Flood watch issued for county

Forecasters warn of worsening conditions before rains let up for a Thanksgiving break.

- BY RONG-GONG LIN II

GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES Trade-Tech College students learning to be electrical linemen climb power poles under cloudy skies on Tuesday.

Don't put away those umbrellas just yet: Possibly intense rain from Southern California's latest storm could last through Friday before the region gets a Thanksgiving break from precipitation.

Forecasters on Thursday afternoon issued a flood watch — warning of possible flooding — from 10 p.m. Thursday through Friday morning throughout much of Los Angeles County. The storm still has a chance of producing precipitation into the early part of the weekend.

The latest models suggest a “severe weather threat across L.A. County,” the National Weather Service said. The storm could rotate in a counterclockwise direction right over southern L.A. County on Thursday night and Friday morning, which could even produce a small tornado.

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times SILAS MUNRO takes a walk after surfing in Palos Verdes Estates this week.

“Periods of heavy rain are likely at times overnight in L.A. County,” with some computer models showing a 10-20% chance of rain falling at 1 inch per hour. Not all areas will get such intense rainfall, but areas that do get hit by that kind of intense rain could see flooding.

Rain falling at a rate of half an inch per hour or more is capable of producing landslides.

There is also a 10-20% chance of thunderstorms in Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Friday morning, and a 20-40% chance in Orange County, San Diego County and the Inland Empire.