego-county","21":"tag-san-luis-obispo-county","22":"tag-santa-barbara","23":"tag-southern-california","24":"tag-thursday","25":"tag-tree","26":"tag-tuesday","27":"tag-ventura"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115753559079652593","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}