Mistaken flash-flood warning sent in L.A. hours before polls close as storm batters Southern California
Storms batter L.A.
By Kate Randall, CNN
Updated 3:07 AM ET, Mon June 5, 2012
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An aerial view of a portion of Lake Balboa from the east shore. The Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention are monitoring the lake for water levels in preparation for potential flooding in the area.
An aerial view of a portion of Lake Balboa from the east shore. The Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention are monitoring the lake for water levels in preparation for potential flooding in the area.
The National Weather Service issued a brief flash flood warning in Los Angeles before 2 p.m. PT, when Lake Balboa recorded a high of 4.5 feet and a low of 2 feet. The water has now risen almost 5 feet above the normal level, and the risk of a surge is increasing.
“It was a good, safe lake for a while. I’m not surprised,” said Chris Tuchman, the president of the L.A. City Council.
In the area north of Los Angeles, Lake Ontario and the Pacific Ocean flood daily in Southern California, and even in years when the seasonal rains remain light, water levels can rise as much as 10 feet.
“It really is something that needs to be addressed because this risk is increasing,” John Litzinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told CNN.
It’s unclear how the lake will behave in the hours ahead, but the danger of flash flooding is high in the area, according to the National Weather Service. The agency’s flash flood forecast shows that the National Weather Service, the weather service branch for Los Angeles County, predicts a 30 percent chance of flash flooding in the area, with a 30-second chance and a five-minute warning.
That’s a more severe form of flood, a Category 4, on the NWS’s five-minute warning scale. It means there’s a risk of a major flooding event on a very short notice — 30 to 60 minutes — and there’s