An atmospheric event predicted to touch down in the Santa Clarita Valley a week ahead of Super Bowl Sunday did not disappoint, with the area receiving a cumulative total of 4.67 inches of rain in the Newhall Pass between late Saturday night and Monday morning.
First responders reported several rescues throughout the area due to flooding that came with the downpour, but no fatalities have been reported.
Josh Greengard, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol’s Newhall-area office, said it might have helped that so much of the storm came late Sunday and in the early-morning hours, when roads typically are less traveled. Almost 3 inches of the storm came between the hours of 8 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, according to the observation totals.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said Monday afternoon the bulk of the storm that had been anticipated to pass through this week has landed.
But the skies won’t clear completely until about Saturday, according to Ryan Kittell of the National Weather Service, and there’s a chance for thunderstorms bringing the potential for sporadic dumps of rain Tuesday evening into Wednesday.
“Definitely we’re going to not get anything like we had (Sunday) night for the rest of the event,” he said, adding, “there’s another potential for more steady light to moderate rain Wednesday night into Thursday.”
Wind gusts reached 40 mph in the Newhall Pass Sunday, with the forecast calling for them to get as strong as 70 mph.
Lighter showers are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday during the day in between, he added, with a 20% chance of rain as late as Saturday, but otherwise a relative dry forecast for next week.
A pair of rescue efforts Sunday night demonstrated some of the dangers for motorists and first responders in the flooded roads.
A Dodge Challenger apparently lost control around 10:50 p.m. before slamming into a tree on the right shoulder of the northbound lanes of Interstate 5, north of McBean Parkway, leaving three occupants trapped, according to fire officials.
Fire officials used special tools to extricate those trapped inside the sedan, and two were ultimately taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. The extent of their injuries was not known.
About 90 minutes earlier, a tree narrowly avoided causing an injury when it fell on an unoccupied parked car in Canyon Country.
The car was parked near Sierra Vista Junior High School at Stillmore Street and Whites Canyon Road, where a large tree fell, blocking the entire street and damaging two vehicles around 9:10 p.m.
