Most powerful El Nino storm of the winter hits California

That eased his mind somewhat, but he said he and his wife were vigilantly watching forecasts of more rain. Mud and debris filled roads.

Los Angeles authorities spent days getting homeless people from low-lying areas along the Los Angeles River and other waterways prone to flooding.

The first in the line of storms also drenched the desert Southwest on Tuesday and was aiming for the Gulf Coast, but should weaken to no more than a couple inches of rainfall by the time it reaches the Southeast, Masters added.

Los Angeles reported 36mm of rain on Tuesday, which is nearly half the average for the entire month of January.

“It looked like Niagara Falls”, Socha said.

NBC News cited that NBC Los Angeles reported a voluntary evacuation order was in place in the Silverado canyon area of Orange County over mudslide fears.

“The bigger reservoirs in California are still running well below normal historically, even given the good storms and precipitation totals they’ve seen” said Michael Anderson, the climatologist of the state of California.

The latest El Nino storm hit at the height of the San Francisco commute, causing auto crashes, toppling trees and flooding streets and streams around most of the region.

“Weve got to keep it going.”The current El Nino — a natural warming of the central Pacific Ocean that interacts with the atmosphere and changes weather worldwide — has tied 1997-1998 as the strongest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Climate Prediction Center said, citing statistics that go back to 1950.

Well over two inches of rain fell on several mountain areas of Southern California on Wednesday, including 3.5 inches at the San Gabriel Dam in the Angeles National Forest. The Water Resources Control Board announced Tuesday that Californians used 20 percent less water this past November than they did two years ago.

Despite the potential for flooding and mudslides, the wet weather in California was welcome news for the state suffering from a severe drought. Buses are picking up passengers along the cable-car routes that are not yet serviced.

Los Angeles County Emergency Program Manager Ken Kondo says some of those removed from homes in Newhall on Wednesday are elderly or disabled.

The thousand-mile coast of California is covered in warnings, watches and advisories for rain, flooding and high surf as another El Nino storm moves in from the Pacific.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said swift-water rescue teams are ready to deploy, but he’d rather not use them. The pier was closed and Beach Boulevard was blocked off to traffic overnight.