New Year’s Day floods inundate Southern California highways

Rare rain for Jan. 1 rain in Southern California on Thursday, causing landslides and highway closures in the Los Angeles area, as well as rapid water rescues on San Diego streets.

Flooding on the 5 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley prompted Caltrans to close all lanes between Tuxford Street and Lankershim Boulevard for several hours, while mud closed Big Tujunga Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest between the Angeles Forest Highway and Vogel Flat Road — the latest in a long line of county road closures due to flooding and Dec.

In San Diego, emergency services worked to rescue drivers who found themselves stuck in flooded roads. “Our swiftwater rescue team is working diligently to rescue people trapped in their vehicles near Fashion Valley Rd & Riverwalk Dr.,” read a statement from the San Diego Fire Department around 10 a.m. “Stay safe, SD. Please avoid the area and never walk or drive through flood waters.”

A spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department said a father and his young daughter were trapped in their blue Jeep in deep water, which they quickly sped away and were rescued without incident by San Diego Fire-Rescue.

The storm, which the National Weather Service described as “very severe,” began around 3:45 a.m. Thursday. By 10 a.m., 1.21 inches of rain had fallen east of Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles had received 1.33 inches, according to the weather service.

Generally, New Year’s Day is not rainy in the Los Angeles area.

According to the National Weather Service, rain fell on only 10% of all New Year’s days between 1878 and 2025. The holiday record was in 1934, when 3.12 inches of rain fell in Pasadena. That’s also the year Los Angeles received more than an inch of rain on the first day of the year.

The Los Angeles area has already seen more than normal rain this rainy season, which began on Oct. 1.

As of Wednesday, the city of LA had received 11.64 inches of rain, which is 7.8 inches above normal, according to meteorologist Mike Wofford of the weather service.

The rain appeared to dampen the excitement of the 2026 Rose Parade somewhat, as the crowds that began to fill the streets of Pasadena hours before Thursday’s parade were smaller than in years past.

Attendees used umbrellas, ponchos and umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain.

Retired USPS letter carrier Michael Bartley, 66, was warming himself with a patio heater as he sat under the sun at 7 a.m., giving his family space in their observation deck at Madison Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. Bartley has attended around a dozen shows, and was last at the Rose Parade in 2006.

Bartley drove in from his home in Buckeye, Ariz., on Wednesday and slept in his car to secure the front seats for his family, and didn’t worry too much about the rain.

“It’s amazing what a little rain will do … there’s nobody out there,” he said, pointing to a row of empty folding chairs.

By 10 a.m., the storm appeared to be over, according to Wofford. However, the sunshine will not last long. “We will be seeing a little rain tomorrow afternoon and evening and the start of another storm coming into the weekend,” he said.