Rain, snow and wind moved through Southern California yet again Wednesday, marking the culmination of nearly a week of storms that have drenched the region and led to flooded streets, mudslides and trees felled by high winds.
But forecasters said relief is finally in sight.
“A cold and wet weather pattern will continue through tonight as a low pressure system moving over the region brings gusty winds, rain, and snow showers down to the foothill elevations,” according to the National Weather Service. “High pressure building in will bring a warming and drying trend Thursday through Saturday.”
Snow forced another closure of the Golden State (5) Freeway through the Grapevine early Wednesday morning. The stretch between Parker Road in Castaic and Grapevine remained closed until roughly 4 p.m., when California Highway Patrol officers began escorting motorists through the pass.
Forecasters said scattered rain and snow would continue into Wednesday evening. Elevations as low as 1,500 feet could still get a dusting of snow, with 2 to 4 inches possible in elevations above 2,500 feet.
The continued precipitation continued to present a danger of mudslides. A stretch of Mulholland Drive in the Beverly Crest area remained closed Wednesday following the collapse of a backyard hillside on Tuesday. Late Wednesday afternoon, mud, rocks and boulders cascaded onto Malibu Canyon Road south of Piuma Road, forcing an indefinite closure.
But the more significant issue Wednesday afternoon was the wind. Strong gusts knocked down large trees in areas including Northridge, Inglewood, Glendale, Brentwood and Laurel Canyon. No injuries were immediately reported due to any of the downed trees.
Forecasters urged residents to be on the lookout for fallen trees and potentially dangerous downed power lines. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that it was responding to multiple outages that were caused by the power winds Wednesday, including some resulting from trees falling on electrical lines. The utility was still working to fully restore power to customers who lost electricity during earlier storm surges, with the DWP reporting late Tuesday that about 7,600 customers were still affected.
A wind advisory will be in effect until 4 a.m. Thursday in the Santa Clarita, San Fernando, Antelope and San Gabriel valleys, with forecasters calling for winds gusting up to 50 mph, with the strongest busts in foothill areas. Los Angeles County mountains will also be under a wind advisory until early Thursday morning, with winds of up to 55 mph anticipated.
A wind advisory at L.A. County beaches and the metro area will be in place until 7 p.m. Wednesday.
A winter storm warning that had been in effect in the Antelope Valley was allowed to expire at noon Wednesday, although forecasters noted that “isolated snow showers are still possible.” The warning will remain in effect in Los Angeles County mountains until 10 p.m. Wednesday, with up to a foot of snow still possible at higher elevations, according to the NWS.
The brunt of the latest storm system will have moved into Arizona by late Wednesday, forecasters said.
Los Angeles County health officials continued to warn people to avoid going into the ocean near discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers until at least Wednesday due to the storms. The water might contain bacteria, chemicals, debris, trash and other health hazards.