Storm Sweeps Into Southern California: Flooding Strands Vehicles on Wilmington Detour Route, Thunder and Outage in Santa Monica
Wilmington, a community in Los Angeles County, California, saw street flooding early on Friday, November 13, as the first of two Pacific storm systems swept into Southern California overnight Thursday into Friday. A stretch of Harry Bridges Boulevard was inundated and several vehicles were stranded, and a Coastal Flood Advisory issued by the National Weather Service for the Malibu Coast and Los Angeles County beaches remains in effect until 4 p.m. Saturday, November 14.
On Friday morning, rain combined with high tide flooded a stretch of Harry Bridges Boulevard, leaving several vehicles, including at least one big rig, stuck in the water; tow trucks were dispatched to remove them. The boulevard is serving as a designated detour route during the full closure of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, which shut on November 7 for a deck replacement project expected to last about 16 months. Caltrans is routing traffic onto Interstates 710 and 110, State Route 103 and Harry Bridges Boulevard.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Caltrans to identify an alternate detour route. "We have cars getting trapped in floodwater on Harry Bridges and Alameda, and this is only going to get worse with more rain expected this week," Hahn said. "City and county crews are working to pump out the water, but we cannot keep sending commuters through a route that is flooding."
Thunder was reported overnight in several areas, including Santa Monica, where a storm-related outage knocked out power; the number of customers affected has not been released. The National Weather Service said rainfall rates early Friday were generally less than a quarter-inch per hour, with some local rates around 0.5 inches per hour. Scattered showers from the first system tapered off from northwest to southeast on Friday afternoon, and a second, more widespread round of rain moved through Friday night into early Saturday; most areas are expected to receive less than an inch of rain from the two systems combined.
In an update issued at 4:02 a.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles/Oxnard said the Coastal Flood Advisory for the Malibu Coast and Los Angeles County beaches runs from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday: minor to moderate flooding of sea water is likely over some vulnerable low-lying coastal areas that are normally dry, especially around high tide, including beach parking lots, bike paths and harbor walkways, with moderate to significant beach erosion likely. A High Surf Advisory remains in effect until 3 p.m. Tuesday, with breaking waves of 8 to 12 feet expected on Los Angeles County beaches on Saturday and dangerous rip currents. The Weather Service advises drivers not to go around barricades or drive through water of unknown depth. Separately, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued an ocean water-quality rain advisory through at least 8 a.m. Monday.
Forecasters expect dry weather after sunrise Saturday and through Sunday, with highs mostly in the 60s to low 70s. The "storm train" pattern is then expected to continue, with another system Sunday night through Tuesday and one more on Wednesday, both forecast to be weaker. The same storm series is bringing heavy snow to high elevations of the Sierra Nevada, where a Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 4 a.m. Tuesday.
(Source: National Weather Service)
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Source: National Weather Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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