Atmospheric river hits Southern California with risks of flash floods, deaths on stormy seas

The previous day more than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain fell over coastal Santa Barbara County as the storm approached Los Angeles. The National Weather Service urged people to stay indoors amid heavy winds.

The long plume of tropical moisture that formed over the Pacific Ocean began drenching the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday and unleashed widespread rain over Southern California on Friday and Saturday. More than a foot of snow was predicted for parts of the Sierra Nevada.

The California Highway Patrol said a 71-year-old man died Friday after his vehicle was swept off a flooded bridge in Northern California, and a 5-year-old was swept into the ocean by 15-foot (4.6-meter) waves at a state park on the Central Coast, triggering a search.

Off the Southern California coast, a wooden boat believed to have been ferrying migrants toward the U.S. from Mexico capsized in stormy seas, leaving at least four people dead and four hospitalized, the Coast Guard said Saturday.

Flood advisories extended from the Ventura County coast through Malibu and into Los Angeles.

“Due to the potential for debris flows, an Evacuation Warning remains in effect within and around all recent burn scar areas, and select vulnerable properties remain under Evacuation Orders,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in the morning via the social platform X.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for high-risk properties in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn areas through Sunday morning. Law enforcement personnel were going to certain properties in those areas to urge people to leave, Bass said.