Flooding and vehicle rescues were reported in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles
Dennis Romero
An intersection in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles was flooded tonight, leaving several vehicles and those inside them stranded awaiting rescue, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said.
The intersection of Oxnard Street and Donna Street in the Tarzana neighborhood was placed under 2 to 3 feet of water amid heavy rain, spokesman Nicholas Prange said in an email alert to LAFD.
He said LAFD's rapid rescue teams are working to extract those unharmed people from those vehicles. He said motorists and passengers did the right thing by staying where they were.
“Fortunately, the vehicle's occupants remained in their vehicles and did not venture out into deep water with unpredictable terrain and subsurface currents,” Prange said.
CSU San Bernardino closes classes Monday
Dennis Romero
California State University, San Bernardino, said classes at its main campus as well as those at its Palm Desert campus will be closed tomorrow.
“Faculty are encouraged to move teaching to virtual methods and communicate with students as soon as possible,” the institution said in a notice to staff and students. “Students should check with the faculty.”
The school said both campuses will technically remain open, but “for essential operations only.”
“Employees who can work remotely are encouraged to do so,” she said.
Nearly 1 million are without power in California
Dennis Romero
Josh Craddock
Nearly 1 million people in California were without power when a Pacific storm struck the Bay Area and set its sights on Southern California.
Most of the outages occurred in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, where 134,104 electric customers remained in the dark tonight, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks utilities.
The total number of homes, businesses and facilities without power fell from 913,283 to 893,420 as the night progressed, according to the tracker. However, the vast majority of Los Angeles County's 10 million residents have been warned of impending flooding, which could increase the number again.
Los Angeles County residents were warned of the possibility of flash flooding
Dennis Romero
Rudy Chinchilla
A flash flood warning is in effect tonight for most of Los Angeles County's 10 million residents, including residents of the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena and Pomona, according to the National Weather Service.
A warning means that flooding is imminent or already underway. Warnings were also sent to cell phones of residents who enable wireless emergency alerts.
The warning urges residents to “immediately move to higher ground” and avoid walking or driving through floodwaters.
Among the dangers of the storm: waves
Dennis Romero
This storm is expected to produce flash flooding and hurricane-force winds in the Pacific Ocean, but it will also cause waves offshore — big waves.
Waves as high as 23 feet were looming off the coast of central California, with waves along the coast south of the Channel Islands, including Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, reaching 19 feet offshore, the National Weather Service said today.
The forecast from the Weather Service's Ocean Prediction Center targets boaters and waves on shore were not estimated. The report warns that sailors may encounter larger waves in the open seas: “Individual waves may be more than twice the height of a large wave,” the forecast says.
A high surf advisory for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, which is in effect through tomorrow evening, says waves up to 20 feet high could break along the coast. A high surf warning means that waves have the potential to threaten life and property.
The warning came with a coastal flood warning for Port San Luis, Avila Beach, Oceano and Caicos, where flooding is expected, the weather service said.
The wave is coming from a strange direction this time of year: the southwest, which is more associated with summer waves. But that parallels the storm's counterclockwise swing and its atmospheric river, a vapor trail that sucked up tropical rain near Hawaii and swept into northeastern California.
A high surf advisory for Orange and San Diego counties calls for waves of up to 10 feet along the beaches, and is also in effect through tomorrow evening.
The creek rises into backyards in Santa Barbara
Kurt Cherbas
Rudy Chinchilla
A video posted on X showed Mission Creek in Santa Barbara overflowing into people's backyards.
Santa Barbara County was one of the counties where Newsom declared a state of emergency, allowing the National Guard to be activated and facilitating faster recovery efforts if necessary.
Rain is starting to fall in Southern California
Rudy Chinchilla
LOS ANGELES – Several inches of rain fell on parts of Southern California tonight as a powerful storm began to batter the region.
The National Weather Service's office in Los Angeles/Oxnard reported that rainfall totals over the two days as of 6 p.m. exceeded 5 inches in some areas. The highest total so far was recorded in Matilija Canyon, in Ventura County, at 5.91 inches, according to the weather service.
Farther south in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, Agoura Hills got 3.41 inches, and Woodland Hills got 2.28 inches.
Heavy rain is expected to continue in the Los Angeles area through the night.
UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, and Fullerton campuses close in-person classes
Dennis Romero
Colin Shelley
Some California universities are asking students to stay home tomorrow, as they expect the effects of the storm will make it difficult, if not risky, to get to class.
Among them is the University of California, Santa Barbara, which serves a community expected to be hit hard by rain, wind and floodwaters. Teachers have been asked to conduct virtual classes if possible, Chancellor Henry T. Yang said in a notice to the campus community.
Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley is keeping its campus open, but all classes have been canceled and all events will be rescheduled, Police Chief Alfredo P. Fernandez said in a notice to the campus community. Teaching may still be possible to do virtually, on a class-by-class basis, he said.
Cal State Fullerton in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, said in a statement that classes will be conducted remotely, and employees will be encouraged to work from home if possible.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California Channel Islands State University and Cal State Long Beach said they planned to be open but encouraged flexibility among teachers who may have students who can't get to campus. Spokespeople for both campuses said virtual learning was available classroom-by-class at the Channel Islands and Long Beach institutions.
Falling trees in Granada
NBC News
Several people and dogs were rescued from the rising Guadalupe River in San Jose
NBC News
