Reporting from TEHACHAPI, Calif. — The storm that slammed into the high desert and mountains of Southern California this week was one for the record books.
Intense rain sent massive mudflows onto highways, picking up cars and pushing them into one another. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped in mud up to 20 feet deep; in some cases, motorists were stranded overnight.
In one spot in the Antelope Valley, the storm dumped 1.81 inches of rain in 30 minutes on Thursday, in what the National Weather Service described as a 1,000-year rain event.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” said Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
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October storms are nothing new in the high desert. But experts say the intensity of the deluge is just the latest byproduct of the record temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
Thursday’s storm was the result of a cutoff low, a slow-moving low-pressure system that gets pinched off from the jet stream and starts its own unpredictable trajectory, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at Stanford University.
The warm ocean temperatures — about 75 degrees on Thursday, at least 5 degrees above normal — produced more water evaporation and higher humidity levels. The storm system combined with the high humidity to create enough instability in the atmosphere to trigger the intense thunderstorms and torrential rainfall, Swain said.
The storm was part of the same system that hit Southern California more than a week ago, Swain said. It originally came in from the north, then moved east over the desert Southwest. From there, it “made the strange track of coming to Southern California from the east,” he said.
On Friday afternoon, residents in the Cuyama Valley area of Santa Barbara County were dealing with a new round of flash floods and mudslides that trapped cars. The National Weather Service reported that Bates Ridge saw 1.18 inches of rain in 30 minutes.
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An L.A. County fire crew digs a car out of the mud covering Lake Elizabeth Road where its owner, Esther Shelton of Palmdale, abandoned it.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 2/43
Jason DeBerge, 45, continues to dig out his mud ravaged home in Lake Hughes on Saturday, two days after a torrential rainstorm sent debris-laden floodwater through his neighborhood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 3/43
Addy Markley removes mud and debris from her Antelope Valley home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 4/43
Beekeeper Juan Zavala of Bakersfield works to calm a big rig carrying a load of live bees that got stuck in a mudslide on California 58 east of Tehachapi.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 5/43
Beekeepers use smoke and water to calm a load of live bees on an 18-wheeler that got stuck in a mudslide east of Tehachapi. Crews continue to unearth vehicles trapped in up to 20 feet of mud after torrential rains pummeled the area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 6/43
Randy Eisenbeiss of Lake Hughes works on his mud-encrusted SUV with the help of his neighbor, Gian Guadagno, 10.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 7/43
Cody Cooper, center, and Addy Markley get help from Johnnie Baldyga digging through mud that inundated their Antelope Valley home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 8/43
Jason DeBerge, 45, wipes mud from his feet as he tries to remove damaged carpet from his Lake Hughes home.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 9/43
Jason DeBerge rests for a moment in his mud-ravaged backyard in Lake Hughes.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 10/43
Patio furniture is stuck in several inches of mud outside the home of Jason DeBerge.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 11/43
Bill Beaury of Golden Empire Towing supervises the removal of vehicles encased in mud on California 58 east of Tehachapi on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. Caltrans is moving mud and debris so that the vehicles can be removed.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 12/43
Hundreds of vehicles sit buried in the mud on California 58 east of Tehachapi on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 13/43
Gary Lumpkins of Golden Empire Towing jumps down a high cement barricade on California 58 east of Tehachapi where up to 20 feet of mud and debris pummeled the area earlier in the week and forced drivers to flee.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 14/43
Mud, rocks and other debris surround big-rigs, trucks and cars on California 58 east of Tehachapi on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 15/43
Caltrans workers shovel tons of mud and debris on California 58 so that hundreds of vehicles trapped in the mudslide area east of Tehachapi can be removed.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 16/43
Big-rigs are trapped on California 58 east of Tehachapi.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 17/43
Nearly 200 vehicles were trapped on California 58 east of Tehachapi forcing drivers to abandon their vehicles and big-rigs.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 18/43
Vehicles are now being allowed on Northbound lanes of Interstate-5 in Fort Tejon at the top of the Grapevine Friday afternoon.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 19/43
A sandal is left behind where a car was buried up to the windows in a mudslide on Elizabeth Lake Road.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 20/43
Sweepers clean mud from the closed Interstate 5 on Friday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 21/43
Andrew Saenz, 7, reads as his mom, Denise Saenz, tries to make a call in the front seat in Fort Tejon where they were stranded on Friday morning. The family was unable to get home and had to spend the night on the road.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 22/43
Tony Hemming uses a shovel to dig his car out of a mudslide on Elizabeth Lake Road on Friday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 23/43
A bulldozer clears mud from Lake Elizabeth Road after several cars were inundated after a deluge Thursday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 24/43
Several cars on Elizabeth Lake Road are inundated with mud after the deluge .
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 25/43
Steve Ring and Simone Gonzales have been stuck in Fort Tejon at the top of the Grapevine since 6 p.m. Thursday. “We have a place to sleep and have food. We just don’t know when we’ll be able to leave,” Gonzales said.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 26/43
A big-rig sits stranded on California 58 in the Tehachapi area, where the road remains closed after torrential rains pummeled the area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 27/43
Big-rigs sit stranded on California 58 as cleanup operations are underway in the Tehachapi area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 28/43
TV cameraman Monte Duarte is helped off California 58 after he became stuck in the mud and was assisted by California Highway Patrol Officer Edward Stewart and photographer Travis Geske, background.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 29/43
Big-rigs sit stranded on California 58 in the Tehachapi area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 30/43
An unidentified man navigates thick mud near stranded big-rigs on California 58 in the Tehachapi area, where the road remains closed Friday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 31/43
A motorist tries to dig a vehicle out of the mud along Elizabeth Lake Road.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 32/43
Several cars on Elizabeth Lake Road are inundated with mud after a deluge Thursday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 33/43
California Highway Patrol officers give motorists directions at the intersection of California 14 and 58. California 58 remains closed after torrential rains pummeled the area.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 34/43
A camper sits stranded on California 58 in the Tehachapi area, where the road remains closed after 200 vehicles, including 75 tractor-trailers, were trapped east of Tehachapi in up to 20 feet of mud.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) 35/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 36/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 37/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 38/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 39/43
Caltrans crews work to clear mud, boulders and debris Friday morning from the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine after a heavy rain on Thursday closed the highway.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 40/43
A storm hit the Antelope Valley and Lake Hughes area with rain, hail and mudslides that left motorists stranded.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times) 41/43
Bouquet Canyon Road is covered in mud after a storm hit the Antelope Valley.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times) 42/43
Interstate 5 remains closed Friday morning with possible rain later in the afternoon.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 43/43
As the storm clears, floodwaters cover Bouquet Canyon Road in the Lake Hughes area.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times) Warming Pacific waters has been a topic of growing discussion among scientists in recent years. Amid much debate about the cause, some experts blame the warming for some sea life and bird deaths.
The storm was not related to El Niño, the warm weather pattern that experts say is expected to produce heavy rain in California this winter.
But John Dumas, a weather service meteorologist, said these storms offer a preview of what’s to come.
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The last major El Niño to hit California, in the late 1990s, caused deadly flooding, mudslides and other problems. Across Southern California, officials are racing to clear debris basins and make other preparations so that the region’s flood-control systems can combat the expected El Niño downpours.
Thursday’s storm shut Interstate 5 through the Grapevine and sent a sea of mud sweeping through country roads.
One of the most dramatic scenes played out on Highway 58 east of Tehachapi. There, mudslides trapped 200 vehicles, including dozens of tractor-trailers and at least two tour buses filled with passengers.
In one harrowing video, a driver caught the moment the mud overtook vehicles on the 58. The man, Jose Antonio Vargas, frantically yells in Spanish, “Someone call 911! Someone call 911! Help! The cars are being inundated!”
Truck driver John Tate, 48, stayed overnight in his rig. Surveying the scene on the 58 from his still-stuck big rig Friday, Tate said, “It’s like something you see on TV.”
Tate had been driving from North Carolina to Salinas to pick up a load of strawberries. The rain came fast Thursday. Within five minutes, he said, everything was washed out. Soon, cars in front of him started floating by. He spent the night in his truck, watching the movie “Ghost Rider.”
“It just happened so fast, I don’t think anybody really had time to react,” he said.
Trucker Shannon Doyle was driving east on the 58 when rain and hail poured down. As traffic ground to a halt, truckers began communicating with their radios.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Can’t see. Can’t see,’” the Fresno resident said. “It was just a mess.”
Doyle remained in his truck until 9 p.m. Thursday, when he finally mustered the courage to venture outside. As he and other truckers scanned the sea of mud and cars, Doyle saw four women, covered in mud from head to toe, gripping their purses and blankets, their feet sloshing on the highway.
Search and rescue crews appeared around midnight, followed by heavy equipment that began excavating the mud. About 2 a.m., a helicopter flew over the highway and shined a spotlight over the mountain.
By morning, crews had dug away enough mud to allow tractor-trailers carrying horses and cattle to drive away. At 9 a.m. Friday, Doyle was finally able to turn his truck around to head back to Fresno.
No injuries had been reported as of Friday afternoon, but crews were still plowing through the mess. The highway will be closed between Mojave and Tehachapi for several days, officials said.
Workers were scraping the 58 and clearing an approximately mile-long stretch of mud, debris and stacked vehicles, said California Highway Patrol Officer Robert Rodriguez.
In all, the storm left an estimated 300,000 cubic yards of mud and debris on major roadways, including the 58, officials said.
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer on Friday sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Army Corps of Engineers asking them to describe the measures taken to prepare for floods and mudslides.
“Given four years of historic drought, a devastating fire season, and likelihood that a strong El Niño will bring heavy rains to California, the risk of flooding is dangerously high,” the California senators wrote. “We are already seeing the potential for disaster.”
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Times staff writer Mejia reported from Tehachapi, Rocha and Branson-Potts from Los Angeles.
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