Storm in California causes flooding in Ventura County

USA

Heavy rain in Southern California caused flooding and prompted evacuations in Ventura County early Thursday, with the National Weather Service warning that the storm would bring many additional hours of moderate to heavy rain to the region throughout the day.

Ventura County was hit hard last night by a storm system moving along the California coast, with the Oxnard Civic Center receiving more than three percentcIt rains an hour earlier on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

There was an evacuation order and evacuation warnings issued in parts of the city of Port Hueneme in Ventura County.

The said the city of Oxnard Early Thursday, many streets and intersections were reported to be “heavily affected” by standing water and residents were asked to stay off the streets until the floodwaters receded. Some vehicles were already stuck on the roads The Oxnard Fire Department said. Oxnard Police said on social media that several roads were closed on Thursday morning.

At 1:28 a.m., the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for parts of Ventura County, including Oxnard, due to a severe thunderstorm, but no tornado was detected.

What’s next?

The storm will move off the coast of Southern California Thursday night, forecasters say the weather forecast center said. This could cause “prolonged and potentially significant rainfall for part of Southern California,” they wrote.

Storm activity will be focused on Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and Los Angeles County. Precipitation rate is forecast to be approximately 0.3 to 0.6 inches per hour, the National Weather Service said.

The National Weather Service advised people in the Santa Barbara area to stay off the roads Thursday morning, warning that heavy rain of up to an inch per hour could fall.

Urban flooding and urban flooding as well as mud and debris flows will be a concern through Thursday. the National Weather Service said.

This is what you can expect:

The cloudy, cool and wet weather in Southern California is expected to last at least until Friday.
After the storm passes over the Pacific Ocean, it’s expected to turn inland over the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico on Saturday.
The weather is expected to remain dry in Southern California this weekend, with warmer temperatures forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Judson Jones reporting contributed.