Today’s much-hyped storm has slugged Southern California with its first fierce wave — dousing the region, postponing events, snarling traffic and cancelling commercial flights.
Just after 10 a.m., the National Weather Service reported that rainfall amounts are approaching half an inch in Canoga Park, Agoura Hills and much of the San Fernando Valley, and in the Los Angeles County mountains.
In perhaps a preview of what is to come in Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire, amounts had surpassed 2 inches in Santa Barbara County and reached 3.41 inches at San Marcos Pass.
Widespread flights are being cancelled. Both American and Southwest Airlines have canceled flights in and out of John Wayne Airport, according to spokeswoman Deanne Thompson. American’s flights were canceled as of 9 a.m. through at least 7:30 p.m. Southwest flights were canceled beginning at 10 a.m.
“In the state of California, we’ve proactively canceled more than 250 flights and expect the number to stay around there for today,” a spokesperson for Southwest said via email.
Along with John Wayne Airport, Southwest says it expects to cancel, delay or divert flights out of Burbank, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Ontario, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose due to the storm.
Other airlines, including United and Delta, still show flights scheduled to leave later today out of John Wayne Airport.
Elsewhere, many were bracing for the impact.
Mudslides and urban flooding are anticipated throughout the region. And the foothill community of Duarte ordered a precautionary evacuation of some homes.
Santa Anita Park near Pasadena canceled all its horse races for Friday.
Pasadena cancelled Saturday’s annual Black History Month parade, citing public safety concerns including possible lightning strikes.
Golfers at the PGA tour’s annual stop at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades were resigning themselves to getting in only a few holes before the storm hit.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works warned of possible debris and mud flow potential forecast in the Sand fire area of the Angeles National Forest, in Pacoima and Little Tujunga Canyons. The department said the Santa Clarita also is vulnerable.
In Orange County, lifeguards planned to closely watch the Seal Beach to monitor the pier whether it will need to be closed at some point.
Areas up and down the coast were bracing for waves that were forecast to reach 9 feet Friday and up to 15 feet on Saturday.
In the San Bernardino Mountains, Snow Valley Mountain Resort near Running Springs decided not to operate five chair lifts because of concerns about wind, spokesman John Brice said. And the resort cancelled night skiing in the face of possibly being buried by up to 29 inches of snow by Friday night.
“The storm has started moving in and it’s snowing at Snow Valley,” Brice said. “We’re also experiencing gusty winds.”
In some areas, rain was falling modestly in late morning. But skies were dark with monster potential. And on virtually everyone’s minds were those crazy numbers we’ve been hearing: 2 to 6 inches of rain in coastal and valley areas, 5 to 10 inches in foothils and mountains, and up to 3 feet of snow above 8,000 feet.
“It looks ominous,” said Bill Patzert, climate scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
“It’s a pattern that we’ve seen pretty much since the beginning of the year, where you have a strong polar jet stream swooping out of the North Pacific,” Patzert said. “And what it’s doing is dragging a low pressure system. It’s pretty instense and it’s definitely taking aim at the Southland.”
And it’s clashing with a Pineapple Express-style plume of moisture barreling in from the west.
“It’s another one of these atmospheric river events that originates in the subtropics at about Hawaii,” Patzert said.
The result? Copious rainfall. Crazy wind. And crippling snowfall.
“It’s definitely not like ‘Singing in the Rain’ with Gene Kelly,” Patzert said.
No, it’s not the work of El Niño, which turned out to be a bust last winter – at least for the southern part of the state. And the dry La Niña we thought was coming but fizzled out isn’t holding the moisture back, Patzert said.
The absence of both, he said, “has really opened the door for these cold storm events coming out of the north colliding with atmospheric rivers. It’s this type of set-up that has brought some of our wettest winters.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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