California storm: Possible tornado hit state while Los Angeles was under flash flood warnings

A deadly Pacific storm, the second “Pineapple Express” weather system to sweep the West Coast in less than a week, dumped torrential rain over Southern California, triggering street flooding and mudslides throughout the region.

The National Weather Service documented staggering rainfall amounts from the storm, and hurricane-force gusts of wind, along with heavy precipitation that intensified as the system moved south.

But what are atmospheric rivers?

San Diego County Fire Department said that they have joined search efforts for a military helicopter reported missing in the area north of Interstate 8 & Kitchen Creek Road, located southeast of Pine Valley.

The search has been made more difficult by snowfall, the agency reported. There are five Marines on-board the helicopter. A severe storm, powered by an atmospheric river, brought major flooding to the southern part of the state. The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter was reported “overdue” after it failed to arrive at Miramar, near San Diego, on Tuesday night from Las Vegas.

With each incremental uptick in global heat, the consequences are becoming severe.

Multiple studies have found that atmospheric rivers in California are up to 15 per cent wetter due to climate change, the nonprofit Climate Signals reported.

“Although 15 per cent may not seem like a lot, that extra precipitation can sometimes mean the difference between no flooding at all or flood water entering into a home or overtopping a levy, due to limitations in infrastructure that was not designed to operate in a world unnaturally warmed by human-caused climate change,” the science team wrote.

The death toll has increased to at least nine people from California’s severe storms, officials said.

Four people were killed in California by falling trees, the Office of Emergency Management said. Three were killed in vehicle collisions in the Bay area.

Another fatality was caused by a vehicle being swept away in a flood channel. An individual died while trying to cross the US-Mexico border across the Tijuana River.

A huge mud and rockslide has - once again - blocked State Route 33 in California, public officials warned on Wednesday. The California Department of Transportation share an image of the two-lane road which hugs the mountainside, around 25 miles of Ojai.

SR-33 is a north-south highway which runs from Route 101 in Ventura through southern California’s Transverse mountain range to the city of Tracy, close to Modesto.

Drone footage captured floodwater pouring into the Pacific Ocean after California was drenched by record rainfall.

A deadly storm, the second “Pineapple Express” weather system to sweep the West Coast in less than a week, triggered street flooding and mudslides throughout the region.

At Dana Point, to the south of Los Angeles, floodwaters emptied into the ocean on Tuesday.

“You can see all those brown floodwaters filtering into the bright blue Pacific Ocean,” Dr Reed Timmer, an extreme meteorologist, said.

The National Weather Service in San Diego County is telling residents to prepare for another burst of rain on Wednesday evening.

Most of the rain is across the foothills and the mountains, Alex Tardy, of the County Emergency Operations Center, said. Rainfall is expected to increase between 9pm to 3am PST. Tricky travel conditions are likely on I-8, he said.

The rain will start in Oceanside and Carlsbad and will get down to San Diego by midnight. The area could see a half inch or inch of rain, meaning additional flooding could occur in urban areas.

Officials are urging commuters to check the news for reports before leaving their homes. On Thursday, residents can expect isolated showers.