Overnight into early Thursday morning, a winter storm that is expected to be the largest of the season so far started to dump precipitation over Southern California. By daylight, some regions had received half an inch of rain, and residents in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn scar areas were ordered to evacuate.
Meteorologists stated in an early Thursday forecast update that the intensity of the rainfall, not its total amount, is the cause for concern.
In a 3 a.m. update, forecasters stated that "rainfall rates are the main concern as there is a higher probability of rainfall rates exceeding 1 inch per hour due to the increased chance of convective cells, which would very likely cause substantial debris flows if they occurred over a recent burn area."
According to Ariel Cohen of the National Weather Service, during a morning news conference, a powerful weather system is predicted to pass through between 4 and 9 p.m., bringing with it the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall and major debris flows in regions affected by fire.
According to Cohen, "we're not going to be sure about significant debris flows occurring until possibly right before they occur," therefore we should already be considering the "what if" situations.
In anticipation of the storm, officials issued multiple evacuation warnings for people in recent burn zones owing to the possibility of mudslides or debris flows, which resulted in the NWS issuing a flash flood watch for most of Los Angeles County and Orange County until Thursday night.
According to Caltrans, the Pacific Coast Highway was closed to the public in both directions between Chautauqua Blvd. and Carbon Beach Terrace until further notice because of the possibility of mudslides and debris flows. Only critical staff had access on Thursday.
According to Bass, over 6,500 sandbags and more than 7,500 feet of concrete barriers were positioned along the Palisades.
Sheriff's Sgt. Raquel Sandoval reported that deputies ordered the evacuation of approximately nine residences north of Altadena Drive on Wednesday night.
She declared, "It's not safe," adding that deputies had visited the area again Thursday morning to make sure.
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