Torrential rains return to Southern California, prompting new flash flood fears, threat of mudslides
Nov 21, 2025, 6:22 AM | Updated: 12:16 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Torrential rains drenched parts of Southern California on Friday, leading to new flash flood warnings in parts of Los Angeles County. The unusually heavy downpours follow earlier storms that put the region on track for near-record November rainfall, the National Weather Service said.
Before dawn Friday, residents were warned of flash flooding of streets, creeks and streams and possible mudslides in several parts of Los Angeles.
The most recent flash flood warning from the National Weather Service covered areas including downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Studio City. Some vehicles were stuck in floodwaters near Culver City before dawn on Friday, the weather service reported.
A series of storms beginning Nov. 13 has unleashed copious amounts of rain, more than four times the normal amount that typically falls in November in downtown Los Angeles, according to weather service reports.
In a normal November, downtown Los Angeles typically gets 0.78 of an inch (2 centimeters) of rain, but has already seen about 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters) this month.
Santa Barbara County has been a magnet for the moisture. Parts of the Santa Ynez Mountains have seen more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain this month, the weather service said.
A potent atmospheric river is blamed for causing at least a half-dozen deaths earlier this month as it rolled across much of California. Heavy rains also bring the threat of mudslides in areas that were recently ravaged by wildfire.
Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky, transporting much of the moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes.
