Wild weather in Southern California

Southern California has already had two major storms since Sunday night...and its only Tuesday!

There is great concern about the rain creating mudslides in the local foothills and mountains, especially where last year's fires burned the vegetation that helps hold the dirt in place on the steep hillsides during periods of rain.

The strong rain associated with today's storm flooded many intersections and low lying areas, swamping and stalling many vehicles. The strong winds broke branches and uprooted trees.
The roofs of several buildings collapsed from the weight of too much water. Kim said it rained so hard at our house that the water was coming off the roof in a solid sheet. When the worst of the storm hit in the early afternoon, the sky at work became as dark as an hour after sundown. The street lights all came on and it was too dark to see the street from our office building, with the exception of car headlights. There was lightning and thunder. There were numerous weather alerts, flood advisories, and high wind warnings. Then a Tornado Warning was issued for southern Los Angeles, Orange, and northwestern San Diego Counties. Two water spouts were reported off the coast of Huntington Beach area, with one of them coming ashore as a tornado that overturned an SUV, tore roofs off buildings, breaking windows, and making a big mess. At work, everyone in an office or room with an outside window was evacuated to an inner room until the Tornado Warning was cancelled. This disrupted a workshop I was attending in our 3rd story window encased conference room. People near rivers and streams have been sandbagging and trying to shovel away mud to protect their homes. There are mandatory evacuations for people in certain foothill areas to leave their homes before the next storm hits tomorrow afternoon. No known storm damage or injuries in our neighborhood so far.

There was lots of snow in the high mountains. One man was crushed and killed when a large tree blown over by high winds fell on his cabin.
http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?clip=16317&from=hp_video_3

Here is a photo of the weather radar at the height of the storm. Notice the large, hook-shaped pattern of heavy rain over central Orange County. The storm was traveling from the southwest towards the northeast.


Here is a URL link to a video and photo slide show of storm damage.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/weather-229784-storm-rain.html?pic=1

The first storm on Sunday night and Monday was worse than anticipated. The powerful storm that clobbered the entire length of California today was forecast to be the weakest storm of the week, with WORSE storms forecast for Wednesday afternoon and again on Thursday evening. Everybody batten down the hatches, belt up, and hold on for a wild ride!