Rachel saves major flooding in Southern California

NEWPORT BEACH, Orange County — Post-Tropical Storm Rachel made landfall in northern Baja California overnight, generating waves that are expected to produce life-threatening surges and rip currents along the Southern California coast and worsen already devastating coastal flooding and erosion.

The storm was about 255 miles north-northeast of San Diego as of 8 a.m. Sunday and was expected to dissipate as it continued its march inland, according to the National Hurricane Center. Nonetheless, moderate to major coastal flooding is expected along the Baja California and southern California coasts.

• Preparation: In Rachel’s path, Southern Californians scramble to protect their homes

Destructive flooding and tides have already devastated coastal communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties. On Saturday in Long Beach, eight structures were marked red as hazardous for entry and one marked yellow for moderate damage as tides crashed into coastal structures.

Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for some residents of the city’s peninsula until Tuesday and worked to create a barrier between the tides and beachfront homes with 50,000 to 100,000 cubic meters of sand on the peninsula.

In Newport Beach, flooding prompted officials to declare a local emergency.

High tides washed away more than a dozen blocks on Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula, flooding cars and forcing pedestrians to wade through the waters. The Balboa and Newport piers were closed.

On Sunday, high tide arrived around 9:50 a.m. for Newport Beach and Long Beach. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles County predicted high tides would reach around 8 feet, which would approach or even exceed recent record tide levels for the area.

Residents and visitors gathered at Newport Beach’s main pier to watch the big waves at high tide Sunday morning. A massive berm built by the city along the beach largely prevented waves from breaking through the sand and entering residential areas.

A few puddles formed in the parking lot next to the beach, but shortly before 10 a.m. the water had not yet reached the homes.

Brad Rosten, who has lived on Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula for 12 years, called his morning walk to the pier a “sightseeing.”

Rosten said large waves and flooding occur “from time to time” in Newport Beach, and that Sunday’s large waves did not appear to be too much of a concern.

“It’s just another day,” said Rosten, who lives on the side of the peninsula furthest from the ocean. “I’m kind of hanging around to see what happens. But otherwise, it’s just another day as usual.”

As of Sunday afternoon, coastal areas of Southern California appeared to have avoided the feared major coastal flooding. Water levels at 10 a.m. were about 5 inches below the potentially record high tides warned by the weather service.

The waves were getting bigger by late morning, but didn’t seem as dramatic as Friday’s swell. One possible explanation was the interval between waves.

Laguna Beach resident Kurt Mahoney goes swimming in the ocean “every day, all year round,” but he hasn’t been since Wednesday because of the waves.

Although the waves didn’t cause major damage Sunday, Mahoney, a 42-year Laguna Beach resident, said they were out of the ordinary.

He called them “turbulent” and “nasty,” pointing to distant waves that hit the rocks just below a row of apartment buildings.

However, post-tropical storm Rachel had nothing to do with the El Niño phenomenon of the early 1990s – at least not yet. Downtown Laguna Beach was flooded like a river at the time, he said.

“It looks like we’re going to face it this year, which is a drag,” he said.

The only good thing about El Niño, he says, is that the ocean is nice and warm when it’s in the water every day.

On Friday, waves at Long Beach were more than 20 seconds apart, but by Sunday that time was down to 15 seconds.

According to the Coastal Data Information Program at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, “short-period wave components lose energy more easily than long-period components.”

The storm brought extraordinary amounts of precipitation to parts of Southern California, including the drought-plagued lower Colorado River basin.

Blythe (Riverside County), near the Arizona border, measured 2.8 inches of rain. It was the wettest storm since 1965.

Localized flash flood warnings were issued from Orange County to Death Valley to Las Vegas. Las Vegas recorded 1.08 inches of rain, tying the record for the most in a single day in October. Heavy rain caused the closure of Interstate 95 along the California-Nevada border, according to Caltrans, and five flood rescues in Kingman, Arizona, according to the weather service. Along Highway 190 in Death Valley, debris and small rocks were reported on the roadway, the weather service said.

Palomar Mountain (San Diego County) was unusually wet, with a storm total of 5.1 inches and counting as of 10 a.m. Sunday. The San Bernardino Mountains also received 2 to 3 inches of rain.

After up to 2 inches fell near Palm Desert in Riverside overnight, large rocks, mud and debris fell onto Highway 74 near mile marker 89, according to the weather service. The California Highway Patrol has reported landslides in mountainous areas of Southern California, but none appear significant. Car crashes were also reported, but it was unclear whether the crashes were storm-related.

Rainfall totals were lighter along the coast, but still impressive by October standards.

San Diego recorded 0.9 inches, Oceanside measured 1.4 inches and Palm Springs even recorded 1.2 inches. Totals fell quickly northward, with less than a tenth of an inch in most of the Los Angeles metro area.

The weather service warned of a marginal (level 1 of 4) to slight (level 2 of 4) risk of flash flooding in Southern California on Sunday. There was a moderate risk (level 3 out of 4) in Las Vegas). Heavy local rain was also expected along the coast on Monday due to persistent downpours.

Wind damage appears limited in coastal areas. The storm’s arrival in Mexico left Southern California on the less windy side of the low pressure system. San Diego’s strongest gust was only 36 mph. Desert areas were hit by stronger winds, including severe thunderstorms with gusts of 60 mph or more.

According to the weather service, there remained a low but not zero risk of tornadoes from Las Vegas to Phoenix through early afternoon.

Saul Pink reported from Southern California, and Anthony Edwards and Brooke Park from the Bay Area.