Energy & Environment

Record rain dumped on parts of Los Angeles

Motorists travel along a rain-soaked U.S. Highway 101 during a storm in San Francisco Jan. 31, 2024.

A recent storm dumped record-setting rain on Los Angeles, with forecasters warning of the risk of landslides and floods.

The storm could stick around the areas through Wednesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, according to The Associated Press. The rain was set to let up Tuesday, but there was still a chance of intense downpours with a half-inch to an inch of rain per hour.

“Although rain rates/totals will be trending downward across Southern California compared to the last couple of days, the risk for flooding and mud/debris flows remains given the very wet antecedent conditions,” the NWS’ Weather Prediction Center said in a forecast discussion Tuesday. 

Downtown Los Angeles had experienced around 7 inches of rain from the storm as of Monday night, the wettest two-day period in nearly half a century, according to the NWS.

“Showers and thunderstorms will continue to linger for Southern California while increasing across the Desert Southwest Tuesday as Pacific moisture flows northward ahead of a slow moving deep upper-level trough/surface frontal system,” the Weather Prediction Center’s forecast discussion continued.

On Sunday, the NWS said an atmospheric river event would continue bringing “heavy rain, strong wind, high surf and heavy snows” over a sizable part of Central and Southern California for the next few days. More than 200,000 people had lost power in California Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.

A video posted on social media showed a man being rescued via helicopter from raging waters. The man reportedly jumped into the water to save his dog, but ended up having to get rescued by Los Angeles firefighters in the end, according to Fox News. 

The Associated Press contributed.