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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California storm dropped about half an inch of rain on Los Angeles, causing a troublesome mudslide in the region but bringing a good start to a much needed wet season amid the state's drought, forecasters said Saturday.
Scattered rains are expected throughout the day, with the skies clearing up in the evening, National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Kittell said. By mid-week, he said temperatures in Los Angeles will be in the 80s.
The storm that started in Northern California on Friday and moved south is typical for November, the start to California's wet season, he said.
In what's considered a normal year, the Los Angeles region receives about 15 inches total. Last year, just 6 inches fell, proceeded by a year with 5.85 inches, which Kittell said marked two of the regions driest consecutive years on record.
Every drop of rain is welcomed, Kittell said.
"It's not a drought-buster," he said. "It certainly helps."
The storm caused 11 residents in Ventura County to be evacuated late Friday and early Saturday after mud and debris from a hillside struck at least two homes, partially burying one man, who was pulled to safety.
An evacuation advisory issued Friday to residents of Orange County's Silverado Canyon was lifted before sunrise Saturday, where authorities had feared the mountains burned in a recent wildfire might also come sliding down on homes.
The mountains northeast of Los Angeles received more than an inch of rain, Kittell said, and elevations at 6,000 feet and higher east of the city received a dusting of 1 or 2 inches of snow that he could see on webcams but no official reading.
Up the coast, more than 1.5 inches of rain fell in parts of San Luis Obispo County, with the high for the southern half of California at 2.4 inches in Santa Margarita, east of San Luis Obispo. In Northern California, Grass Valley received the most rain at more than 4 inches, meteorologist Steve Anderson said.
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