Rain Becomes the Norm as Pacific Storms Soak Malibu

• Residents on Lookout for Rockslides and Water Spouts

BY ANNE SOBLE

Malibuites had their rain gear at the ready this week for a series of three powerful Pacific storms that the National Weather Service forecast with near perfect accuracy.
The first storm rolled in Sunday afternoon dropping from one to two and a half inches of rain in parts of the Malibu area. The second storm on Tuesday was the lighter of the two but still brought another inch or more of rainfall to the local coast and canyons.
Meteorologists said the storm series was the strongest and wettest to hit this area since the winter of 2005.
Because there were numerous breaks between heavy downpours, ground absorption helped to keep runoff problems to a minimum. However, National Weather Service reports said that might not continue to be the case if the third storm forecast for Wednesday through Thursday brings even greater rainfall.
If that’s not enough wet weather to everyone’s liking, still more rain is possible through the weekend.
Not having experienced wildfire in two years, Malibu should fare better than more recent burn areas that may face flash flooding and debris flows downstream.
Still, it was being recommended that even residents outside the fire zones continue to monitor their property and have emergency preparedness plans in place.
Waterspouts off the coast were considered possible during the storms, but the only reports of sightings were farther south.
Offshore strong winds and ocean swells in double digits did materialize, however, they also took their worst toll farther south.
The intermittent power outages that ricochetted through Malibu on Monday were mostly short-lived.
The same storms that soaked Malibu were more appreciated in the northern part of the state where they produced snow. This will help to replenish California’s water supplies and ease the effects of a three-year drought.