By Review Staff and
City News Service
After a record-breaking storm walloped Southern California this week, South Pasadena came up for a reprieve midweek after escaping any major damage and with sunnier skies ahead, officials said.
The upbeat forecast is a welcome end to a relentless storm that dropped rain nearly nonstop from Sunday into Tuesday, shattering multiple rainfall records in the Southland.
South Pasadena has fared “all right, all things considered” amid this week’s rain, said Domenica Megerdichian, deputy city manager.
“Our team, especially in Public Works and Public Safety, has been deployed in quick response to service calls,” she added.
As of Tuesday, the South Pasadena Public Works Department and the Public Safety Commission had reported service calls which included a sparking transformer (handled in partnership with SoCal Edison); a traffic light malfunction at Fremont and Grevelia; a tree branch down near Mockingbird and Raymond Hill which partially blocked the freeway; traffic signals out for a time at Fremont and Mission streets and water management issues in some areas of Prospect and up in the hills.
The strong storm cell prompted sudden flooding and mudflows in the La Habra Heights, Hacienda Heights and La Mirada areas, inundating several streets, damaging some homes and prompting some evacuations. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning in that area, noting that heavy rain began falling in the area just before 9:30 a.m. There were no reports of any injuries.
In the eastern San Gabriel Mountains, forecasters said 20 inches of additional snow could fall above 7,000 feet, with as much as 3 inches possible as low as 3,000 feet. The winter weather advisory remained in effect until Thursday morning in the western San Gabriel Mountains and the Antelope Valley as well as the northern Golden State (5) freeway corridors.
“Friday through at least Tuesday will be dry and warmer, but still cooler than normal,” according to the NWS.
The NWS reported that Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles received more than 8.6 inches of rain over a four-day period ending Tuesday. The two-day rain total for downtown Los Angeles for Sunday and Monday was 7.03 inches, the third highest rain total for two consecutive days in downtown L.A. since 1877, when rain totals started being recorded. The highest two-day total was 7.98 inches set on Dec. 31, 1933, and Jan. 1, 1934. The second highest two-day total was 7.44 inches set on Jan. 25 and 26, 1956.
In just two days, downtown Los Angeles has received roughly half of its 30-year average seasonal rainfall, which is 14.25 inches.
First published in the February 9 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
