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 are set to be reopened Saturday after being closed, Mayor Karen Bass announced.
The 1.23 inches of rain that fell in downtown Los Angeles 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.
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 county sheriff’s department, which sent deputies from the Lancaster Sheriff’s 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 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 weather service. 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.
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 citywide, including downed trees and fallen branches.
The Sepulveda Basin and Topanga Canyon Boulevard are closed.
Saturday’s highs are forecast to be 64 in Woodland Hills, 61 in downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles International Airport, Long Beach, Burbank and San Gabriel, 60 in Pasadena and 53 in Lancaster and Palmdale.
Orange County forecast highs include 62 in Irvine, 61 in Anaheim, Fullerton and Yorba Linda, 60 in Newport Beach, 59 in Mission Viejo, San Clemente and 58 in Laguna Beach.
Long-term, forecasters said there’s another chance of rain in the area Thursday and Friday. 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.