Drought stricken California welcomes El Nino’s storms

According to the National Weather Service, this is the strongest of El Niño-related storms bringing long-awaited rain to the state that has suffered drought related weather.

This has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flood warning to California.

As much as 15 inches of rain could fall in the next 16 days in Northern California, with around 2ft of snow expected in the Sierra Nevada, according to the National Weather Service.

LAX saw 1.42 inches fall throughout the day, beating the previous January 5 record of 1.32 inches in 1979.

To the south, persistent wet conditions could put some Los Angeles County communities at risk of flash-flooding along with mud and debris flows, especially in wildfire burn areas. It is proving to be one of the most devastating ones ever, having now tied with the strongest El Niño on past records.

This is a typical El Nino weather pattern that meteorologists have been anticipating, and it will likely be the first of several rounds of “storm series” to hit California this winter season.

A string of storms in the Pacific is threatening to affect the West.

Altogether, the storms should bring massive amounts of rain and snow to a very parched state this month, but water managers won’t be able to fully estimate this year’s snowmelt until April 1, when the snowpack is typically at its deepest.

A small girl tries to catch a little El Nino rainwater on her toungue as she strolls with her nanny in Manhattan Beach.

Doug Carlson, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources, pointed out that four years of drought have left California with a water deficit that is too large for one El Nino year to totally overcome.

In November, Californians didn’t been meeting Gov. Jerry Brown’s water-reduction goal of using 25 percent less water than in Nov. 2014, with water use dropping only 20 percent. But officials warned residents against abandoning conservation efforts and reverting to wasteful water-use habits. Marcus wouldn’t say ahead of Tuesday’s formal announcement exactly how much residents fell short of the target.

Heavy rain storms are expected to continue this week, and parts of Orange County began a voluntary evacuation due to fears over mudslides.

In anticipation of flooding, the Red Cross opened a shelter on Tuesday in San Diego for people who needed a place to stay for the night.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude-4.5 jolt on Wednesday morning and was centred two miles north of Banning, about 85 miles east of Los Angeles.

In Southern California, between 2 and 3.5 inches of rain is predicted to fall across the coastal and valley areas, and up to 5 inches falling in the mountains.

El Niño storm brought heavy downpours in Southern California on Tuesday, leading to the closure of some roads.

Barriers were set up to protect homes from flash flooding in Glendora, California.

Two more storms are forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, and could…

Hikers walk along a path at the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area near downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016.