Southern California cleans up after the wettest Christmas season in recent history

More than 17in of rain fell in Ventura county, with trees knocked down and hundreds of car crashes throughout regionSouthern Californians are facing an epic clean-up operation after the region’s wettest Christmas holiday in recent history turned areas of the state into a panorama of mud and debris.A year ago, record wildfires scorched the dry neighborhoods of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. But now, in what scientists call “hydroclimate whiplash”, the picture is reversed after an atmospheric river off the Pacific brought the elemental opposites of winds and rain. Continue reading...