Southland storm brings heavy rains

Trash littered Junipero Beach in Long Beach after the rains.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Under clearing skies and palm trees, Long Beach resident Antonio Lee practices tai chi at Alamitos Beach.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A pelican rests on the rocks in Long Beach as the skies start to clear after several days of rain. The National Weather Service says sunshine is on its way later this week.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A rainbow forms over Shoreline Village in Long Beach after a midwinter storm drenched Southern California with rain and snow in the higher elevations.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Ryan Ruppert walks along rain-soaked Seal Beach Pier with his morning coffee.  (Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times)

Sophie Barton, 5, and her brother Sam, 7, of Westlake Village watch a rainbow from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer takes advantage of the winter storm to enjoy a brisk ride at Carbon Beach in Malibu.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

After an afternoon cloudburst, Huy Nguyen struggles through mud at neighbor Rob Kruger’s house on San Antonio Road in Yorba Linda. Nguyen was one of the many neighbors who helped Kruger save his home by placing sandbags and clearing debris with shovels.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Scott Michael of Carlsbad launches off a snow bump at Palomar Mountain State Park.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

CHP officer Jennifer Reneah digs out a sign on Highway 18 next to Snow Valley.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

CHP Sqt. Dave Bradley shovels snow along Highway 18 as K.J. Olson, 7, waits patiently during a blizzard near Running Springs.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Dung Quoc Huynl, left, and Hayley Hua stop at Snow Valley after the closure of Highway 18 because of blizzard conditions.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

A Snow Valley employee stands along Highway 18 to turn away skiers after the resort closed because of blizzard conditions.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Low clouds obscure the mountains in a view of the 91 Freeway in Yorba Linda.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Dr. Eugene Wynsen and his wife, Gertrude, try to stay dry in the Costco parking lot in Yorba Linda.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Melrose Avenue murals add a spot of color on a drab day.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

L.A. pooch Keisha, displaying her jaw power, is dressed for the weather.  (Francine orr / Los Angeles Times)

Andy and Mary Dotson, whose home backs up to previously burned foothills, keep an eye on water and mud flowing down Skyland Drive in Sierra Madre. The Dotsons built a wall, left, to keep mud flow out of their garage. The town has issued a “red flag mud alert” and mandatory evacuation order because of the heavy rainfall.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Sierra Madre residents Lisa and Tim Driver take “the chowdren” for a walk amid light rain as they check out water and mud flowing down Skyland Drive near protective barriers and sandbags in Sierra Madre.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Interstate 5 is closed in both directions near the Grapevine after a strong winter storm blanketed the area in snow. The snow level dropped to 3,500 feet, also leading to the closing of Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway are closed at Castaic. A powerful storm system dumped rain and snow across Southern California, closing two main interstates and flooding roads and freeways.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A California Highway Patrol unit monitors the closure of the 5 Freeway along the Grapevine.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Stan Byrne checks out the home of his neighbor Rob Kruger on San Antonio Road in Yorba Linda that is in danger of being overrun with mud and debris from the burn area. In spite of temporary concrete and sandbag barricades, rain and runoff have flooded the backyard and threaten to creep into the house.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Stan Byrne and Rob Kruger (in yellow slicker) check out the damage done by rain and runoff to Kruger’s backyard on San Antonio Road in Yorba Linda.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Fires, floods -- Yorba Linda residents prepare for it all, this time with sand bags to fend off any runoff from fire-damaged hillsides as a storm dumped heavy rain in the area.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The morning commute got a bit blurry going north on Interstate 5 through the City of Industry as rains created difficult commuting conditions.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A pedestrian crosses Baldwin Avenue in Sierra Madre, where signs inform residents of mandatory evacuations in the burn areas.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Yorba Linda resident Leslie Cobb walks her dog, Micah, in the rain along San Antonio Road in Yorba Linda.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)