California’s Christmas Gift: Atmospheric Rivers Wearing Mudslide Pajamas
KEY POINTS
- •Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for multiple Southern California counties due to intense storms on December 24-25.
- •The National Weather Service warned of high risk excessive rainfall and flash flood warnings across LA County and San Bernardino on Christmas Eve.
- •San Bernardino County Fire conducted door-to-door safety checks amid flooding, mudslides, and saturated soils threatening already burned areas.
Southern California decided to turn Christmas into a soggy disaster movie starring 'a rare High Risk of Excessive Rainfall' and at least a dozen burn scars (Airport, Bridge, Line, Palisades, Eaton) posing as mudslide launch pads. Governor Gavin Newsom solemnly declared a multi-county state of emergency involving LA, Orange, San Bernardino, and even Shasta because apparently Santa’s sleigh got stuck in an 80 mph wind gust rather than chimneys. The LA Basin experienced a relentless rain binge of 0.5 to 1 inch per hour – basically California's own hydration coach gone rogue. Meanwhile, National Weather Service tweeted door-to-door 'safety checks' as if it was Black Friday, but for floods. The icing on the flood cake: clogged freeway drains drowning the I-5, trucks playing bumper-cars in snowy Donner Pass, and warnings about waterspouts auditioning to be Bay Area tornadoes. And no, it’s not just SoCal; Northern California and even Las Vegas got invited to the flash flood party through Thursday. To cap it off, a second storm RSVP'd to Christmas Day with thunderstorms and more floods making people question if Jesus really said 'let there be light,' or 'let there be drainage.' Climate scientist Daniel Swain weighed in noting December 2025 is warming records like a bad holiday sweater.
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Flood watches for 38 million SoCal residents because apparently California’s been binge-watching disaster movies and decided to join in live. Mudslides and power outages are SoCal’s Christmas specials this year. At least it’s wetter than your 2025 holiday fruitcake.
38 million people under flood watch and Santa’s still trying to find a dry chimney. Splash zone seats sold out in LA.
California’s atmospheric rivers just ghosted every fire burn scar with mudslides like it’s a toxic family reunion nobody wanted.
Source: Axios | Published: 12/25/2025 | Author: Rebecca Falconer
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