"The conditions have been much drier over the past 3 or 5 days," explained Daniel Swain, a climate scientist for the University of California, Los Angeles. "In fact, almost the whole state has seen a nice, 3 to 5-day window of dry and warmer conditions. That's helping out a lot, letting creeks recede, letting hillsides dry out a little bit, although they are still, in most cases, saturated in all coastal areas."
A mudslide in Hacienda Heights forced three homes to be evacuated as portions of a hillside gave way during intense rain on Tuesday. The neighborhood wasn't the only one.
Mudslide prompts evacuation of 3 homes in rain-soaked Hacienda Heights
"There were hundreds of them, so it sounds like there were at least a couple dozen mudslide debris flow events that were damaging to structures," said Swain. "So cumulatively, that is a significant number of them, and it's no surprise given that some parts of the L.A. basin saw their wettest two-day period in recorded history."
Residents in Rancho Palos Verdes are dealing with an underground landslide that was accelerated due to heavy rain seeping into the ground.
"The soils are now much wetter, and the soil column is still saturated enough to be resulting in ongoing landslides," said Swain.
Enjoy the drier weather while you can, because more heavy rain is expected this weekend and into the start of next week.
"It does look like the weather is going to turn more active and pretty adverse sooner again rather than later," said Swain.