Behind SoCal's wettest Christmas holiday ever, an intensifying drought-to-deluge cycle

[ad_1] This wasn’t only a moist Christmas, it was the wettest Christmas for Southern California.

This Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had been the rainiest within the trendy document for Southern California, based on the Nationwide Climate Service workplace in Oxnard. And extra rain is on the way in which. A flood watch was forecast to stay in impact for a lot of the state by way of a minimum of Friday afternoon, with rain anticipated all through the day. Skies ought to clear up by the weekend.

That is additionally one of many wettest begins to the water yr, which started Oct. 1. Via noon Christmas it ranked within the 10 wettest for Southern California — a exact opposite from final yr, when a document dry begin to the water yr preceded devastating wildfires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

Final yr was remarkably dry and sizzling. The summer season and fall of 2024 had been a few of the hottest months in coastal Southern California since a minimum of 1895.

Across the globe individuals are seeing extra dramatic swings between dry-to-wet and wet-to-dry climate whiplash. Scientists say extra such episodes of “hydroclimate whiplash” are anticipated worldwide due to human-caused international warming.

<img class="image" alt="Flood watch" srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f6ff42a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1044x1264+0+0/resize/320x387!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fa1%2F03e1eb5444eaa19434de3c68158a%2Fscreenshot-2025-12-25-at-8-23-36-pm.png 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/355b582/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1044x1264+0+0/resize/568x688!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fa1%2F03e1eb5444eaa19434de3c68158a%2Fscreenshot-2025-12-25-at-8-23-36-pm.png 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/64dc40c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1044x1264+0+0/resize/768x930!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fa1%2F03e1eb5444eaa19434de3c68158a%2Fscreenshot-2025-12-25-at-8-23-36-pm.png 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/98a31db/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1044x1264+0+0/resize/1024x1240!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fa1%2F03e1eb5444eaa19434de3c68158a%2Fscreenshot-2025-12-25-at-8-23-36-pm.png 1024w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b130c68/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1044x1264+0+0/resize/1200x1453!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fa1%2F03e1eb5444eaa19434de3c68158a%2Fscreenshot-2025-12-25-at-8-23-36-pm.png 1200w" sizes="100vw" width="1200" height="1453" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b130c68/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1044x1264+0+0/resize/1200x1453!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Fa1%2F03e1eb5444eaa19434de3c68158a%2Fscreenshot-2025-12-25-at-8-23-36-pm.png" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> A flood watch was anticipated to be in impact for many of California by way of a minimum of Friday afternoon.

(Nationwide Climate Service)

Between Wednesday by way of midday Thursday, Santa Barbara Airport bought 4.83 inches of rain, beating the Dec. 24-25 document final hit in 1955, when 3.22 inches fell. The rain compelled Santa Barbara Airport to shut twice on Christmas Day — early within the morning and once more within the late afternoon. The airfield can flood in heavy rain, forcing industrial flights to be grounded.

Woodland Hills bought 4.62 inches of rain, beating the document of three.34 inches set in 1971; Oxnard, 4.26 inches, beating the document of two inches in 1979; Van Nuys, 4.12 inches, beating the document of 1.16 inches set in 2019; Burbank, 3.5 inches, beating the document of three.1 inches in 1971; Camarillo, 3.36 inches, beating the document of two inches in 1979; and UCLA, 3.05 inches, beating the document of three.02 inches set in 1971.

Downtown L.A. thus far has recorded 2.59 inches since Christmas Eve, which is the fourth wettest such interval on document. The document for Dec. 24 and 25 is 3.82 inches in 1889.

The final day a Christmas Eve-Christmas Day interval was wetter was again in 1971, when 3.24 inches fell over the 2 day interval.

“There's a good probability the rain whole may go up by way of midnight tonight and presumably change this rating,” the climate service mentioned Thursday afternoon.

Rainfall totals had been a lot increased within the mountains. For the 48-hour interval ending 9 a.m. Thursday, practically 12 inches of rain fell on Ortega Hill in Ventura County. And greater than 10 inches of rain fell in components of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County.

One final pulse of rain was anticipated to work its method by way of the Central Coast beginning Thursday night and exit L.A. County on Friday, with showers petering out late within the night. Los Angeles County may see 1 to 1.5 inches of rain to the coast and valleys — maybe extra in sure spots — and round 4 inches within the mountains.

“The flooding menace will likely be exacerbated ... Friday because of the tremendous saturation of all the space. Any rainfall that happens will instantly flip to runoff,” the climate service workplace in Oxnard mentioned.

Evacuation orders remained in place for dozens of properties within the Riverwood neighborhood of Sunland. The neighborhood could possibly be in danger attributable to a partial launch of water from the Tujunga Dam by the L.A. County Division of Public Works, metropolis officers mentioned, which is meant to forestall potential flooding within the surrounding space. “It is a normal course of that has been carried out prior to now,” officers mentioned.

Evacuation warnings are in place in current burn scars in L.A. County, with evacuation orders issued for particular properties at increased threat for mudslides.

Reasonable rainfall was anticipated within the San Bernardino Mountains into Friday morning, transferring eastward, “which can be heavy at instances within the mountains,” the climate service workplace in San Diego mentioned.

Rainfall charges are anticipated to be round half an inch per hour, and “of specific concern is the overly saturated parts of the San Bernardino Mountains and adjoining drainage basins spreading into the Inland Empire and Excessive Desert areas,” the climate service mentioned. A further 1 to three inches of rain is anticipated within the San Bernardino Mountains.

It’s doable 2 to three inches of snow will fall round an elevation of seven,000 ft within the San Bernardino Mountains, with 8 to 12 inches close to the mountain peaks.

Elsewhere in Orange County, San Diego County and components of the Inland Empire, mild showers stay doable by way of Friday night, finally petering out by Saturday morning, the San Diego workplace mentioned.

About 1 to 1.5 inches of further rain is anticipated for Orange County and components of the Inland Empire subsequent to the San Bernardino Mountains. About 0.25 to 0.75 inches of rain is anticipated for the San Diego County coast and valleys and the remainder of the Inland Empire.

The climate is anticipated to be drier throughout California initially of subsequent week. However there's a probability of a moderate-to-strong Santa Ana wind occasion in Southern California early subsequent week.

It’s additionally doable that precipitation may return to Southern California round New 12 months’s Day, however for the time being the storm seems it might “be a a lot much less intense occasion” than the Christmas Eve atmospheric river storm, the San Diego workplace mentioned.

The Christmas vacation storms have prompted important harm throughout California, and resulted in a minimum of three storm associated deaths — a motorist who drove into floodwaters in Redding; a girl who was knocked off a rock by a big wave at a seashore in Mendocino County; and a person struck by a falling tree in San Diego.

Two individuals had been killed in a crash involving three automobiles on the Grapevine part of the 5 Freeway Thursday round 3 p.m. Authorities have but to say what prompted the crash.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Shasta counties, permitting for state sources to mobilize rapidly and authorizing Caltrans to hunt federal assist to restore broken roads.

Injury was reported throughout the state, with flooding, landslides and fallen timber additionally reported within the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Space. Twister warnings had been briefly issued for the San Gabriel Valley on Wednesday and components of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties on Thursday.

<img class="image" alt="Misty Cheng looks at flood damage to her home in Wrightwood on Thursday." srcset="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7d2eb7d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5093x3445+0+0/resize/320x217!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F37%2F5a63c98a402182936e337b58d2a3%2F1535752-me-wrightwood-storm-damage-0035a-eat.jpg 320w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5f475a2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5093x3445+0+0/resize/568x384!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F37%2F5a63c98a402182936e337b58d2a3%2F1535752-me-wrightwood-storm-damage-0035a-eat.jpg 568w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d3d4b47/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5093x3445+0+0/resize/768x520!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F37%2F5a63c98a402182936e337b58d2a3%2F1535752-me-wrightwood-storm-damage-0035a-eat.jpg 768w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f6284d3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5093x3445+0+0/resize/1024x693!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F37%2F5a63c98a402182936e337b58d2a3%2F1535752-me-wrightwood-storm-damage-0035a-eat.jpg 1024w,https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bab0c94/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5093x3445+0+0/resize/1200x812!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F37%2F5a63c98a402182936e337b58d2a3%2F1535752-me-wrightwood-storm-damage-0035a-eat.jpg 1200w" sizes="100vw" width="1200" height="812" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bab0c94/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5093x3445+0+0/resize/1200x812!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F37%2F5a63c98a402182936e337b58d2a3%2F1535752-me-wrightwood-storm-damage-0035a-eat.jpg" decoding="async" loading="lazy"/> Misty Cheng appears to be like at flood harm to her residence in Wrightwood on Thursday.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Occasions)

Among the many areas hardest hit was Wrightwood, a city of some thousand individuals within the San Gabriel Mountains on the border between Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. A Christmas Eve particles move — a fast-paced move of mud and rocks — rammed into properties and left automobiles buried in particles.

There was harm to a number of properties, and there have been a variety of swiftwater rescues, with practically 10 inches of rain recorded within the space in a 24-hour interval, the climate service mentioned.

Folks in Lytle Creek, one other mountainous neighborhood within the San Gabriel Mountains, had been trapped after a bridge connecting components of the city was coated with water and presumably destroyed. Lytle Creek remained beneath an evacuation warning Thursday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division mentioned.

Evacuation warnings had been in place for Wrightwood and Lytle Creek.

A girl was rescued after she was seen being swept away in San Jose Creek within the San Gabriel Valley — close to Fullerton Highway by the 60 Freeway, in an space across the Metropolis of Business. She was rescued round the place the creek passes Workman Mill Highway close to the unincorporated neighborhood of North Whittier, close to the junction of the 605 and 60 freeways.

Main freeways had been shut for hours attributable to impacts from the storm, together with Interstate 15 by way of the Cajon Move and Interstate 5 in Solar Valley.

Los Angeles firefighters deployed groups to 3 river-rescue incidents; one concerned the rescue of a person, his canine and his cat who had been in a leisure car on an island in the course of a creek, and had been trapped by rising waters. The three had been hoisted right into a helicopter.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division mentioned it responded to quite a few trapped automobiles because of the flooding throughout the Antelope Valley.