Pacific Coast highway closed days after reopening amid mudslide, flooding threats
SAN FRANCISCO – Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway, which just reopened after last month’s devastating Palisades Fire, is closing again Tuesday due to concerns about potential mudslides, landslides and debris flows from a prolonged atmospheric river event. The closure, from Chautauqua Boulevard to Carbon Beach Terrace, begins at 3 p.m.local time and will affect all traffic except first responders, recovery workers and utility personnel.
The highway is expected to remain closed until at least this weekend.This comes as the West Coast is in the middle of a long-lasting atmospheric river event that began last Friday. Following heavy snow in Oregon and a few reports of flooding in far Northern California, the FOX Forecast Center said a resurgence in moisture will expand the rain and mountain snow once again across California on Tuesday. The plume of moisture will briefly stall across Northern California on Tuesday, supporting an uptick in rainfall rates from near San Francisco into the Sacramento Valley and foothills of the Sierra Nevada.Hourly rainfall rates could approach and locally exceed 0.5 inches, which should increase the flood threat.The good news is that most of those areas in line for the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday have been south of the heaviest rain of the past few days, the FOX Forecast Center said.After the brief stall, the shield of rain will begin to slide south quickly by Tuesday evening.
This should limit the threat of more widespread flooding impacts.Nonetheless, some flooding of roads, minor creeks and streams and a few landslides are possible. More than 3 inches of rain has fallen across nearly all the higher elevations of California north of the Bay Area.
The bull’s-eye has been across Butte and Shasta counties, where over 13 inches and 15 inches of rain, respectively, have already been recorded.An additional 3-8 inches of rain is expected in these areas. Winds will also pick up throughout Tuesday.
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