A dry weekend is forecast following a holiday storm that dumped more than a foot of rain in some mountain areas and brought a rare tornado to Boyle Heights.
All evacuation orders and warnings in Los Angeles were lifted as of 6 p.m. Friday. The flood watch issued by the National Weather Service for the city was also lifted. The separate evacuation order for the Riverwood neighborhood in the Sunland-Tujunga area due a release of water from the Tujunga Dam by county public works crews was also lifted.
The Palisades Recreation Center, Rustic Canyon Recreation Center and Crestwood Hills Recreation Center were set to be reopened Saturday after being closed, Mayor Karen Bass announced.
Also Saturday, Caltrans re-opened a 3.6-mile stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard (SR-27) between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive after crews removed rock fall and debris flows from the roadway. The highway was closed preemptively in anticipation of the storms on Dec. 23.
That stretch of SR-27 is an active work zone for ongoing recovery efforts from the Palisades Fire and last winter’s storms. It is normally closed to the public from midnight to 5 a.m. daily, and travelers were warned to expect delays and drive with caution through the work zone.
The 1.23 inches of rain that fell in downtown Los Angeles on Friday was a record for Dec. 26, breaking the previous record of 1.2 inches set in 1977. A record was also set at Long Beach Airport, 1.39 inches, erasing the previous record of 1.14 inches set in 2019.
According to Bass, the Los Angeles Fire Department deployed teams to five river rescue incidents, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to more than 520 traffic accidents, and city crews received requests for more than 750 tree emergencies, including downed trees and fallen branches.
Meanwhile, a body was found Friday in a partially submerged car following heavy flooding in an isolated area of Lancaster. Los Angeles County Fire Department aerial fire crews located a blue sedan at 9:45 a.m. Friday in an area near 58th Street East and Avenue H-10, according to the sheriff’s department, which sent deputies from the Lancaster station to assist.
An unresponsive man was found inside the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. A description of the unidentified man was not provided. The Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner was notified and recovered the body. The agency will determine the victim’s cause of death.
An EF0 tornado, the weakest category on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, struck at 10:10 a.m. Thursday in Boyle Heights, according to the NWS. It had a maximum wind speed of 80 mph, traveled three-tenths of a mile and had a width of 30 yards.
EF0 tornados have wind speeds between 65 mph and 85 mph.
Damage first occurred at a house on Lee Street, where there was damage to the surface and structure of the roof, with water leaking inside. Several business signs were destroyed at a strip mall on the northeast corner of Whittier Boulevard and Lorena Street, two blocks north of the damaged house, with plastic and metal debris blown across the area, breaking some windows, according to the weather service.
A utility pole was bent and in need of quick repair, moderate sized tree branches were broken and lighting infrastructure was damaged.
The damage path ended in an alley just north of the shopping plaza off of South Lorena Street. In this area, damage was observed to the roofs of residences and metal chain link fences.
“Many families woke up on Christmas Day to damage in their neighborhoods caused by an unusual and powerful storm. Since that time, the National Weather Service has determined that a weak tornado briefly touched down in Boyle Heights, bringing intense winds that damaged roofs, windows, and property in our community,” City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado said.
“My office was on-site with the National Weather Service during its assessment and is now working closely with city departments to ensure residents who were impacted get the support they need. If your home or property was affected, please contact 311 or my office so we can help connect you to available resources and services.
“Events like this can be frightening, but I am relieved that there are no reports of injuries. Boyle Heights is resilient, and I am grateful for this community’s strength and care for one another,” she added.
Long-term, forecasters said there’s another chance of rain in the area beginning Thursday and Friday, with rainfall possibly continuing on and off through Tuesday, Jan. 6. While not as strong as the current storm, the system could bring another 2 to 3 inches of rain to mountains and foothills, according to the weather service.