July 20--An unseasonably powerful storm that closed Los Angeles County beaches because of lightning and washed out a vital bridge connecting shipping between California and Arizona will bring more rain Monday to Southern California.
"It still looks like there's a chance of rain pretty much everywhere," said Stuart Seto with the National Weather Service. "Yesterday was probably the worst."
With forecasts indicating El Nionditions in the Pacific Ocean gaining strength, Seto said the storms could be a preview of issues to come. El Nis a weather phenomenon involving a warming of the Pacific Ocean at the equator, which causes changes in atmospheric conditions that, during the winter, can bring wet storms to soak California.
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Particularly hard-hit over the weekend were:
-- Desert Center, where a bridge washed out on Interstate 10, closing the freeway in both directions
-- Moreno Valley, where firefighters worked to keep mud out of half a dozen homes
-- Los Angeles County beaches, which were closed temporarily because of lightning strikes
July rain is so unusual in Southern California that the storm broke a number of records for the month. The 0.36 inch that fell in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday set a record for the most rainfall in July, surpassing the quarter-inch that fell in July 1886, said National Weather Service meteorologist David Sweet.
"July is typically the driest month of the year," weather service meteorologist Scott Sukup said Sunday. "To have that much rain yesterday and another significant storm today is pretty unusual.... For July it's historical."
It rained 2.31 inches in Lancaster and almost 4 inches in Warm Springs in Riverside County over the weekend, Seto said.
Four years of drought and the slow, heavy downpour mixed to complicate commutes across most of Southern California. Besides the washed out bridge near Arizona, Metrolink service in Riverside was closed.
How weird was the weather? The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were rained out at home for the first time since 1995. The game has been rescheduled for Monday -- assuming, of course, that it doesn't get rained out again. The San Diego Padres were also rained out.
Farther east, Interstate 10 -- a key route for truckers and travelers -- was shut down late Sunday afternoon after a bridge washed out in Desert Center.
The bridge is about halfway between Palm Springs and the Arizona border, near where California 177 meets the 10. It carries eastbound traffic about 15 feet above a normally dry wash. When the bridge broke apart, it ended up in the flood waters below, the California Highway Patrol said, blocking all traffic headed toward Arizona.
Thirty feet of the eastbound 10 Freeway "is washed away and the bridge is gone," according to the CHP.
One driver had to be rescued from a pickup that crashed in the collapse and was hospitalized with moderate injuries, the Riverside County Fire Department said.
The westbound section of the freeway remained intact, but traffic was halted while the roadway was inspected for safety. A pair of small nearby highways that could have served as detours were also closed.
Drivers were being turned around at Chiriaco Summit on the eastbound side of the 10 and at Corn Springs on the westbound side. Traffic was reportedly backed up for miles, with no real place for motorists to go.
In Moreno Valley, Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Jennifer Fuhrman said water and mud were "coming down the mountain" in the 9900 block of Whitewater Road. Firefighters were "trying to keep it from getting in the houses," Fuhrman said, but there was an "immediate threat of mud, and there was water inside" at least one of the homes.
In Orange County, a debris flow stranded several residents in Silverado Canyon on Sunday evening.
"We had a pretty significant mud and debris flow that went into the creek and then across Silverado Canyon Road, making the road impassable," said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.
The debris flow, in the Smisek Ranch area, is "about 300 feet long, around 3 feet deep and 4 to 5 feet wide," Concialdi said, and residents are unable to get out.
"We had a 1,000-acre brush fire back in September, so we have a pretty large burn scar," he said. "So when we do have significant rain, that mud and debris come downhill toward the road, toward homes."
No homes, however, were at risk, Concialdi said.
Crews using heavy equipment were working to clear the roadway of mud, downed trees and other debris. "We're going to be here throughout the night," Concialdi said, adding that he could not say whether the mess would be cleared by Monday morning.
In San Diego County, the hardest hit area was in rural Ramona east of Escondido, where streets flooded, several cars were half-submerged, and some homes were flooded. The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning for Ramona.
Elsewhere in the county, pounding rain led to traffic snarls, sporadic power failures, flash-flood warnings in outlying areas, a lengthy mid-game delay of the Padres-Rockies game, and closure of an offramp of Interstate 805 in mid-San Diego due to a downed power line, among other problems.
Numerous outdoor events were canceled, including the Over-the-Line tournament on Fiesta Island on Mission Bay.
The Padres-Rockies game was halted because of rain in the fifth inning -- with Rockies up 1-0 -- and then after a 2 ½-hour delay was called off and rescheduled for September.
The afternoon downpour occurred just as the annual three-day Stand Down for homeless veterans was ending. Some 975 veterans attended the event, where they could live in tents and receive food, counseling and other services from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Naval Medical Center San Diego and various non-governmental agencies.
"Leaving Stand Down with a heavy heart," tweeted Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). "It's pouring rain and we need it but hundreds of Vets [are] back on streets."
San Diego County health officials ordered closure of beaches near the U.S. border because of sewage-contaminated overflow from the Tijuana River.
A flash-flood watch was in effect through Monday evening for Los Angeles County mountains, recent burn areas and the Antelope Valley.
The moisture has been a boon for firefighters battling the 3,500-acre North fire that shut down Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass on Friday, burning cars and stranding motorists. The rain helped push the fire's containment up to 75% by Sunday morning, with no growth in acreage.
The latest round of storm activity could be a mixed blessing as the fire continues to smolder, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Lyn Sieliet.
"If it brings wind and lightning, it could make things more difficult for us," she said. "But if it brings light, steady rain, that's going to be the best-case scenario."
Los Angeles County lifeguards, who had closed more than 70 miles of crowded coastline and ocean piers Saturday because of thunderstorms, said they were in communication with the National Weather Service as they tracked the storm and would clear the beaches if they heard thunder or saw lightning.
A.J. Lester, ocean lifeguard specialist with the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Lifeguard Division, warned swimmers to stay away from storm drain outfalls for 72 hours after the rain to avoid polluted runoff that has been swept out to shore.
Forecasters expect drier weather by Tuesday.
Times staff writer Tony Perry contributed to this article.
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UPDATES
8:31 a.m.: This article has been updated with flooding and other damage in San Diego County.
July 20, 7:56 a.m.: This article has been updated with the National Weather Service saying rain will continue Monday and that the recent storm was an El Nino-related rain event.
9:37 p.m.: This article has been updated to add that the Angels' and Padres' home games were rained out.
7:36 p.m.: This article has been updated to add the closure of the 10 Freeway around Desert Center.
The first version of this article was published at 11:35 a.m. July 19.