Strongest storm yet this winter bearing down on California with potential for serious problems

AccuWeather

AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark is warning of a serious danger for mudslides, debris flows and flash flooding in Southern California.

Transcript

00:00An atmospheric river is taking aim at California once again and in Los Angeles we are concerned

00:05not only about flash flooding but the possibility of mudslides in those burn scarred areas after

00:10those recent record-breaking wildfires. Now for a closer look we are now joined by Accuweather

00:15meteorologist and California expert I mean Ken we've been talking about this here for the past

00:21couple days this is going to be an outlook here because now for the foreseeable future any drop

00:26of rain we get across southern parts of California will carry with it a flash flood risk and this one

00:32has the highest potential of any ones before this this is going to be the strongest storm

00:38southern California has seen since last end of March in March of 2024 and certainly the strongest

00:44storm of this winter too not only in the rainfall amounts but in the intensity the rain will come

00:50down half inch to an inch hour at the highest so right now we have some light rains occurring

00:55across parts of central and northern California down into southern California kind of a damp day

00:59but not a lot of rain however as we go through the next 12 to 18 hours heavier heavier rains

01:05will spread across into the bay area northern California late tonight into tomorrow morning

01:10maybe accompanied with a thunderstorm strong winds likely across northern California bay

01:15area central coast delta 40 to 50 mile per hour wind gusts are very likely and then behind it

01:21northern California tomorrow afternoon and early evening there could be some thunderstorms too

01:26uh and potential for some severe weather there as well southern California the heaviest rain

01:31coming about maybe a 12-hour period late tomorrow morning to noonish tomorrow through about midnight

01:38tomorrow night and we're talking very heavy rain it's going to cause flooding problems there is

01:43going to be some serious problems and serious threats for mudslides and debris flows in those

01:49recent burn areas I can't stress that enough that we are looking at a potential serious problem those

01:54areas that we have not seen yet this year. So Ken how do debris flow issues impact the recovery

02:03efforts there across parts of southern California? It just adds to the misery to tell you the truth

02:09true not a lot of people have moved back into those areas at this point however there are

02:14areas that are on the fringe of the burn that people still live in and those are the people

02:18that got to be really concerned. Some houses didn't burn but the hillsides behind them did

02:23and those could come washing down very easily tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night so those

02:28people if you hear a warning has been issued to evacuate do so and do it immediately. All right

02:34so for the overall outlook here of rainfall that we're going to be tracking as we head into the

02:38weekend you said this can be one of the most potentially potent storms that we've been

02:42tracking here since last year so overall if we have any viewers watching from southern California

02:47any first responders what advice would you give to them for the impending storms moving in tonight?

02:54This is going to cause a lot of disruptions in traffic two to four inches of rain very common

02:59across southern California, LA area on southward maybe a little less than that in the San Diego

03:05area but still a big impactful storm down there. We're going to look at some certainly some urban

03:12and small stream flooding the washes in southern California are going to fill up very rapidly so

03:17there's going to be potential for some rescues that go on because of that and we're also looking

03:25at the potential for the mudslides and debris flows like we've already talked about. Very

03:29serious situation first responders got to be on their toes by late tomorrow and tomorrow night.

03:35Yes the mudslide issue the mudslide potential is going to be very dangerous here as we head

03:40throughout the weekend so Ken we will be watching this very closely so we are going to be watching

03:44that rainfall beginning tonight spreading from central California down to the south here as we

03:48enter the overnight hour so this is going to be an ongoing thing not only for Thursday but as we

03:52head throughout Friday even into the weekend as well. AccuA the meteorologist in California

03:57expert Ken Clark thank you so much for your insight. You're welcome.

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