A major storm continued to wallop parts of Southern California on Thursday morning, bringing evacuation alerts, fears of mudslides, heavy mountain snow and a tornado that snapped trees and damaged homes and cars.
Several flood and severe thunderstorm warnings — as well as winter weather advisories in the mountains — remained in effect Thursday morning as bands of heavy precipitation moved through, and were expected to continue shifting south through the day.
There were reports of some debris flows in burn areas as well as some scattered hail. Intense bursts of rain caused minor street flooding and several closures from southern Santa Barbara County down into Orange County. The Los Angeles Fire Department worked early Thursday to rescue someone stuck on a concrete alcove along the rising Los Angeles River in Boyle Heights.
Wind gusts were forecast to top 50 mph in some areas. In Pico Rivera, the weather service confirmed a tornado with wind speeds reaching 85 mph touched down between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Thursday. Video showed trees down and debris on the street in the area. No injuries were reported.
A downed tree sits on a car along Glencannon Drive in Pico Rivera.
”We are hearing reports of a possible tornado,” the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles account posted on X. “Will be sending a storm survey team later this morning to survey the damage that took place.”
In the mountains around Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, several inches of snow had piled up by Thursday morning, triggering school closures in the area. The major ski resorts reported up to 10 inches of fresh powder and snowflakes still falling. The San Bernardino Fire Department said it had reports of several power outages.
But besides major delays in the morning commute, forecasters said the worst of the storm had made its way through Los Angeles County by around 8 a.m., though residents south and east should remain on high alert.
“The main storm passed, we’re kind of in a showery regime [the rest of the day], with off and on showers and maybe some thunderstorms,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “It’s moved into San Bernardino and Orange County.”
Work crews remove downed trees and debris along Glencannon Drive in Pico Rivera.
In the Santa Ana foothills near Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County, officials closed Trabuco Canyon Road, after rain swept rocks, tree limbs and several inches of mud across the roadway. That area remained under an evacuation order.
Evacuation warnings and orders were also issued for Los Angeles communities near the Eaton, Palisades and Sunset fire burn zones ahead of the rain. Several schools in the Malibu area also canceled classes Thursday due to road closures and safety concerns from the storm, with many neighborhoods under evacuation warnings, according to the city.
In the Palisades burn scar, the Getty Villa area, the Highlands, the Bienveneda area near Temescal Canyon Park, Rivas Canyon/Will Rogers State Park, Mandeville Canyon above Tanners Road, Old Ranch Road and Rustic Creek are under evacuation warnings starting Wednesday morning.
Areas east and south of Runyon Canyon in the Sunset fire zone are also under an evacuation warning. In the Hurst fire area, an evacuation warning has been issued for Olive Lane in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The evacuations are expected to last until 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Malibu has also issued evacuation warnings.
The areas include Carbon Canyon, Carbon Beach East, La Costa Beach/La Costa (hillside), Las Flores Creek, Las Flores Mesa, eastern Malibu, Big Rock, Las Tunas Beach, Topanga Beach Road, Carbon Beach Terrace, Carbon Beach, Rambla Pacifico, Carbon Beach West/Malibu Beach, Sweetwater Canyon, Sweetwater Mesa, Serra Retreat, Malibu Creek, Cross Creek, Malibu Colony, Civic Center, Malibu Knolls, Malibu Road, Malibu Country Estates, Puerco Canyon and Piuma Road.
In the Eaton fire burn scar, officials have warned residents to prepare to leave their homes ahead of the storm.
The city of Sierra Madre issued mandatory evacuation orders for homes directly below the Sierra Madre and Lannan debris basins. Evacuation warnings have been issued for other hillside-adjacent neighborhoods in the community. Those evacuations will remain in effect through 6 p.m. Thursday, according to the city.
Evacuation warnings have also been issued for homes near the San Gabriel foothills in Altadena.
Authorities visited properties in areas that are at especially high risk to issue specific evacuation orders, according to the city of Los Angeles.
“The heaviest rain has moved out of the LA area,” Mayor Karen Bass wrote Thursday morning on X. “Please stay vigilant — especially in burn areas — as periods of heavy rain will continue throughout the day.”
