City officials took turns offering advice ahead of the evening storm, urging people to stay off the roads.
Some areas, like Burbank, began to see light rain early Tuesday afternoon, but the bulk of the rain is still hours away.
During a press conference, Dr. Ariel Cohen, the Meteorologist in Charge of the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, said a storm of this severity affects the area every five to 10 years.
Dr. Ariel Cohen, the Meteorologist in Charge of the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, speaks at a news conference on storm preparations across the city.
He also downplayed the threat of mudslides in the burn scar areas saying, "rainfall rates may only approach or marginally exceed the debris flow thresholds, so while debris flows on the burn scars will be possible, in general, they should be minor to moderate."
However, he did stress the threat of urban flooding as well as mudslides in mountainous terrain.
"With as much total rain as what we're expecting, widespread, significant flooding will likely occur in urban and poor drainage areas, especially in and around the higher terrain, there will almost certainly be numerous rock slides and mudslides along with areas of severe flooding in urban locations and along freeways, which is why being out on the roads will be exceptionally dangerous," he said.
