Parts of California were being pounded with another wave of rain on Monday, the latest storm to test the state, two weeks after a deadly deluge caused widespread power outages and destructive mudslides.
Flood watches were in effect for millions of people, mostly in California, through Wednesday, as strong winds and heavy rain threatened the state’s central and southern coasts. High winds and thunderstorms were possible in much of the state.
The rain came from an atmospheric river, the scientific name given to a type of storm in which Pacific winds blow narrow, intense bands of moisture over the West Coast. They often cause California’s heaviest rain, snow and floods.
“It’s just a huge swath of moisture,” said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, where up to an inch of rain had fallen as of mid morning on Monday.
Southern California was bearing the brunt of the storm early Monday. Between two and 10 inches of rain had fallen in Ventura County and Santa Barbara County, with the highest totals in the foothills of the mountains, according to the National Weather Service. The airport in Santa Barbara shut down on Monday because of flooding on the airfield.
“We’ve had many reports so far this morning of roadway flooding, some rocks and debris across road ways, road closures,” Mr. Thompson said. “The soil is so saturated from the previous storm that this rain has nowhere to go.”
He added: “We’re a long way from this being over.” More rain was expected through Wednesday morning.
While only light rain had made its way south to Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties by midmorning on Monday, steady rain pelted Los Angeles, and the California Highway Patrol was busy on the highways clearing crashes, with some motorists continuing to drive at high speeds despite the downpour. Northwest of Los Angeles, at the beach in Ventura, a few hardy kite surfers could be seen braving the elements.
Flash flood warnings were posted for the Santa Monica Mountains, Hollywood Hills and Beverly Hills.
Farther north, forecasters said that thunderstorms, gusty winds and lightning were possible in the Bay Area on Monday afternoon. The San Francisco Peninsula, which includes the city of San Francisco, was expected to receive up to two and a half inches of rain. Three to five inches was expected in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and three to six inches along the Big Sur Coast.
Much of the Sacramento Valley was under a wind advisory through Tuesday morning. The Weather Service in Sacramento said that severe thunderstorms accompanied by “brief tornadoes” were possible in the area on Monday afternoon. One man who was camping near a creek in El Dorado Hills, east of Sacramento, was rescued from surging floodwaters early Monday, KCRA-TV reported.
Officials in Santa Barbara County and Los Angeles County issued evacuation warnings for certain vulnerable communities. On Monday morning, the police in Santa Barbara found a woman’s body in the Mission Creek area, though a department spokesman, Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale, said it was too early to tell whether her death was related to the storm. Mission Creek can turn into a raging river during heavy rainfall; during the storm two weeks ago, the creek overflowed its banks, prompting some home evacuations.
Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, implored residents over the weekend to prepare.
In the city’s hilly neighborhoods, homeowners and workers spent Sunday preparing sandbags and laying plastic tarps over muddy hillsides that still bore the scars of the last storm.
Some residents, including Staci Broussard, 58, took care to reinforce their properties soon after that storm ended. Ms. Broussard’s home in Baldwin Hills Estates, a neighborhood overlooking South Los Angeles, was damaged by the previous atmospheric river to rip through the city.
The slope behind Ms. Broussard’s home crumbled, knocking down a portion of her backyard iron fence, bringing mud and vegetation down the hill from her neighbor’s home on a hill above.
Ms. Broussard and her neighbor staked down tarps over the hillside to prevent more mud from sliding down.
“As you can see, we have tarps all over because this is happening all over this neighborhood, unfortunately,” she said on Sunday.
Vik Jolly reported from California and Sarah Mervosh and Orlando Mayorquin from New York.
