Posted on 01/19/2010 1:25:41 PM PST by Beaten Valve
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for the South Los Angeles, Long Beach and Whittier areas as a powerful new storm moves ashore.
The warning is expected to be in place for at least 45 minutes.
Radar shows heavy rain falling in Long Beach, with the storm moving in at 35 mph to the northeast. There were also reports of thunder and lightning across the region.
Forecasters said the storm was capable of producing a tornado, but there was no evidence at this time that any tornadoes have developed on land.
[Updated at 1:03 p.m.: The tornado warning was extended to Orange County. In Seal Beach, officials were urging people to get off the beach. In San Pedro, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported major street flooding in area near the harbor and ocean.
In East Long Beach, flood waters rose above some street and were filling the grass areas in front of some homes. There were reports of power outages, though exactly how widespread is not clear.
The Orange County Sheriff's Department is checking a report that a car driving on Pacific Coast Highway might have been damaged by the storm, but officials have not confirmed this.
Huntington Beach lifeguards said no waterspoutsor offshore tornadoeshave been spotted. The beaches were mostly empty while waves surged, lightning struck and wind reached gusts of 52 miles per hour, said Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Mike Beuerlein.
Newport Beach was seeing wind gusts of over 72 miles per hour and has closed jetties due to high surf, but has seen no tornadoes or waterspouts, said Jennifer Schulz of the Newport Beach Fire Dept.]
]
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
And this isn't even the worst of it.
The biggest storm is expected in tomorrow morning....
Does this have something to do with Hell freezing over and the MA elections? :)
I’m a native Californian. I don’t EVER recall the word “tornado” being uttered in the same sentence as “California”.
The world’s gone mad.
I view the rain as a blessing. It is pouring down really hard in West L.A. This is only storm #2 and storm #3 supposed to be “the big one.” People just need to be prepared and protected. I think sandbags can be obtained at fire stations...?? I sympathize with people in hilly areas though, with landslides likely due to the prolonged dryness....
Somebody build an ark!
I’m “downstream” from you in Phoenix. We’re looking to your storm with hopeful eyes.
Channels 5, 7, 9 & 11 are all on the air with LIVE coverage.
I heard one guy on KFI say that people should stock up with provisions for the next couple of days.
I’m at LAX.
LaDita!!!! be careful there, young lady!
This is just like Katrina!
OBAMA, DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!
sarc/
The worlds gone mad.
Are you kidding? I’ve gone tornado hunting on more than a few occassions here in Northern CA. While not as common as in the Tornado Belt (or North Dakota - where I lived for five years), they do happen in CA.
Tornados have been reported in all 57 states.
ping
Global Warming is alive and well, and living in South Central.
While riding my motorcycle I got caught in a thunderstorm that spawned a tornado here in northern california a few years ago. All I got was hailed on, and lightning struck a telephone pole right in front of me, but a car down the road was thrown into a ditch. Yikes! I never saw the thing, just the results.
Thanks, sofaman!! Nice to see you:) I wish I could videotape this rain for you, coming down so hard it’s like a sheet of water. Wow.
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