Given the severe damage caused by last month's deadly wildfires to parts of Los Angeles County, evacuation warnings have been issued for those areas due to heightened concerns about life-threatening flash floods and mudslides triggered by the strongest storm to hit Southern California in over a year. This is just one of three winter storms brought by an active weather pattern this week, which has been battering the United States with ice, snow, and rain since the beginning of the month. Another storm is currently hitting the Plains and Midwest, bringing heavy snow.
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03-19, 2025In addition to the evacuation warnings in Southern California, preparations aimed at preventing mudslide disasters are underway in anticipation of the worst weather from California's storm arriving on Thursday. Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, warned that the upcoming storm will be the "most significant" storm of the winter for Southern California and will bring "very intense" rainfall.
According to the Weather Prediction Center, portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in California, including areas burned by the Palisades and Eaton fires, face a level 3 out of 4 risk of flooding tomorrow. More than 36 million people in other parts of the state face a level 2 out of 4 risk of flooding, with threatened areas including San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, and the regions in between.
In Los Angeles County, evacuation warnings will go into effect tomorrow morning and last until Friday afternoon, according to an update from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. This includes residents living near the remnants of the deadly Palisades Fire, as well as the Sunset and Hurst fires, according to fire officials. A press release from Orange County stated that voluntary evacuation orders will be issued tomorrow for several canyon areas near the Airport Fire burn scar. On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said that residents in "areas in and near the Lake Fire burn scar" were placed under an evacuation warning. The threat to burn scar areas comes from hazardous debris left behind by the fires, which officials are working to clear.
Los Angeles County has recently intensified storm preparations, clearing debris basins, installing concrete barriers, and placing sandbags in fire areas to filter debris and protect storm drains. Officials have been notifying residents in Altadena and the Malibu mountains that they may be impacted by mudslides. Search and rescue teams, deputies, and helicopter crews are also on standby to respond to the storm in the burn areas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced on Tuesday that more than 7,500 feet of concrete barriers and over 6,500 sandbags have been deployed in the Palisades Fire burn area to prevent mudslides. The California Office of Emergency Services said similar protections are being provided for the Eaton Fire burn scar.
The risk of flooding tomorrow is not limited to areas burned by wildfires. "Even outside of the burn scars, we're looking at the potential for pretty significant urban flooding," Cohen warned. The storm will dump 1 to 3 inches of rain on the Los Angeles basin, with total rainfall in the mountains of the region potentially approaching 6 inches, including the Palisades Fire burn scar. This is the most significant storm in terms of rainfall the region has seen since widespread flooding and mudslides impacted Los Angeles and surrounding areas last year. "Of course, we're concerned about Palisades and the burn areas, but this is about getting all of Los Angeles to pay attention to the rain and the impacts," Bass pleaded. The heaviest rain may also be accompanied by damaging winds from tomorrow afternoon into Friday morning.
Another damaging winter storm is wreaking havoc across the eastern half of the United States. A new storm formed overnight in the Plains and is spreading from there into the Midwest today, while the storm that first hit the East on Tuesday continues to bring rain and ice to parts of the region. Today's storm will bring Chicago its heaviest snowfall of the winter. The city had already received 1 to 3 inches of snow by this afternoon, making the evening rush hour commute treacherous. Up to 6 inches of snow could fall by the time the snow ends overnight. The typically snowy city should have recorded two feet of snow by this point in the season, but has only recorded about 7 inches since December. Areas north of the city, closer to the Illinois-Wisconsin border, could see double-digit snowfall totals. Schools in the Chicago area were closed or switched to online learning due to the storm. Public schools in Kansas City, Missouri, and several school districts in Nebraska were also closed.
In Iowa, more than 100 vehicle accidents were reported, about 185 motorists needed assistance due to weather conditions, and nearly 300 calls for service were received, according to the Iowa State Patrol. The winter weather has also disrupted air travel. More than 550 flights into or out of U.S. airports have been canceled and nearly 6,200 flights have been delayed as of the early evening, according to FlightAware.com. The most impacted airport operations are in Chicago, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.
Today, the snow will reach portions of the Northeast and will continue for much of tomorrow. Sleet and freezing rain will quickly begin to mix with the snow across portions of Pennsylvania and New York on Wednesday night and will reach portions of New England overnight. Ice will again cause major problems south of where the heaviest snow is falling. From Oklahoma and Kansas to the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast, there is a potential for at least a glaze of ice tomorrow, enough to make travel tricky. Portions of the Appalachian Mountains will once again be hit with ice and snow from this storm. In Virginia, more than 140,000 homes and businesses remained without power after ice and snow from the first storm, according to PowerOutage.us. Ice and over a foot of snow caused major disruptions to travel in Virginia on Tuesday. At least 305 crashes were reported statewide, according to state police. At least 24 crashes reported injuries as of Tuesday evening. Neighboring Maryland also had over 200 crashes, according to state police.
The storm is reinvigorating rain and thunderstorms in the South. Several flash flood warnings were triggered as heavy rain and thunderstorms moved from Texas into Louisiana. As these storms move east during the afternoon and evening, they will become stronger. The most damaging storms are most likely to occur in southern Mississippi and Alabama, where there is a level 3 out of 5 risk of thunderstorms, according to the Storm Prediction Center. From the afternoon into the evening, some of the thunderstorms could become severe and produce a few tornadoes from Louisiana to Georgia. The National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, warned Wednesday morning that there is also the potential for one or two strong tornadoes – EF2 or stronger – in the most intense storms. Some of these tornadoes could form after dark, making them even more dangerous. It is difficult to spot tornadoes at night, even for those who are awake or awakened by a warning. A 2022 study found that nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as deadly as daytime tornadoes. Just last week, a deadly tornado tore through a Tennessee community after dark, killing at least two people.
