Another storm slams California on Christmas Day with flooding rain, high winds and mountain snow

By Andrew Freedman, CNN

(CNN) — After a harrowing and deadly Christmas Eve in California with rescues and evacuations amid widespread flooding and debris flow threats, another storm is battering the state Christmas Day, with more expected into Friday.

Early Christmas morning, a line of severe thunderstorms moved into Northern California with wind gusts in excess of 70 mph, setting off flash flooding in the San Francisco metro. More storms are likely there into Thursday afternoon and evening.

A “moderate” Level 3 of 4 risk of excessive rainfall is in effect for much of Southern California, including Los Angeles, as several more inches of rain are expected in the mountains north of the city and another 2 to 4 inches of rain in the city. Urban areas could see flooding into the evening.

Wednesday’s potent storm brought 5 to more than 10 inches of rain to Southern California’s mountains and 2 to 5 inches in lower elevations. While rainfall Thursday and Friday will be less than that, any new rain could result in flooding because the ground is already saturated.

In the hard-hit community of Wrightwood in San Bernardino County, shelter-in-place and evacuation orders are still in effect, with authorities telling residents not to venture onto area roadways following flooding and debris flows.

Mudslides, rock slides and debris flows are again a threat on Christmas Day, particularly in areas where burn scars are present from recent wildfires. The scorched ground of these scars repels water instead of absorbing it, quickly turning rain into a surge of floodwater that pulls mud and debris with it.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Shasta counties Wednesday to mobilize resources. The city of Los Angeles also declared a local emergency Wednesday evening to ensure departments “have the required resources in the days ahead,” Mayor Karen Bass said.

Here’s the latest:

• Flooding rain risk continues: About 8 million people in portions of Southern California are in the moderate-risk zone on Christmas Day, according to the Weather Prediction Center. This includes Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. More than a dozen flash flood warnings were issued Wednesday in Southern California, and flood warnings remained in effect for parts of the region on Christmas Day.
• Severe thunderstorms slam San Francisco: Flash flood warnings were issued Thursday morning in the San Francisco Bay area as unusually potent thunderstorms packing damaging winds and torrential rainfall moved through the region. San Francisco International Airport recorded a wind gust of 72 mph, and numerous gusts to 80 and 90 mph occurred in higher elevations, according to the NWS. Emergency officials received several reports of property damage due to winds, downed trees and flooding, but “no reports of significant storm related injuries,” San Francisco Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Jackie Thornhill told CNN. More thunderstorms are forecast to affect this region later Christmas Day and any storms that turn severe could produce damaging wind gusts or a brief tornado.
• Two dead in weather-related incidents: A Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy crashed and died on a wet roadway south of Sacramento just before 6 a.m. Wednesday, the state highway patrol told CNN. “The vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed and the driver lost control” and hit a metal power pole, Officer Michael Harper said in a statement. Heavy rainfall had occurred at 5 a.m. and light rain was in the area at the time. In San Diego, a man in his 60s died Wednesday when a large portion of a tree fell on him. High winds were blowing in the area at the time, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Capt. Jason Shanley.
• Rescues in mountain resort community: Emergency crews pulled people from flooded cars and homes in Wrightwood, a community in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, amid dangerous flooding and debris flows. Some residents had to be rescued from rooftops by helicopter, according to fire officials, who told CNN they don’t yet have a tally of rescues, citing the “very dynamic” situation. Roughly 120 emergency personnel were working through the night to continue assisting residents, San Bernardino County Fire said.
• Widespread power outages: More than 165,000 homes and businesses were in the dark early Christmas morning, according to poweroutage.us.
• Chain controls in effect for I-80: The snowy side of this storm is in high gear in the Sierra Nevada, where several feet are expected to pile up. Chain controls are in effect for Interstate 80, which means chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except those with four-wheel or all-wheel drive that also have snow-tread tires.

Risk stretches into Friday

All told, rainfall totals in Southern California through the end of the week could be as much as 4 to 7 inches in coastal and valley locations, while foothills and mountains see 6 to 14 inches.

To put those totals into perspective, a city like Los Angeles could see anywhere from two months’ worth of rain to nearly half a year’s worth in just a week.

Los Angeles has already seen a typical December’s amount of rain following Wednesday’s storm.

Impossible travel conditions in the mountains

Feet of snow falling in the Sierra Nevada are making travel there difficult or impossible at times, and these conditions will continue through Friday. That includes Interstate 80 through Donner Pass.

During the past 48 hours, through early Christmas morning, Heavenly ski resort had picked up 28 inches of snow, while Northstar reported 38 inches of new snow and Kirkwood 33 inches. More snow continues to fall in the Lake Tahoe region. The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab received 23.6 inches in 24 hours, with another 2 to 3 feet expected.

It’s causing weather whiplash for the region, which has had much less snow than usual to start the season. The Sierra Avalanche Center and Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center have issued a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the greater Tahoe region and eastern Sierra in Mono County through early Friday morning, warning widespread areas of unstable snow are likely due to the heavy snowfall and strong winds.

Some relief from this nonstop stormy pattern looks to finally arrive for the upcoming weekend.

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CNN Meteorologists Chris Dolce and Mary Gilbert and CNN’s Eric Levenson, Cindy Von Quednow, Hanna Park and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.