Rain? What rain? It never rains in sunny Southern California.
As a resident of Murrieta, tucked inland between Los Angeles and San Diego, imagine my surprise over the weekend when the thunderstorms started, and the emergency broadcast system warned that we were about to suffer from flash flooding. The flooding spewed mud along roads, destroyed a number of roadways, and stranded a number of drivers. . . where rain is not only not a usual problem, but where the drought, we are being told, is at its worst for over 500 years.
As I drove up Interstate 215 on Saturday towards San Bernardino to the KCAA radio studio for my weekend radio program, the rain pelted my little sedan, and the traffic navigated carefully through the heavy rain. Pockets of standing water acted as obstacles, as the clouds packed against the mountains in the distance, dropping many inches of rain on those communities through the weekend.
As a result of the heavy rain in the mountain communities, mountain mudslides affected tens of thousands (if not more) and trapped 2,500 residents. One fatality was reported when a car was swept away by a swollen creek. The mud and rocks, on some roads, was several feet deep.
The monsoonal moisture from the Pacific Ocean brought brief but fierce storms to mountain, desert and inland areas, while providing a humidity-wracked environment that accompanied very warm temperatures. Palm Springs, a desert community not accustomed to a large downpour, experienced knee-deep water flooding city streets and stranding vehicles. Redlands, just up the way from where I am at, suffered downed trees, and a power-outage to a few neighborhoods.
In Forest Falls, a mountain community, the rain dumped as much as 3 ½ inches, and nearly 5 inches of rain on Mount Baldy. Non-mountain and foothill communities experienced less than an inch of rain. The rainfall did not even make a dent in the needed rainfall total needed to pull the region out of the current drought that Californian's are experiencing, yet the quick injection of rain on a region that has lost a lot of ground growth due to wildfires led to mudslides, and flooded streets of the sorts we have not seen since. . . last February.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Thousands Stranded, at least 1 killed by Southern California mudslides - Fox News
Los Angeles Rain leads to traffic havoc, mudslides, power outages - San Gabriel Valley Tribune (last February)
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