California roads buried in mud after powerful storm triggers landslides

Crews began clearing roads across Southern California on Friday after an atmospheric riverbrought heavy rain that triggered rounds of evacuations and closures as it unleashed damaging mudslides throughout the fire-ravaged region.

Mudslides and flash floods were reported through Thursday night. In the Los Angeles area, mud and debris covered several major roads including the Pacific Coast Highway, the 101 freeway and Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.

In Malibu, an SUV carrying a Los Angeles firefighter was swept off the road and into the Pacific Ocean. The firefighter managed to escape and was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, department spokesperson Erik Scott said on X. He added that a tow truck was expected to pull the vehicle out of the water during low tide on Friday.

High winds tore through a mobile home community in Oxnard, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, damaging at least 12 homes, many with entire walls and roofs shredded and torn off. The damage could have been caused by a waterspout that came onshore as a weak tornado, said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. Winds in the area were recorded at speeds of 50 mph.

Evacuation warnings and orders were issued in multiple counties, though the majority occurred in the Los Angeles area, where the worst of the wildfires broke out last month. By late Thursday, the weather service lifted most rain-related weather advisories in the region, but officials warned that "mud and rockslides can still happen even after the rainfall has stopped."

The atmospheric river also brought several feet of snow and hurricane-force winds to the California mountains and much of the West, leading to avalanche advisories for the Sierra Nevada backcountry and massive traffic pileups.

Did the rain end the drought in California?

The bone-dry conditions in California that helped fuel the catastrophic wildfires there last month have been helped by this week's rainstorm, a drought expert said Friday, but "a wetter pattern will be needed to see it improve" significantly."The rain/snow that is being recorded recently has helped, but a couple of storms do not offset how dry it was at the beginning of the current water year that started on Oct. 1 (especially in southern California and into the Southwest)," said climatologist Brian Fuchs of the National Drought Mitigation Center in an email to USA TODAY Friday."A more active pattern will start to ease/improve the drought intensity, but there is ground to be made up," he said.  "Luckily for places like California, the last few winters have been quite wet and so water storage and availability are not in bad shape right now."

– Doyle Rice

All Malibu schools closed on Friday because of flooding, mudslides

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District announced all public schools in Malibu will remain closed on Friday "due to road closures, ongoing mud flow concerns and clean up from the recent storm."

The district shuttered Malibu area schools on Thursday. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District serves 8,820 students in 17 schools.

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New record daily rainfall amount recorded

At Fresno Yosemite International Airport, meteorologists said 1.12 inches of rain fell on Thursday, a new record that surpasses the previous daily high of 1.08 inches set in 2000.

Last week, an atmospheric river that passed over Northern California brought record rain to the Golden State. San Francisco broke a daily record for rain that had been in place since 1887, with a pounding 2.53 inches of rain falling in one day, according to the weather service.

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Thousands remain without power in Southern California

In addition to the rain, the storm brought powerful wind gusts that knocked down power lines, leaving thousands in the dark early Friday morning.

Over 21,000 homes and businesses remain without power throughout Southern California as of 5 a.m. local time, according to PowerOutage.us. Los Angeles reported the most outages with over 12,600 utility customers without power.

High wind warnings were in effect through Friday for portions of the region, especially along the coast and in high terrain. The weather service in Los Angeles warned wind gusts up to 50 mph could cause more power disruptions. A high-wind warning was also issued by the weather service in San Diego.

Avalanche warnings issued for central Sierra Nevada mountains

Forecasters on Friday issued avalanche warnings for the central Sierra Nevada mountains after the atmospheric river brought several feet of snow to the highlands along the eastern edge of California.

"Despite the storm tapering off, widespread human-triggered avalanche activity remains very likely due to old weak snow below the storm snow and continued blowing snow," said the Sierra Avalanche Center, a nonprofit affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service.

"Large avalanches could happen on exposed slopes near and above treeline or in sheltered below treeline terrain, which people often consider safe. Travel in, near, or below avalanche terrain is not recommended," the organization said.

Winds reached 126 mph at a ski resort in Northern California

A 126-mph wind gust was recorded Thursday at Palisades Tahoe Ski Area near Lake Tahoe, said AccuWeather meteorologist Jesse Ferrell.

Across much of the state's highlands, hurricane strength winds were recorded, including 93 mph winds at Joaquin Ridge in Fresno County, Ferrell said.

The storm also brought staggering snow totals. At Mammoth Mountain, a popular skiing destination, over 4.5 feet of fresh snow fell, more snow than the area received in December and January combined, according to AccuWeather.

Vehicle pileup shuts down Oregon interstate amid whiteout conditions

Whiteout conditions in Oregon caused a pileup of as many as 30 cars, trucks and semi-trucks on Interstate 84 on Thursday near Multnomah Falls, officials said.

High winds, snow, and ice caused hazardous conditions on roads, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Officials initially estimated that more than 100 vehicles were involved in the incident. In an update, the sheriff's office said a further assessment revealed that between 20 to 30 vehicles were involved.

"Low visibility made it difficult to differentiate initially between vehicles that were involved and vehicles that were only stopped," the sheriff's office said in a post on social media.

– Jeanine Santucci and Thao Nguyen

Crews begin clearing mudslides of buried roads

Hundreds of personnel were prepositioned before the storm to assist in any emergency response and recovery efforts after the worst conditions abated.

Los Angeles County Public Works as well as the California Department of Public Transportation began work to clear roads that mudslides have covered, the agencies said. Residents were asked to avoid any flooded areas so authorities could more quickly clear debris and open several major thoroughfares.

"Avoid areas with mudflows, debris flows, or high water until deemed safe by local authorities or public officials," said a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

How much rain did the storm bring to Southern California?

Here are the latest 3-day rainfall totals for the Southern California region, according to the weather service.

◾ Rocky Butte, San Luis Obispo County – 7.52 inches.

◾ San Antonio Sierra, Los Angeles County – 6.27 inches.

◾ San Marcos Pass, Santa Barbara County – 5.62 inches.

◾ Matilija Dam, Ventura County – 5.56 inches.

Over the last 24 hours, parts of Los Angeles saw more than 3 inches of rain, the weather service said.