“They call it Stormy Monday, but Tuesday is just as bad…
… And Wednesday’s worse, and Thursday’s oh so sad.” – T-Bone Walker, “Stormy Monday” 1947
(Note added Thursday, January 21, 2010: An electric sign on I-580 warned me that Interstate 5 is CLOSED at Grapevine today. A friend at Apple said that he drove through snow in the Santa Cruz Mountains, before the snow melted today! I thought that the rain and air are noticeably colder today!)
Torrential rain is forecast for parts of Southern California (including Los Angeles) on Thursday, as the result of a strengthening El Niño. In areas with vegetation removed by wildfires, the rains could result in severe mudslides. The storms have taken longer to reach Southern California than originally forecast this week, giving them more time to drench Northern California and bury parts of the Sierra with snow. Interstate 80 through the Sierra was closed part of the day today. This morning, very heavy rains were centered over Silicon Valley, and a rare thunderstorm, probably as the result of a lightning strike, set fire to the top of a tree and telephone pole, much to the delight of a group of fifth graders that I visited today! The kids seldom see lightning, and there were electrical discharges between adjacent power lines, and a firetruck visited to add to the show. 
Back in Southern California, the flooding of streets was reported across the region, including in Burbank, the Bixby Knolls section of Long Beach, areas south of Long Beach Airport, as well as Sunland and San Pedro. As of 6:35 PM this evening, the California Highway Patrol reported that the 405 Freeway south is flooded in Long Beach and that traffic is being diverted. The California Highway Patrol closed Interstate 5 earlier today, at the Grapevine, because of snow.
The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory and coastal flood warning for Los Angeles County beaches, with winds of up to 60 miles/hour and wave heights of up to 20 feet. Anticipating mudslides, the Los Angeles Police Department issued evacuation orders for residents in 262 homes in the northeastern San Fernando Valley. Glendale ordered more than 300 homes evacuated. Authorities ordered the evacuation of about 500 homes in La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge, and Acton. Two Southwest Airlines Boeing 737s were struck by lightning in flight today but landed safely at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. The National Weather Service recorded at least one tornado, four waterspouts and gale-force winds of up to 80 mph as the storm swept through the Los Angeles Basin. Witnesses said they spotted tornadoes in Costa Mesa and Goleta! Chest-high water stranded drivers on the 710 Freeway in Long Beach and swallowed cars in parts of Belmont Heights.
Back in the Bay Area, there was a tornado warning in the South Bay (only the second or third EVER ISSUED), and waves continued to eat away at a cliff at Lands End in Pacifica, near where apartments on Esplanade have been evacuated as the result of landslides. The Great Highway was closed in San Francisco, between Sloat and Lincoln (near the western end of Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach).
As I mentioned above, Interstate 80 was closed today for several hours as blizzard conditions with more than a foot of new snow and winds of up to 100 miles/hour over the Sierra ridge produced near-zero visibility.
If it sounds “exciting” to live in California, sometimes it REALLY IS!
(Note added January 23, 2010: TV news last night showed live reporting of a line of cars 20 MILES [32.2 km] LONG [driving 10 miles/hour] at Gold Run, CA. No, there was no accident at the time, just a lot of people eager to get “to the snow.” So far, 7 feet [2.1 m] of new snow have fallen in the Sierra around Lake Tahoe.)
-Bill at
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