Californians looking to resume their weekly commute Tuesday awoke to see several major roads closed after heavy rains drenched much the state Monday — with the expected precipitation far from over.
Among the closures was a section of Highway 1 through Big Sur, which state officials just weeks ago celebrated reopening for the first time in three years. The road closed Monday after rockslides left “debris in the roadway at multiple locations,” according to the California Department of Transportation. In Los Angeles County, a stretch of Topanga Canyon Road, between the Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive, also remains closed after crews responded to at least eight debris flows inundating the road.
And more torrential rains are expected, with much of Southern California still under a flood watch, according to the National Weather Service. A wave of heavy showers and thunderstorms are forecast to sweep across the region Tuesday afternoon, “bringing the risk for flash flooding, rock and mud slides, and burn-scar debris flows across the flood watch area,” the advisory said. It is in effect for most of southwest California, including Los Angeles, Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Much of the area’s mountains are also under a winter storm warning, with heavy snow possible Tuesday evening through Thursday, according to the weather service. That includes the Grapevine along Interstate 5 and the Highway 14 corridor, where up to 4 inches of snow is possible. Higher elevations could see anywhere from 4 to 12 inches.
By 5 a.m. Tuesday, most of the Southland had received more than an inch of rain since the storm arrived, with some locations recording more than 3 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Rocky Butte, a peak in San Luis Obispo, topped the list with the most rainfall from the current storm, with 3.94 inches recorded as of Tuesday morning. Not far behind at 3.2 inches was Stunt Ranch in Calabasas and Topanga Fire Station, according to the weather service’s two-day rain totals.
Downtown L.A. has seen 1.97 inches; Long Beach had 1.74 inches; Canoga Park had 2.16 inches; Alhambra had 2.24 inches; and Ojai recorded 1.52 inches.
By the end of the week, forecasters predicted totals that could get up to 4 inches in coastal and valley areas and 8 inches in the mountains and foothills.
“It’s going to be a very soggy, wet period over much of the week,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Times staff writers Jaweed Kaleem and Sonja Sharp contributed to this report.
