California Rain Benefitted Greatly, But Not All That Much Rain Set Off Burn Area Debris Flows

To virtually everyone's relief in southern California, 
rain arrived as expected to tamp down those horrible
wildfires. The fires left the area prone to debris flow
in the rain, though, and some did in fact materialize.

 After going 262 days without any rain, showers finally blew through Los Angeles Sunday. 

The showers -which included small hail in some sections of the city and snow in the mountains - was a tremendous relief to everyone dealing with this month's wildfire nightmare in southern California. 

Though greatly beneficial, the rain, as expected in some ways continued the wildfire nightmare for some.

The rain storm hasn't been that big by southern California standards. Los Angeles just under an inch of rain from the weekend system. It was the first real rain the city has had since March 20.  

With the fires, that was enough to set off mudslides. One of the largest was in Topanga Canyon near the site of the big Palisades fire. 

Another mudslide poured down onto Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, trapping at least four vehicles in muck and rocks. A Los Angeles city fire truck also had to be pulled from the morass. 

This particular mudslide thankfully didn't damage any homes. 

A small section of the Pacific Coast Highway also had to be shut down due to mud and debris pouring onto the roadway. 

The rain obviously tamped down the fire and finally prevented new ones from starting, at least for now. The largest fires from this month are now almost entirely contained and are just barely smoldering in the damp conditions. 

Extended forecasts call for a few more chance of rain over the next couple of weeks.  Those extended forecasts lean slightly toward above normal precipitation in central and northern California and near normal in still much to dry southern California. 

Video

News station aerial view of one of the mudslides due to fire-denuded hills and the rain over the weekend. Click on this link to view, or of you see the image below, click on that