Californians brace for more heavy rain, snow

LOS ANGELES – Light showers kept Southern California wet on Sunday as residents braced for another blast of the stormy weather that has caused flash flooding and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses.

As much as 3 inches of rain were forecast along the coast Sunday night, with up to 10 inches possible in the foothills, while elevations above 7,000 feet could see up to 3 feet of snow, the National Weather Service said. Lesser amounts were likely in Northern California.

Downtown Los Angeles has had 28.55 inches of precipitation since July 1, the seventh-wettest water year on record, weather service forecaster Curt Kaplan said. The record is 38.18 inches from July 1883 to the following June.

The latest storms arrived Friday, causing two days of scattered flooding, mudslides that blocked Amtrak service and two small tornadoes that touched down briefly in San Diego County and Riverside County. The twisters broke windows, knocked over trees and downed power lines, but no major injuries were reported.