Mysterious RAIN storm sweeps through L.A.

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Shirley Jahad (KPCC FM, SCPR.org, Pasadena)

What would a wise person do, the Buddha asked, seeing danger here and safety on the further shore? In the Parable of the Raft he advises, build a raft (whatbettertime.org)

 

Weather (twitter.com/NWSLosAngeles)

A mysterious rainstorm swept through Los Angeles yesterday, concentrating in the foothill suburb of Pasadena, headwaters for the mostly concrete Los Angeles River. While there were no fatalities, it did lead to many collisions because the inhabitants of this desert megalopolis do not know how to drive in rain, sleet, or snow, which rarely is a problem. 

(Oh no, it's raining!) The cause of the storm is unknown, probably a coincidence. These sorts of things just happen sometimes. A dancing flash mob was observed in Hahamongna in the vicinity of Devil's Gate Dam, but they did not expect flash flooding.

Snow in L.A. mountains (Oscars)

Their Native American ceremonial activities are not thought to be connected to either last night's showers or a second storm forecast for Southern California, which is expected to pass with more disruptions than the first rains. The region is now bracing for the larger of the two storms, which is expected to arrive on Thursday night and last through Saturday or Sunday.

• Officials in the San Gabriel Mountains have called for mandatory evacuations in the Colby Fire area, according to the Glendora PD; water barriers have been erected to protect homes from potential mudslides.
• Azusa officials ordered mandatory evacuations for residents on Ridge View Drive, below the Colby Fire burn area.
• L.A. County Public Works announces road closures.
• Glendora officials offered residents advice on how to prepare for potential mudslides and flooding on the city's website.
• Nat'l Weather Service updated its list of alerts and advisories.

LA Rain: Full list of advisories

Nearly an inch of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles (five miles south of Pasadena), with the San Gabriel Mountains getting up to two inches of rain. The California Highway Patrol reports there were about 111 collisions in L.A. County between 5:00 and 9:00 am Thursday morning. That is more than double the total of a non-rain day.

 

The water can only be as clean as the land

LAX Airport did not suffer any major flight disruptions, but the showers caused the cancellation of more than 100 flights at SFO (San Francisco).

• L.A. RAIN: Billions of gallons of polluted runoff likely to flow into the sacred ocean at Santa Monica Bay (Sadly L.A. gets plenty of rain, usually all at once, but it makes almost not effort to catch it, preferring instead to steal it from the north and neighboring states to the east).
• Glendora's RED ALERT press release with mandatory evacuations: 
• Forecast: debris and mud flows 
• Storms fuel mudslide anxiety
  

Woman survives car crash off canyon

The National Weather Service says the second storm is expected in Southern California by tonight or early Friday morning. The forecast calls for rainfall of 3 to 6 inches in the foothills, and up to 8 inches in some areas. A high wind watch will also be in effect in the Antelope Valley until Friday evening. More