Antelope Valley residents on alert for flash flood, thunderstorms
There is a chance of flooding in the Antelope Valley and eastern mountains of Los Angeles County on Monday afternoon, weather experts said.
“It’s slow moving, there’s a lot of water and all of this is coming from Tropical Storm Ivo,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Rorke. “It could produce some flooding if conditions come together.”
Over the weekend, rain soaked the Southern California desert and stranded motorists on a water- and mud-choked section of highway near the Nevada border. Officials shut down the interchange between Interstate 40 and U.S. Highway 95 near Needles for cleanup.
One to 3 inches of rain fell over the deserts in a single hour over the weekend, Rorke said.
There were no reports of injuries.
As the storm heads west, it could bring a slow, heavy downpour with thunder and lightning, Rorke said.
A flash-flood watch has been issued through 8 p.m. Monday for San Bernardino County and parts of Arizona and Nevada, according to the National Weather Service, meaning rain could fill normally dry washes and channels and make roads impassable. Burn areas are particularly likely to flood, the weather service said.
Though the temperature will be below triple digits in the deserts Monday, humidity from the storm will make conditions “sticky,” Rorke said.
“The deserts are always fun,” he joked.
Temperatures along the coasts and downtown Los Angeles are expected to be in the low to mid 80s.
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