


The skies will finally clear this weekend after another atmospheric river rainstorm marched through Southern California in what is remarkably a wet beginning to 2023.
And there is more rain on the horizon.
The latest atmospheric-river system dumped rain just about everywhere in Southern California in the last day or so with snow at higher elevations. The system is expected to mostly dissipate today.The storm unleashed all kinds of chaos, with firefighters rescuing cows from deep mud in San Bernardino and a rare tornado popping up in Montebello.
For now, Southern California is expected to be home to a dry and cool weekend with not much rain — if any — through Monday. That will change next week.
Since the first day of the rainy season, which meteorologists consider Oct. 1, Long Beach has recorded nearly 20 inches of rain, the Riverside Airport 11.81 inches and downtown Los Angeles 25.74 inches.
That Los Angeles amount is more than twice what usually has been received by this time of year.
In addition to the record rainfall, Montebello residents looking outside Tuesday found debris spinning in the air and rooftops ripped from buildings as what the National Weather Service has now confirmed as a small tornado.
First responders were on the scene much of the day, Montebello spokesman Michael Chee said. By early evening, Chee confirmed that power still was spotty and it was projected it to remain out until today. Assessments would be conducted by SoCal Edison.
“City Public Works crews have cleaned up the streets, cleaned up debris so there’s no threat to public safety and public spaces,” Chee said.
Chee said there was only one report of a minor injury to a worker at a businesses.
In San Bernardino, more than 20 firefighters rescued more than a dozen farm animals that were stuck in deep mud. Aerial footage from news helicopters showed cows waiting to be pulled out of the debris.
What comes next, though?
Several National Weather Service models are predicting that another bout of cold rain will move toward Southern California Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing about an inch of rain.
The 24-hour precipitation totals from this storm, as of about 10 a.m. Wednesday from the National Weather Service, show:
• Chino Airport 1.47 inches.
• Huntington Beach, 1.44 inches.
• Long Beach 1.53 inches.
• Northridge, 0.97 inches.
• Temecula, 2.14 inches.
• Yorba Linda 1.44 inches.