Rain began pelting parts of Southern California early Friday as a fierce winter storm from the Pacific Northwest moved in ahead of schedule, triggering fears that recent wildfires may gave left the region susceptible to flash flooding.Southern California has had a very dry rainy season, and it will be the first time since April 2006 that so much rain has fallen from a single storm, said Stuart Seto, chief weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The weather service issued a flash flood watch for coastal and mountain areas through Friday afternoon. The forecast called for winds gusting to about 30 mph ahead of a storm front that could drop up to an inch of rain in urban areas and up to 3 inches in the mountains, Seto said.
The weather service also issued a high wind warning for the mountain areas and in the Antelope Valley, north Los Angeles county. The winds were expected to blow 30- to 45 mph, with potentially damaging gusts of up to 60 mph, said meteorologist Todd Hall.
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