Evacuation warnings spread across Los Angeles County burn scar areas ahead of New Year

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Evacuation warnings have been issued in vulnerable burn scar areas spread across the Greater Los Angeles Metro Area ahead of a brewing flood threat, as well as debris and mud flows, that could spoil New Year’s Eve for millions of California residents.

While much of the U.S. will ring in the new year under calm conditions, the same can’t be said for California as yet another holiday season storm is forecast to soak the Golden State.

Nine burn scar areas are under evacuation warnings by Los Angeles County, beginning on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. PST, including a large area of Malibu that was scorched by the historic Palisades fire nearly one year ago.

Evacuation warnings come just a week after flooding ran rampant in Los Angeles County in what was the wettest Christmas Eve on record at the Los Angeles Airport, triggering flash floods and mudslides in areas across California.

The Christmas Eve flooding devastated a vulnerable area in Wrightwood in a Bridge Fire burn scar area, which is again threatened by mud and debris flows, and is under an evacuation warning.

Other areas under evacuation warnings include the Canyon Fire burn scar area near Halsey Canyon, the Kenneth Fire burn scar area near Calabasas, the Agua Dulce and Lidia burn scar area near Soledad Canyon Road in Acton, the Franklin Fire burn scar area near Malibu Creek State Park, Kaslow Nature Preserve and Pepperdine University Malibu Campus, the Eaton Fire burn scar area near Altadena, the Bridge Fire burn scar area near Camp Williams and the East Fork San Gabriel River and the Bridge Fire burn scar area near Mount Baldy. 

According to the FOX Forecast Center, a round of heavy rain associated with a weakening low pressure system originating from the subtropical Pacific, is triggering flash flood alerts across much of Southern California through Thursday.

As this system lifts north toward Southern California, light to moderate rainfall is expected to arrive on New Year’s Eve, with precipitation peaking in intensity on New Year’s Day.

Given the upward trend in rainfall and already saturated ground conditions, a level two out of four flash flood risk is in place from Wednesday through Thursday.

This risk includes areas from Los Angeles north through Santa Barbara, regions that recently experienced historic rainfall with totals exceeding one foot in some locations.

By Friday, the flash flood threat shifts further up the California coast to include portions of Northern California, including San Francisco.

At this time, another widespread 1 to 2 inches of rain appears likely across much of the region through Friday, with locally higher amounts of 2 to 3 inches or more possible in the Transverse Ranges of California, according to the FOX Forecast Center.

All of this rain will mark the first time since 2006 that Los Angeles has recorded rain on New Year’s Day, the FOX Forecast Center reported. 

A low-level 1 out of 5 severe weather threat exists for portions of Los Angeles into San Diego on New Year’s Day. 

Damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes are possible with this storm threat, according to the FOX Forecast Center. 

Once this system exits, a larger and potentially more impactful storm is expected to move into Northern and Central California on Friday into Saturday. This next system could bring gusty winds, heavy rainfall and another round of mountain snow to the Sierra Nevada.

Almost the entire costal region of California is now under a low-end flash flood risk for the day Friday into early Saturday. This includes Redding, San Francisco and Santa Barbara.

The Climate Prediction Center continues to highlight the western U.S. as having above-average precipitation chances into early January.