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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Dry weather moved into Southern California Tuesday after a series of storms drenched the area and created slippery conditions on freeways.
Dense fog greeted many motorists in parts of the Southland Tuesday morning, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a dense fog advisory for parts of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. Forecasters said visibility was reduced to a quarter-mile or less in the dense fog areas in Northridge, Woodland Hills, Van Nuys, Chatsworth, Burbank, Universal City, Glendale, Sunland, La Canada Flintridge, East Los Angeles, El Monte, Pasadena, Pomona and San Gabriel.
A dense fog advisory was also in effect for Los Angeles County coastal areas, and LAX, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Torrance, Beverly Hills, Compton, Culver City, Downey, Hollywood and Norwalk.
The advisories, however, were allowed to expire at 9 a.m., as sunshine eventually pushed its way through the fog.
Rain doused the Southland Monday as strongest in a series of storms moved across the region, leading to flooding on some freeways that left many commuters stuck in a worse-than-usual morning drive.
The latest burst of rain moved more quickly through the area than anticipated Monday, but it still packed a punch, with heavy downpours flooding parts of some freeways around the area, including on the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Carson area and on the Harbor (110) Freeway in the San Pedro area.
The National Weather Service did not issue any flood warnings or advisories in Los Angeles County, but the county Office of Emergency Management issued an evacuation warning for residents in the Topanga Canyon area, affecting the area along Santa Maria Road north of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The warning took effect at 9 p.m. Sunday and remained in force until 6 a.m. Tuesday. Ultimately, no evacuations were ordered.
"Dry weather expected today (Tuesday) and Wednesday except for some light showers over the mountains Tuesday and all northern areas Wednesday into Wednesday night," according to the NWS. "A significant warming trend is expected Thursday through early next week with some breezy offshore winds at times."
Over the 24 hour period that ended at 4 p.m. Monday, Culver City received an inch of rain, according to the NWS, while downtown received 1.2 inches, and Redondo Beach was hit with 1.4 inches. At UCLA, 1.2 inches fell. Roughly 1.5 inches were recorded in San Gabriel, but most valley areas had received less than an inch.
The rain affected some Southland amusement parks. Six Flags Magic Mountain was closed Saturday and remained closed Sunday and Monday, with tickets purchased for those days honored through Dec. 29.
Knott's Berry Farm announced the park closed early at 6 p.m. Saturday due to inclement weather. Unused tickets purchased will be valid until Feb. 25.
Due to the rainfall, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health advised beach users to avoid all water contact, especially near discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers due to potentially higher bacteria levels in those areas.
The advisory will be in effect until at least 6 p.m. Thursday.