In photos: West Coast braces for a barrage of weather hazards
Updated 9:04 PM ET, Sun October 24, 2021
A “bomb cyclone” with hurricane-like strength and a chart-topping “atmospheric river” coincided Sunday and are forecast to continue into Monday, unleashing flooding rains, wet snow, strong winds and coastal surf across the western United States.
Santa Barbara County officials upgraded a recent evacuation warning to an evacuation order for parts of the Alisal Fire burn area. Concerns are mounting about dangerous debris flows developing as heavy rain is forecast to fall over the recently scorched earth.
The National Weather Service has flash flood watches across a large expanse of central and northern California. Rainfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches, with locally higher amounts exceeding 10 inches, will lead to localized flash flooding, mudslides and rockslides.