STORM SET TO HIT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEXT WEEK

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A storm system moving into Southern California next week is expected to bring widespread rain and gusty winds, with the potential for heavier downpours in some areas, forecasters said today.

The National Weather Service said there was still variability about the strength of next week’s storm. “Unfortunately, there is still a range of outcomes which means an uncertain forecast. It still looks like a mostly moderate-type rain event with generally minor impacts, but a few projections remain which favor a more significant event,” the NWS stated. Early estimates suggest most areas will see moderate rainfall, with about an inch in coastal and valley regions and two to three inches in foothills and mountains. “All of the moisture from this system originates from the warmer ocean waters and this will keep the snow levels at or above 8,000 feet,” the NWS said. Temperatures are expected to cool significantly, with highs dropping to the lower to mid-60s on Tuesday and near 60 by Wednesday. Forecasters said next week’s anticipated rainfall poses minimal threat of triggering destructive mudslides or debris flows in Southern California’s recent burn areas. However, some risk remains, and the total rainfall amounts could vary widely, according to the NWS.

Los Angeles County experienced its first significant winter storm from Saturday through Monday, bringing widespread rainfall across the region.

The L.A. Basin saw accumulations ranging from half an inch to 1.5 inches, while downtown Los Angeles recorded a total of 0.54 inches of rain. Although the storm spared recent burn areas in Pacific Palisades and Altadena from the heaviest rainfall, it still caused issues. There were reports Monday of minor mud flows brought on by the rain, including a slide that closed Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Pacific Coast Highway. Lingering snowfall also forced a roughly 11-hour closure Monday of the Grapevine stretch of the Golden State (5) Freeway in northern Los Angeles and southern Kern counties.

Santa Anita Sees Second Racehorse Death of 2025

ARCADIA (CNS) - A 3-year-old colt died after suffering a training injury at Santa Anita Park, the track’s second fatality of the year, officials said. “Brummell experienced a suspected shoulder fracture during training Thursday morning at Santa Anita Park,” Santa Anita said in a statement Thursday evening. “He was immediately attended to by an expert team of on-site veterinarians and transported via equine ambulance for advanced diagnostic imagining. Sadly, it was determined that it was an unrecoverable injury. His rider was immediately attended to by on-site paramedics and was transported to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena for further evaluation. ... Santa Anita Park is one of the largest racing and training facilities in the country, averaging more than 6,250 runners and 375,000 training sessions per year. The safety rate for the track is the highest in the nation (for those with comparable volume) at approximately 99.97%,” the statement continued. Brummell had just one race in his career, a seventh-place finish at Del Mar in July. Last Saturday, the 5-year-old thoroughbred Don’t Fight the Fed fell at the three-eighths pole in the eighth race and was euthanized on the track. The Arcadia track had 14 horses die from racing or training injuries in 2024.

LAGUNA BEACH (CNS) - A landslide near Thousand Steps beach forced a closure of it and residents of three homes out, but no one was hurt, and the beach has since been reopened The landslide of about 500 cubic yards of bluff happened about 7:15 a.m. Friday near Point Place between Ninth and 10th Avenues.

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - With the second installment of Los Angeles County property tax bills due tomorrow, county Assessor Jeff Prang’s office today issued a special bulletin to explain the connection between filing a disaster relief claim and the upcoming payment. The controller’s office released the bulletin as a way to answer questions by many property owners affected by recent wildfires.

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - After temporarily converting its pet center into housing for animals of fire evacuees, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles will resume facilitating adoptions, officials announced today. The spcaLA Pet Adoption Center in West Adams was turned into a sanctuary for pets in need of care as result of multiple fires that broke out in the Los Angeles region.

PASADENA (CNS) - An analysis measuring the movement of slow-moving landslides on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County found that land in the residential area slid toward the ocean by as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) per week in the fall of 2024, NASA officials announced today. The movement of land was accelerated and the active area expanded as a result of record-breaking rainfall in 2023, as well as heavy rains the L.A. region experienced in early 2024, according to researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.