Record rainfall, triple-digit winds, hundreds of mudslides. Here’s California’s storm by the numbers
Nearly 500 mudslides
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The slow-moving atmospheric river still battering California on Tuesday unleashed record rainfall, triple-digit winds and hundreds of mudslides.
Here is the historic storm by the numbers:
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
In just three days, downtown Los Angeles got soaked by more than 8 inches (20.3 cm) of rain — more than half of the 14.25 inches (36 cm) it normally gets per year.
That is according to the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office, which has records dating back to 1877.
February tends to be one of the city’s rainier months. Only six days into the month, it is already the 13th wettest February on record.
RAINIEST SPOTS
Downtown Los Angeles wasn’t the only spot that received colossal amounts of rain. About 12 miles (19 kilometers) to the northwest, the hills of Bel Air got more than a foot — 12.01 inches (30.5 cm) — between Sunday and late Tuesday morning.
Several other locations in Los Angeles County received about a foot of rain during the same three-day span, including Sepulveda Canyon, Topanga Canyon, Cogswell Dam and Woodland Hills.
WIND
A gust of 102 mph (164 kph) was recorded Sunday at Pablo Point, at an elevation of 932 feet (284 meters), in Marin County, just north of San Francisco.
While just missing the December 1995 record of 103 mph (166 kph) at Angel Island, “102 is very, very impressive,” said meteorologist Nicole Sarment at the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office.
The top 10 strongest gusts — between 102 and 89 mph (164 and 143 kph) — recorded at the height of the weekend’s winds were all in Marin and nearby Santa Clara County, the weather service said. Gusts above 80 mph (129 kph) were also recorded in Napa and Monterey counties.
Other wind readings Sunday included 77 mph (124 kph) at the San Francisco airport, 61 mph (98 kph) at the Oakland airport and 59 mph (95 kph) at the San Jose airport.
MUDSLIDES
By Tuesday night, crews had responded to 475 mudslides across Los Angeles, according to the mayor’s office. The mudslides closed roads across the city and prompted ongoing evacuation orders in canyon neighborhoods with burn scars from recent wildfires.
Emergency crews also responded to 390 fallen trees.
Those numbers could rise because rain was still falling, saturating already sodden hillsides that threatened to give way.
So far four buildings have been deemed uninhabitable, the city said. And at least nine were yellow-tagged, meaning residents could go back to get their belongings but could not stay there because of the damage. Inspections were ongoing at dozens more properties.
WATER
All the rain brought one silver lining: Helping to boost the state’s often-strapped water supply. At least 6 billion gallons (22.7 billion liters) of storm water in Los Angeles alone for groundwater and local supplies, the mayor’s office said. Just two years ago, nearly all of California was plagued by a devastating drought that strained resources and forced water cutbacks.
A geologist surveys a mudslide Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles.
Prentice Sinclair Smith a friend of home owner Dion Peronneau says she was awoken by the sound of cracking around 4 a.m. early morning Monday, as mudflow forced its way into her home in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed more than 300 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half of the city’s seasonal rainfall in just two days, and officials warned Tuesday that the threat hadn’t passed yet.
A storm passes above the Golden Gate Bridge near Sausalito, Calif., Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. In Northern California, the storm inundated streets and brought down trees and electrical lines Sunday throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, where winds topped 60 mph (96 kph) in some areas.
A man walks his dog on the edge of the Los Angeles River, carrying stormwater downstream Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers battered California, flooding roadways and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and prompting a rare warning for hurricane-force winds as the state braced for what could be days of heavy rains.
A couple walks on the edge of the Los Angeles River, carrying stormwater downstream Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers battered California, flooding roadways and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and prompting a rare warning for hurricane-force winds as the state braced for what could be days of heavy rains.
Waves crash over a breakwater in Alameda, Calif., with the San Francisco skyline in the background on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. High winds and heavy rainfall are impacting the region.
People cross the street under heavy rain in the Skid Row area, one of the largest populations of homeless people in the United States, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. A storm of historic proportions dumped a record amount of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes while people living in homeless encampments in many parts of the city scrambled for safety. Shelters were adding beds for the city’s homeless population of nearly 75,000 people.
A man walks under heavy rain past temporary tents in Skid Row, one of the largest populations of homeless people in the United States on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. A storm of historic proportions dumped a record amount of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes while people living in homeless encampments in many parts of the city scrambled for safety. Shelters were adding beds for the city’s homeless population of nearly 75,000 people.
A vehicle approaches a fallen tree and power lines in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024.
Fallen tarps are shown on a video camera platform at Pebble Beach Golf Links before the scheduled final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024.
A man huddles under an umbrella as he walks a dog along the shoreline at Pacific Grove, Calif., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The Golden State has been battered by storms in recent days and more is expected in the coming days.
An SUV sits buried by a mudslide, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. A storm of historic proportions unleashed record levels of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, endangering the city’s large homeless population, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes and knocking out power for more than a million people in California.
